Adeline and David went to the above...read her report:
"Yesterday (Sunday), David and I went to the Annual Chatsworth Country Fair. I think you may have heard of Chatsworth. In 'The Other Queen' by Phillipa Gregory, Chatsworth is the house Betsy Talbot and her husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury inhabit. It was also where they welcomed the Queen.
The entry to the Fair was GBP 20. It was a really big event and tons of British white people were there. David and I were the only few of a small number of Asians who visited. The fair was a showcase of everything country related. Country activities that are popular in Britain include shooting, sheepdog herding, horseriding, falconry, growing your own food, cheese, wine, etc. David really liked the idea of shooting, so I thought it'd be a good idea to go, to get a taste of what a country fair is like and what shooting is like.
There were SO many caravans and people there. Lots and lots of dogs too. Anyway, partaking in country activities is seen as the remit of the upper classes as shooting/hunting/ bringing your hounds out to chase scent/ sending your falcon out to hunt are expensive. It is also not cheap to purchase a house in the beautiful countryside. The fair was located right next to Chatsworth house which is extremely big and beautiful. Chatsworth House and its grounds are located in Peak DIstrict.
So David and I had a range of food stalls to choose from: Venison, bison, ostrich, boar.. in the end we settled for good ol' Angus beef and a chicken wrap. THen we sat on the grass next to a shallow river to eat, in the sun. There were a number of dogs looking wistfully at the water. I bet they wanted to get in very badly, but didn't dare to without their owner's permission. Beside us, an event was going on, wherein a man shoots something out, and orders his dog to fetch it. The test is to see how good the dog is at fetching. In the distant hill, we could also witness a sheepdog trial taking place. A border collie was chasing a small group of three sheep around. These are the kinds of things British people do in the country.
After eating and washing down with a smoothie, we followed our ears and headed in the direction of the firing shots. We soon found the area where the shooting stalls were located. David's inaugural go at a real gun was with a Smith Wesson, and he fired 8 rounds with real bullets. Almost all his bullets hit the target.
I was too scared of the loud noise to try. But I had a go at the crossbow and managed to hit a yellow bullseye (it was not the bullseye that I was aiming for though).
Then I had my own go with a gun. It wasn't shooting out bullets, but metal beads (still lethal enough to kill someone with). Almost all my beads hit the target too. Holding the gun, taking aim, and trying to reload it (it was a very heavy gun and in the end, David had to reload it for me) made me feel very English and country-like. Anyway, I really struggled with reloading my gun. The woman next to me was doing it so smoothly, but I couldn't even get the muzzle to open. I told David 'Luckily this isn't a war'.
After that, we went clay pigeon shooting. Basically a machine shoots a clay disc into the air, you take aim and fire. David was so good, he shot five out of his six clay discs! And it was his first time too. I only got one out of 5. A nearby spectator even commented on how good David was. After that David was so excited because he said he'd finally found his outdoor activity niche- Shooting! I told him that's a rich man's pasttime and he said, Ya I know. I need to be rich in the future.
We then wandered around somewhat aimlessly, took pictures and came across the big, imposing Chatsworth House (mansion more like). Then we found the Birds of Prey stall and had a good time interacting with the falcons/owls/buzzards/hawks. These birds are kept and trained to hunt. When a farmer has a rabbit problem, they sometimes call on these falconers. Falconer comes and releases his bird into the fields and rabbit population decimates. I really liked the falcons and the idea of falconry. Imagine me, with a falcon. I say 'Go Boy' and it goes, catches a rabbit, and brings it back to me for dinner.
After that we saw people parachuting from the sky. Then we went back and saw a flight display by Red Arrows (a kind of plane). Then we took the bus/train/walk home. We had fun being country people for a day."
Note: Adeline's last day at RR was on 31 Dec.
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