IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Lower Woodyard Flats, WORKSOP, S80 3LX

Rather grand looking houses anywhere but here built to be occupied by estate employees of the Duke of Portland. A Duke's butler or gamekeeper must have somewhere to live, surely. The Lower Motor Yard and the School of Artisan Food is entered between the two houses on the right.

A bronze plaque in the middle of the long wall commemorates the St John's Ambulance Brigade's (Welbeck Division) service in the Boer War. I presume the archway on the right is an entrance to one of the famous Welbeck tunnels.

Also visible here on the right of picture is one of the many tunnel entrances built by the Fifth Duke. On this day I had already been redirected towards the Garden Centre after erring on foot onto this private area, and was in the process of re-orientating when a youth of heaped arrogance swerved his buggy into my path and attempted an intimidation way out of proportion to the minor incursion at hand. One day I hope, these vast and zealously guarded swathes will be finally opened up for all to share and there will be no more need for these proxy gate-keepers.

Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, a privately owned property by descendants of the Duke of Portland. Home of the School of Artisan Foods and the Welbeck Abbey Brewery.

An interesting if extravagant architectural treatment to break up the bare extent of an otherwise blank wall, possibly the back wall of a stable block.

Built by the 5th Duke of Portland in the 1860s, and said to be second only in size to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Welbeck Abbey Estate eventually became the principal family seat of the Dukes of Newcastle. In the 18th century, it passed through an heiress into the Bentinck family and became the seat of the Earls and Dukes of Portland. It was the 5th Duke of Portland who undertook the most substantial building works at Welbeck. This immense riding hall (seen centre left, to the right of the square stable block) is 396' long, 108' wide and 50' high. At the time it was the second largest riding hall in the world, exceeded only by the huge manege attached to the Kremlin in Moscow. A 1,000 yards long tunnel led from the house to the riding hall. Nearby was a tan gallops of 422 yards (386 m). It was lit by 4,000 gas jets and was heated to enable training at night and in winter. The 'Tan Gallops' is named after the spongy oak chips that covered its floor. They were a by-product from leather tanning and a good surface for the horses to run on. See: http://www.welbeck.co.uk/ ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welbeck_Abbey For a historical view (1878) of the whole estate see: http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/Jacks1881/welbeckp1.htm