Down to the very south of Derbyshire this week, to the National Trust property Calke Abbey. I've intended to visit this place for many years but never got round to it. As you will see fom the above picture it is not in fact an Abbey, but a fine example of an early 18th century country house. The 'Abbey' name derives from the fact that it is on the site of a former Cistercian Abbey which met the fate of most such establishments during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.
Although not built by them, the house eventually ended up in the Harpur family. The 20th century saw a gradual decline in it's state, a not uncommon fate with these large houses, which required an army of servants to run and maintain them, and attracted crippling death duties. Eventually it was donated by the family to the National Trust in the 1980's, after a period in which it had been occupied by only one member of the family.
The NT decided to keep the house and its contents largely in the state in which it was on donation. It has been made safe by repairs where necessary, but not restored to its former 18th and 19th century glory.
I knew from the NT website, when I planned the trip, that photography inside the building was not allowed. But I figured the garden and external surroundings would still provide some good photographic opportunities. I also harboured an optimistic hope that once I got there and asked nicely they might allow me shoot without flash. My optimism was unfounded, however, which left only a slightly more optimistic hope that I might be able to sneak a few crafty shots in when nobody was looking.
Again the optimism was unfounded, but for a reason which made my trip round the house one of the most informative and enjoyable visits I have made to such institutions: a veritable army of NT volunteers is in attendance in every room which you are allowed to visit. These volunteers are there to interact with visitors and pass on as much of their knowledge of the place as you are willing to receive. So crafty photos were out, but interesting chats and information exchange were in.
Many of the rooms are jam-packed with stuffed animals and birds of all descriptions - a bit like a dusty old Natural History Museum. Apparently one of the family members was keen on documenting all native British species, his modus operandi being to go out and shoot them and then have them stuffed! In today's more environmentally conscious times, I pondered, he would have been a wild life photographer and his 'shooting' would not have had such a drastic effect on his targets.
After my internal tour I went to visit the gardens. Again these had deteriorated due to neglect, and have been repaired, where necessary, rather than restored. And one or two areas have been preserved in the state in which they were taken over. This shot of one of the garden sheds gives a good idea of what some of the rooms in the house itself are like:-
The gardens themselves were in an early spring state of having been prepared for bedding plants and vegetables, with some greenhouses being packed with pots of seedlings bursting forth. It was in one of the greenhouses where I got my 'Picture of the Week', this close up study of an unknown (to me) flower bloom just on the point of fulfilling its spring glory:-
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