No Sweat to-day…but Still Plenty of Dust

This Blacksmiths ‘Smithy’ hasn’t seen any action for a good number of years.  In times long gone, with the furnace blazing, bellows pumping and hammer and sparks flying there would have been a great deal of sweat on the brow of the Blacksmith.  All that remains are some abandoned tools, the smell of soot and of course lots of dust.  Stand and gaze and let your imagination create the noise and energy as the Smith used his talents to make everything from gates, to repairing farm machines to of course the shoes for the many horses the estate maintained.  The Smithy was just one of many buildings that created the Stable Yards, standing proud and smart, dominant in the middle of one of the two yards on this estate……..

This is at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.  Like so many large estate houses it was a self sufficient estate.  Farms, large vegetable gardens, bakery, slaughter house and brewery were all essentials for maintaining the needs of the ‘Big House’ its guests and their staff, and all the estate workers….plus its own Church (or Chapel) to look after their inner sole……

Saint Giles, Calke

Sounds idyllic but I guess the  estate workers earned every penny and probably deserved a whole lot more.  I don’t know for sure but looking arround the stable blocks I guess there was even differing levels of horses in their social structure.  There are definitely some rough and ready stables whilst others obviously catered for  ‘higher ranking’ horse.  This is part of the stables attached to the Carriage House, nothing rough and ready here……

These Stables were obviously for the carriage horses and no doubt the Squires best mounts for riding and of course hunting.  Take a look at the image below.  They have tried to capture both the atmosphere of the past for us today.  It is a photograph made to look like an oil painting of the empty stalls, then with the magic of polarisation the image changes as you move round to bring in the ghostly figure of the Squire in all his hunting refinery….a strange and unusual but effective presentation…..

Calke Abbey was for generations the home of the Harpur-Crewe Family….the House and its fine Stable Block are now in the care of the National Trust…..

13th June

© David Oakes 2014