The Other Bess - One Elizabethan Who Really Rocked

After Queen Elizabeth I, Bess of Hardwick was the Alpha female of the Elizabethan age. Imagine a combination of Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, and Julia Roberts - with a bit of Tina Turner and Hillary Clinton thrown in - and that about sums her up.

Bess of Hardwick was a star.

And her house, Hardwick Hall, one of the flashiest of the 16th century, is much as she left it. In this year that commemorates the 400th anniversary of her death:

• Find out about the second richest and most powerful woman of the Age of Elizabeth
• Visit Hardwick Hall - the superstar house she built

_{NTPL/Angelo Hornak}