We caught up with Andrew Bailey to find out more about family life at Yeldersley Hall, and the changes that came with moving here.
How did you come to live at Yeldersley Hall?
We bought it in 1995 but moved in 1996 after doing some travelling in South America. Catherine, my wife-to-be, and I had been working in the City of London for a large firm of solicitors but ultimately decided that the London life was not for us.
When I told my mother that I was interested in moving back home (I’m from Nottingham originally) she bombarded us with house particulars to tempt us to make the move!
We rejected lots, but were immediately taken by the look of Yeldersley Hall, an interesting ‘project’ near Ashbourne.
We moved from a two-bedroom flat in Islington to a sprawling property with lots of potential but a daunting amount of work to do. It was an exciting time. I proposed to Catherine in the grounds of the Hall on one of our visits. (I had to make sure she came with me!)
We married at Osmaston Church on May 24 1997 and had our wedding reception in a marquee on the lawns of the Hall.
Tell us more about the hall and its layout.
The property was built in around 1780. It has always been a family home, for a long period being owned by the FitzHerbert-Wrights who ran the Butterley Brick and Iron Company. We bought from the Sevier family who had started renovations and converting some of the outbuildings into self-catering apartments. The East Wing was one of the first 5-star self-catering units in the Midlands.
We now hire out the function room, bar area, lounge and marquee for beautifully exclusive wedding ceremonies and receptions. One special feature of our weddings is that they spread over a whole weekend with guests able to stay over in the six cottages we have on site. In addition, guests have access to the gardens for drinks receptions and photos.
We also run other events and parties and have hosted all sorts of gatherings such as yoga sessions, line dancing, team building, training, funerals, business meetings and networking amongst other things. When not being used for weddings, our holiday cottages can be booked as self-catering holiday accommodation for groups of two to 22.
My mother used to live with us in the Clocktower apartment but she died in 2021. That is now occupied by Nadiia Tymoshenko and her daughter, Yeva, from Ukraine, who sought refuge here under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. They have been with us from the start of the war. Nadiia now runs a successful beauty business, Nails By Nadiia.
How many rooms are there in the main house?
There are 12 bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, utility room, a dining room, sitting room, a toilet, cloakroom, snug, a silver safe, a wine cellar, a drying room and a boiler room.
Tell us a little about the gardens.
We have a walled garden, a kitchen garden and formal gardens at the front of the house plus three paddocks. There’s about 12 acres in total. We are very lucky that the gardens look fantastic in the spring with rhododendrons and azaleas and a huge wisteria. The walled garden is beautiful with a parterre at the front and a lawned area with fruit trees at to the rear. We do our best to grow some fruit and veg for ourselves in the kitchen garden, but our gardener, Craig, is the one who really has his hands full.
What attracted you to Yeldersley Hall initially?
Everything about it. Its grounds, its location – edge of the Peak District, close to Ashbourne but not too remote – we loved the fact that it was a project we could put our stamp on; it was a lifestyle choice; a property with lots of potential, with an existing income stream but with lots of other opportunities; a brilliant place to bring my mother and great aunty Clara (who could both live here, independently from us and each other) and room for the next generation of the family to come. Everyone said we were mad to take it on but we felt it was ‘meant to be’. Perhaps we were a little naïve about the whole thing, but something brave and entrepreneurial came out in us and the adventure began.
Do you have any favourite rooms?
The library (which is now my office), the former billiard room (it has an amazing oak fireplace), the sitting room (with original William Morris wallpaper) and the Clocktower (there is a Smith’s of Derby turret clock) and tack room.
Favourite pieces or art or furniture?
I bought two oil paintings by George Turner, the Derbyshire artist, which I like very much and that look great in the sitting room. We have lots of incredible fireplaces with Delft tiles throughout the house. And I love the turret clock which we had restored by Neil Haycock, of William Haycock Clockmakers est. 1826 in Ashbourne.
Which areas of the hall tend to attract the most interest?
The Clocktower is a stand-out feature of the property. But people love the archway with its large gateway doors leading into the courtyard, the greenhouses and orangery, and the original dog kennels which now house our chickens.
Are there any ghost stories associated with the hall? (And do you believe them?)
The place has never given us a bad feelings in any way. However, we have had a number of Reiki retreats and other gatherings of people with spiritual beliefs and a surprising number of them have sensed something, or seen a ghost. One reoccurring character is ‘James’ who is dressed in butler’s livery and appears to be welcoming guests in the former dining rooms. I’ve never seen him but I’m told he is very friendly and happy with what is going on in the Hall!
Are there any quirky facts about the hall that few people know?
We have a link to James Bond. The author of the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming, used to visit Yeldersley Hall in order to see his girlfriend, Muriel Wright. He first met her at the fashionable ski resort of of Kitzbuhel in 1935 when they were both in their 20s. Muriel is believed to have been the inspiration behind the one and only Mrs Bond, the well born Contessa Tracy Di Vicenzo, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
In the movie, the Contessa played by Diana Rigg, marries James Bond, and then is tragically killed. This plot is thought to reflect real life as Fleming’s romance with Muriel Wright came to a tragic end in 1944 when Muriel, who was a despatch rider in London at the time, was killed in a wartime air raid.
How has the hall changed in the years you’ve lived there?
Well, firstly, we have done a lot of repairs and improvements. We started on the worst bits first and have gradually upgraded most areas. The billiard room was a major project; this had suffered from dry rot and years of neglect as it served no real purpose.
The magnificent fireplace was partly dismantled, there was no floor at all and the ceiling was collapsing. We turned it back into an elegant space and, since then, it has been used for a myriad of functions and events from parties, open days with cream teas, business meetings to U3A line dancing evenings. It is now licensed for civil wedding ceremonies.
The greenhouses and orangery were also in need of renovation, and this project won a Green Watch award from Derbyshire Dales District Council. We’ve had great success with tomatoes this year and also grew our own lemons and oranges.
However, the whole Hall needs constant upkeep and there’s always a project on the go. We were working on roofs recently and now its radiator valves that need sorting.
The Hall has been an amazing family home for us. We have seen our two children, Emily and Ollie, grow up here alongside their Grandma and my great aunt – four generations of the family together.
It’s a very special place..
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