Blog — Meredith Groat: Photography

Well….here we are. Better late than never! I had always intended to make a blog post about our trip to England…which we took in 2018. Now here we are in the year 2020, in the time of COVID-19, and here I am missing shooting and editing photos. So what better time to bust out some of my favorite photos from one of my favorite trips to one of my favorite places. ENGLAND. The land of Jane Austen, Harry Potter, and Downton Abbey.

Along for the ride was myself and my husband, Thaddaeus, my brother Michael, and our friend Noah. During this trip we visited London, the Peak District, and Cornwall. It was a lot of ground to cover in one trip, but so worth it.

Monsal Dale Railway Bridge in the Peak District.

The Peak District is a National Park in the county of Derbyshire, and if you don’t recognize the name Derbyshire as the home of Mr. Darcy then you haven’t consumed nearly enough Jane Austen books or films. We stayed in the town of Bakewell, where the Bakewell tart originated. If you don’t know what a Bakewell tart is then you haven’t watched nearly enough Great British Bake Off. I digress. Here are some pictures of the GORGEOUS rolling green hills of England’s Peak District.

A morning walk near our Airbnb.

While in the area we made plenty of unplanned roadside stops to take in the view and explore. Having time to be spontaneous is always an essential part of travel for me!

Never ending fields of green.

We hiked a bit of Mam Tor, a well known hill in the Peak District.

Friendly mountainside cow.

Mam Tor hike marker

The many steps up Mam Tor.

Just a bit of the view on the way up Mam Tor. Breathtaking!

Horse friends we met near our Airbnb.

For me one of the main highlights of the Peak District was visiting Chatsworth House. It is a gorgeous estate with beautiful surrounding gardens. Again, if you’ve watched the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as many times as I have you’ll probably recognize it as Mr. Darcy’s House. OMG. No big deal, I was fine guys.

We did take a tour of the inside, which was very interesting. The place is absolutely opulent and gorgeous.

The grounds are enormous and so beautiful. I could have spent all day there!

Noah, best friend and willing photo model since our high school days.

The last stop on our route was Cornwall, which is at the southernmost tip of England. We stayed at an old English estate bed and breakfast and enjoyed some time near the sea.

One of our stops was St. Michael’s Mount, a beautiful castle on a small island just off the coast. The island is connected to the mainland by a stone walkway, but the walkway is only accessible during low tide. During high tide there are boats that ferry passengers back and forth. We made our visit before the tide completely let out, so we took the short boat ride.

The same day we took a drive down the coast to Porthcurno Beach. Seeing the bright blue waters felt like we were on a tropical getaway rather than in England. I would go back to Cornwall in a heartbeat. There is so much coastline to explore!

On the way back the pathway was beginning to emerge.

We made a quick stop at Porthcurno Beach. The water was so blue it felt a tropical getaway!

A view from our boat ride back to shore.

After beautiful Cornwall we made our way back to London and then flew home. It was a dream trip and it absolutely made me want to go back and explore more of England!

When one of your childhood best friends moves to L.A. obviously you have to get yourself out to Cali as soon as humanly possible. So that’s what I did! I love fall as much as the next Pumpkin Spice drinking basic girl but 80 ˚ in November felt DREAMY. We had so much fun exploring and I got some great photos of my very photogenic BFF Noah! I can’t wait to go back!