Lyme

Lyme, Disley, Stockport, SK12 2NR – Visit Now

After a Manchester day out? If you’re after a lil’ romantic break, this grand country house ticks all the boxes.

Just a short drive from Manchester, Lyme is an Elizabethan stately home best recognised as Pemberley from the BBC’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice; home to the lake where Colin Firth re-enacted the first wet t-shirt competition of the Regency era.

The lush grounds and walled gardens are ideal for getting-to-know-you walks, while a trek up to the hillside hunting tower – called the Cage – rewards you with spectacular views of the estate (the Cage was occasionally used as a prison; imagine the heart-wrenching romance of staring out of those lonely windows, pining for your loved one).

The house itself is equally impressive, with a historic library, huge stone fireplaces and almost six hundred years’ worth of accumulated aristocratic knickknacks. The restaurant is rather nice, in a National Trust sort of a way, though we’d recommend you steer clear of the courtyard cafe. Its proximity to the Crow Wood adventure playground means that it is inevitably heaving with harassed-looking parents and their energetic charges which, and we mean this in the nicest possible way, can put a dampener on any potential romance. Back in the house there is a sweet recreation of a children’s bedroom from the olden day – complete with wooden train set and working toys. It’s irresistible – just make sure you don’t elbow any children out of the way to get a look. 

• Disley
• Stockport
• SK12 2NR
• View map

• Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
• Telephone: 01663 762023
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