As usual Chatsworth was a delight at Christmas time and this year the theme was Charles Dickens – so wonderful for me, as a writer. The picture above isn’t our Christmas dinner at the Big House … look closely and you’ll see the cobwebs over a wedding feast. Yes, it’s Great Expectations, and Miss Haversham was there to greet us!

She was joined in other parts of the house by Ebenezer Scrooge, startled in his bed by the ghost of Christmas Past …

… and we loved Fagin, and the London Christmas of Oliver Twist….

…  the magical creations of houses sculpted from old book pages, the Christmas tree made from books …

It was all simply charming. But the day was truly icy as we wandered round the gardens, remembering the many days we’ve spent walking there in summer, along the river and across the parkland, but what a lovely walk it was, despite noses and mouths freezing. It was a fantastic start to the Christmas period and we look forward to next year’s theme.