The weather forecast is pretty bleak for later to-day and into tomorrow, heavy rains and high winds running to gale force are predicted. So it was prudent to take advantage of the early morning sunshine which was casting a warm glow over the countryside contrasting with the blue skies that were not quite cloudless.
The trees are looking bleak after last weeks storms but even so there are some Oak trees putting up a brave fight. This veteran Oak has seen many hundreds of winters and isn’t going to let his leaves slip just yet and still sports a good head of leaf cover…..and still surprisingly ‘spring like’ in its colouring.
Following interest in my blog ‘A Door to Nowhere’ on the 23rd November https://davidoakesimages.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/door-to-nowhere/
I was asked if I could add a few more interesting details about Calke Abbey. So here we are just a few bits and pieces that interest me around the estate. I did mention that this was once a very busy, self sufficient estate. Part of the main complex is this majestic Stable Block that was the hub of the supporting activities for the House. It size and style indicates just how important it was, even to-day its grandeur is plain to see.
It was the carriages and dress horses that were mainly stabled in this block, the working horses were a little distance at one of the estates farms like Holme Farm below. Whilst it was the more the centre for the work-a-day activities it still presents an attractive purposeful frontage reflecting again the importance of the Calke Estate. 
All large Estates had their own places of worship and Calke was no exception. St. Giles church is both the family church and the church for the Estate, located on a rise in clear view of Calke Abbey, within easy Sunday walking distance but outside of its formal gardens, so permitting access for the estate workers, without spoiling his Lordships privacy.
House, Stable Block, Gardens, Farms and Church were all an interlinked unit. As explained the Church was located in such a way as not to cause disruption to the House. Likewise it would not have been either welcome or suitable for the grazing cattle and deer to sample the vegetation of the formal gardens. A wall was constructed, but it was constructed so as not to be visible from the house yet still be a barrier to livestock. This style of construction consist of a wall then a sunken ditch (the house being on the wall side and the farm stock beyond the ditch) it is common and effective method used on many estates where the House was the centre of the estate….it is known as a ‘Ha-ha’
Why a ‘Ha-Ha’ …well folklore suggests that should you be walking across the estate at night, you would most probably fall into the ditch, and folk would offer no sympathy and merely say ‘Ha, ha’
But if you avoid falling into a Ha-ha the parkland around Calke Abbey makes for a great walk at anytime of the year and the dogs love it too.
If you want more details on Calke Abbey, its location and its history well try the link below
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-calkeabbey
12 December
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 