25 July 2016 - Littleover Farm, Sutton Bonington, near Loughborough

I woke early yet again, and was kept awake with the regular plop, plop, crashing sounds on the caravan roof. Even in the few days we have been here, the ornamental cherry, if that is indeed the correct ID for the tree that hangs over our posse, has ripened and some of the tiny  cherries fall on their own account and the rest are helped along by the birds seeking their breakfast.

Once awake, I heard every plane that came and went from the airport no matter how many sheep or goats or moles were counted in my head. We now understand a little more about this very conveniently placed international airport; flights arrive and depart for Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium and other centres within the British Isles. The airport was originally an RAF station, decommissioned in 1964, opening the year after as an airfield for the public. Obviously it has grown and gained its international flavour more recently and the folk who live near or under the flight paths have been eased gently into the disruption. Perhaps if I go to bed late enough, I will be too comatose to be bothered again?

Still juggling our schedule from here, we decided to head off for another National Trust experience for the day, but not before booking ahead yet again, taking our accommodation planning out to 22 August. We also agreed to abandon any plans to explore Scotland, that the limited time we have left will only just, if even then, be enough to finish our overview of England. Scotland will have to wait for next year when we return.

Calke Abbey

It was about 10am when we arrived at Calke Abbey, a Grade I listed country house near Ticknell, Derbyshire, about six miles south west from our camp as the crow flies. The site was an Augustine priory, as so many of these National Trust places once were, from the 12^th century until its dissolution. The present building, named Calke Abbey in 1808, was never actually an abbey, but is a Baroque mansion built between 1701 and 1704, with alterations made over the subsequent centuries.  But in-between the priory and the mansion, an Elizabethan house was built on the same footprint, so architecturally it has had more or less three lives.

St Giles Church

Subsequent to the dissolution, the property was leased by the Crown and finally sold to a series of notable people through to Robert Bainbridge, who sold it in in 1622 to Sir Henry Harpur, the first of a lineage who managed to hold on to the property for nearly 300 years, until it passed in 1985 in lieu of death duties to the National Trust. By this time, after ownership by the last three of the line, who lived in small corners of the decaying house, the house was in a state of decline. It is like this that the Trust have chosen to keep it and present it to the public. Repairs have been undertaken only to the point of keeping it safe for access, but otherwise the story is one about what happens to these jewels when the money runs out. It is presented as an “un-stately” home.

Several of the baronets were avid, even frantic, collectors of all things natural (stones, shells, and wild life). Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe (1846 – 1924) was an eccentric taxidermist, very skilled and without control of when enough is enough. The walls are covered with mounted heads of his father’s prized long-horn cattle, and stags. Glass cabinets abound, full of stuffed birds, foxes, anything that moved, apart from his fellow humans. Half of his collection was sold off early last century to alleviate the tax burden but still great quantities of dead remain. Needless to say, the rest of the family had their own eccentricities to tolerate all of this.

The author in the walled garden

The long road into the park is lined by glorious lime trees, and the rolling countryside supports a deer park, sheep and cattle, with the backdrop of the Staunton Harold Reservoir; all quite stunning. On arrival we walked a 3.5 kilometre walk of the park perimeter, and then took a small introductory tour of the house and another of the history of the fabulous gardens. After lunch we checked out St Giles’ Church, then spent over two hours inside the house listening to the guides, several in period costume, acting out their parts as past residents.

The extensive stables house cafes, a shop and facilities along with the abandoned workings of their function; blacksmith, stables and rising school, the brewery now defunct. The parklands and farm open to the public cover an area of 600 acres, but the Trust also administers more farms and properties within the nearby village, all part of the original property and now generating income so that the property is basically self-supporting. 

Glorious wildflowers

Fortunately the rain which threatened all day, stayed away and we managed to fill almost the full day enjoying this wonderful spot, all exceeding our expectations.

Rather than return by the route we had taken in via the Derby Road and the amazing crossing over the River Trent, we took minor roads in a more direct route home, slower and more scenic, traced on the map from one turn to another. 

The crossing referred to above deserved a little checking; my description of the incredibly long bridge was no exaggeration. The Swarkestone Bridge is an ancient Grade I listed bridge and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was built in the 13^th century to cross the river and the surrounding marshes and is almost a mile long, with seventeen arches. The first mention of the bridge was in 1204, but in part has been since modified. The majority of the existing bridge dates from the late 13^th and early 14^th centuries. It is the longest stone bridge in England as well as being the longest inland bridge. I was glad we were not towing the caravan because there are parts of this undulating bridge that are very narrow.