Calke Abbey

We have membership to the National Trust but never seem to get our money's worth out of this compared with Trentham Gardens. It might be because we have to make more of an effort to decide and travel to their sites and properties.

So we're planning to visit somewhere different each month. Today we set off down the A50 to Calke Abbey.

They have lovely grounds for a walk including a 1000 year old oak - The Old Man of Calke.

We also visited the house. Unlike many stately homes much of the house has been left just as it was when the National Trust took over - as a place in decline. It makes for a very different experience and what was happening to many places like this. Where debts and lack of funds meant they just couldn't maintain or keep the house going. Fascinating!