I think I have single-handedly finished the summer for everyone, so sorry about that. Ever since I left for this trip, I’ve had rain everyday apart from yesterday. It’s beginning to get a little annoying to be honest, but at least I have a water tight caravan to go back to at the end of the day. It just means that there isn’t much walking around the countryside and in gardens at the moment, which it what I was hoping for a bit more of.
Anyway – still enjoying my travels and finding plenty to keep me/us occupied despite the weather.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I bought a book from the National Memorial shop, called ‘All The Things You Are’ by Kenneth Ballantyne. This book tells the true stories of men and women who lived through the Second World War, in their own words. I started reading it yesterday and over breakfast this morning and it’s brilliant. Well worth a read – happy to lend or go buy it if you can.
Also forgot to tell you all about the second gift from our friend Mavis that my Mum bought along – this time with Puffins on. It’s like Mavis predicted my trip to Puffin Island the other day! Thank you once again Mavis.
Today we are heading to Calke Abbey, another National Trust property, but this is one with a difference.
Some of us were more excited at the prospect than others…. And we are all waterproofed up for the day ahead!
As we showed our membership cards at the gatehouse, they handed us a CD to listen to as we approached the house, that told us a little about the history of the building. My sister suddenly announced ‘Oh, it’s a bit like Jurassic Park’. If anyone remembers the start of the first film, they begin their tour of the park inside a monorail car with commentary – luckily we didn’t see any man-eating dinosaurs!
How was this property different to other NT places? Well, it’s described as the ‘Un-stately home and Country Estate’ as the Harpur Crewe family, reclusive and private, kept Calke Abbey and its park hidden away until the house, its collection and the estate were handed to the NT in 1985. As the gates were unlocked, and the shutters opened, life in this declining country house was revealed.
Time had stood still – rooms full of treasures collected by the family who never threw anything away, and an estate that had become a haven for wildlife.
With peeling paintwork and overgrown courtyards, Calke Abbey tells the story of the dramatic decline of a country house estate. The house ad stables are little restored, abandoned areas vividly portraying a period in the twentieth century when many country houses did not survive to tell their story.
You were encouraged to experience a day in the life of Hilda Moseley, the Lady of the Estate or Ruth Musson, who was an Under Parlour Maid there in the 1940s, by following cut-outs around the house that told little stories of their lives. Hilda seemed well liked by the tenants of the estate, who remembered her delivering vegetables to anyone who was ill, and we also heard from Ruth, who didn’t seem very happy there, but she did have a very hard job.
Ruth was quoted as saying “I was only at Calke Abbey about a year. I didn’t like it because I was lonely and I had a long way to go, there wasn’t much time off, so I left after about a year. I joined the Land Army when I was 17.”
I’m not sure how I felt about the house – on the one hand it was quite magical to walk through an undisturbed house, shown as it was left by its owners as they moved from one part of the house to the next, locking doors to the rooms full of their ‘stuff, before occupying another, but on the other hand, it’s a shame that such a huge, grand house isn’t shown at its best, when the family lived and entertained there. You can see plenty of derelict houses across the world, but there still aren’t that many grand houses to look around and remember how certain people used to live.
It was a fascinating insight into the last family who lived there though – their eccentricities and hobbies. We weren’t too comfortable with all the taxidermy around the house, but if that’s what the owners liked, then fair enough it was there!
We enjoyed lunch in their tea rooms – I had a rarebit on a cheese scone, which was very nice, and there was also a huge barn with activities for kids in that my Nephew enjoyed. In these photos you can see him drawing a picture and pretending to be a robot – very cute.
We did find a census report from 1901 that showed the people who worked in the house at that time. The Coachman, George Coleman, listed was from Sherington, Bucks. This is just a few miles from my home town of Olney! He worked there for over 50 years!
We headed back to the caravan next, for tea and cake and managed to take a couple of little team photo (Me, my Nephew and sister) on the way back! I haven’t cropped my BIL (who was driving) out of the photo – he didn’t want to be in it!
Spent the rest of the afternoon (not much left of it by the time we got back) relaxing, reading, chatting – with the heater on in my parents awning – Gotta love British summer time!
Dinner tonight was Mum’s homemade chilli and rice, with garlic bread. We are so lucky to have a mum so skilled at cooking and baking – we get very well looked after when we camp together.
Stopped raining around 6pm, and it was a nice, warm evening – typical!
One (wo)man and her (cara)van 