Summer at Calke Abbey - 24th - 26th July

 Planning an MNTV weekend takes time, energy and patience and this years Summer at Calke Abbey was no different. The weekend was booked in by March and with our 40th Anniversary Party on the horizon I wanted to get that out of the way before concentrating on Calke Abbey. 40th out of the way and Jenny and I got our heads together to formulate a plan….its now Thursday 23rd July and you find me on a train bound for Manchester, with my cool bag, filled with goodies, by my feet as due to a last minute cancellation by Jenny, I'm leading this weekend solo…with, I'm hoping, help from the rest of the group. With everything, I hope, under control, I'm going to kick back and enjoy the English scenery and I'll come back to you later.

Friday has arrived and after a quick trip to Quarry Bank Mill for a look in the garden I was picked up by Andy and Clare. There was quite a bit of luggage to go with me as some of the provisions were at Jennys. We managed to squeeze it all in and headed for Uttoxeter to pick up the shopping, I did think I might have to call on reinforcements to pick Me or some of the shopping up but Andy managed to fill every space including Mine and Clares footwells with food….it’s only 40 mins down the road. Upon arrival we found Sarah and Neil already there and enjoying the sunshine. We unpacked the food and my luggage from Andy’s car which left them to go to their accommodation in Ticknall and Me to sort out where the food went. Prior to the weekend it had been decided we would go to the local watering hole for our tea but with Jack and Tim not arriving til 7pmish it was decided we would get take away Pizza. Sarah found a lovely little pizzeria in Ashby-de-la-Zouch that did takeaway so she and I put in the order and headed over to pick it up. Whilst we were away Jack and Tim arrived after travelling together from Manchester along with Andy and Clare who had walked from their cottage in Ticknall. That evening we dined on Pizza and Salad on the outdoor furniture provided. After swapping stories and discussing the arrangements for the weekend we headed to bed.

Dinner outside - J Lyons

 

Saturday has arrived and the sunshine is still with us. We were up and breakfasted by 9.30 ready for a pick up by the Rangers, however it was at this stage we discovered that the fridge wasn’t working, the light was on but no cold air was in it, so we loaded up a bag of food that we thought would be best in the fridge and Sarah and Andy drove to Ticknell to put the food in Andy’s fridge and then onto the worksite. Ranger Emily drove the rest of us to the worksite in Calkes Minibus and Ranger Alice drove in the pickup behind us. They had been told by Vicky that we could be left to our own devices — a huge compliment from Vicky, Thank You! Sarah and Andy joined us at this point. The task was Ragwort pulling, there was a fairly large area to clear. We walked the first field and didn’t find any there so we carried on to the other areas and started pulling them out with some difficulty. The ground was very hard and pulling it out was not as easy as I thought it would be and I couldn’t get my head around the equipment we’d been provided with. At coffee time we went back to the minibus that Emily and Alice had left us with and got our bags out. We enjoyed Jenny’s Chocolate Brownies, Lemon Drizzle Cake and Ally’s Carrot Cake, I wouldn’t like to say whose won!

Our Worksite - A Hardy

With the bus and bags so far from where we were working we decided to take them with us, closer to where we were working. The sun beat down all day and when it came to lunch time we found a big tree that provided shade to sit under. Neil decided to stay where he was as he had found a tree to sit under on the other side of the field. We managed to get quite a bit cleared and the sun was still beating down. We finished our day at 3pm and with the food needed for that nights meal not at Base Sarah drove Andy and Clare home to pick up the food and the rest of us got a lift in the minibus. Upon arrival back at Base we went in different directions, Tim went for a walk around the Estate, Sarah, Jack, Niel and Myself went to our respective beds and had a rest from the sun and also showered. I took Myself off downstairs to start the preparations for dinner before long I was joined by others, most of whom sat outside partaking in some libation. We dined on Tomato Macaroni Cheeses with Garlic Bread and Salad finished off with Chocolate Cheesecake, Pomegranate and Raspberry Cheesecake with Berries and Cream. After dinner we were back outside to enjoy the last of the sunshine before heading for bed.

The Stables - T Leadbetter

Calke Church - T Leadbetter

The Hall with yellowing grass due to the hot weather - T Leadbetter

Sunday dawned cooler but bright with the possible chance of some rain. We breakfasted on cereal and bacon butties. We were picked up by the Rangers and again taken to the worksite….the same one as yesterday. However with the workday due to finish at 1pm we decided to concentrate on a smaller area of ragwort so that we could clear an area rather than leaving Ragwort still standing in many areas. We toiled away, chatting to each other as we went. Despite the light shower of rain we had made good progress by cake time and by 12.15 we had cleared the area Result!

Our day 2 worksite - S Hopes

We all then moved our bags to the minibus and took our ragwort forks into a feild close by that we had been asked to clear, as we waded through the long grass I was sceptical that there were any ragwort in this field, as it happened we found about 10 plants so it was another excellent result. At 1pm Rangers Emily and Alice came to pick us up and we were able to tell them that we had cleared two distinct areas. They were very pleased with our work. Upon arrival back at the basecamp we packed up our sleeping bags, divvied out the leftover food, changed out of our sweaty clothes, had lunch and headed for home. It was a great weekend and we missed you all. I hope to see more of you at our Winter in Wales Weekend on 13th - 15th November.

Christmas at Calke Abbey - 28th November - 1st December

The day is over, it's time to head to bed, it's been a long 5 days and an age since my last lot of annual leave. The holiday is here finally, my alarm is off as tomorrow it's baking and packing as I head to the Lake District on Friday for MNTV’s annual Christmas weekend, is what my Facebook tells in memories of 7 years ago.

It's Friday and you find me having done my baking and packing on a train heading for Derby as I travel to MNTV’s Christmas weekend at Calke Abbey. When first advertised it was a winter weekend but after a vote it was decided that it would be our Christmas Weekend, very early I know, but the members spoke! With a long train journey ahead of me and not sleeping to well I'm gonna kick back and relax maybe have a nap and I'll come back to You later…

4 hours and 20 mins later I reached Derby where I was met by Jenny who had picked up the shopping on route to meet Me. Once I had found her and put my bags into the car we made our way to Calke Abbey. The basecamp is at the end of the one way system through the park, so we had to tell the kiosk we were going to the Basecamp so we didn't have to show our volunteer cards. Upon arrival at the Basecamp we discovered Mary, her luggage and her 6 bottles of wine had just arrived. The Basecamp is basic with bunkbeds but with the number of people we had staying we all had bottom bunks. Upon arrival we discovered many flys in the ladies dormitory, they were everywhere, on the floor, the beds, the curtains, light fittings so we got the hoover out and started cleaning them up alive and dead ones….after settling in we awaited for the arrival of Jack, Sarah and Denise. Andy and Clare who were staying nearby in a NT Cottage, joined us to put up the tinsel and fairy lights. Sarah arrived at just before 6.30pm and shortly afterwards Sarah, Jenny, Mary and Myself headed by car to the local watering hole, The Milking Parlour. Andy, Clare and Jack had set off before us to walk. Once there we awaited for the arrival of Denise who had got caught in traffic. We hadn't just gone to the Milking Parlour for a drink, on a previous visit to Calke we had visited it and seen they cooked pizzas so we partook in the consumption of pizza, there were unusual flavours, Greek Lamb, Feta and Hot Honey was a winner as was Seasonal Roast Veggies and Herb Creamed “Cheese”, an interesting choice and very much enjoyed was Salt and Pepper Chinese Beef after the delicious food we headed back to base this time we all got a lift as we now had 2 cars with us. Upon return to basecamp we slowly headed to bed.

Saturday dawned wet, we breakfasted and prepared ourselves for the day ahead. Just before 10am Ranger Paul and Apprentice Ranger Holly joined us in the basecamp to introduce themselves and tell us a bit about the task. Jenny unfortunately wasn't able to join us, she was looking after a knee injury that had flared up, perhaps unfortunately isn't the right word with the weather we were going out into. 

Our worksite for the weekend was Staunton Harold Reservoir, willow coppicing, with some blackthorn thrashing thrown in for good measure. The bits of willow that we had coppiced were either to be made into 6-7 ft sticks for den building and the other was meant to be chipped but as the ground was so wet and not being able to get the chipper in position, Paul and the Team had to rethink, a dead fence to pretty up an old fence. It was a wet morning and we enjoyed our coffee and lunch break in the cafe which had very kindly said we could sit in there as it was so wet, it felt a bit odd eating cake we had made in a cafe that some very tasty cakes on offer, there were also real toilets which was a bonus. Having spent the morning working away, Denise and Sarah headed back to help Jenny with preparations for our dinner that evening. The rest of us carried on working and by the time we finished our days work at 4pm it had stopped raining, the sun made a brief appearance and we had seen a rainbow but it had turned colder.

Upon arrival back at Base I discovered that Sarah and Denise had made their way to the Christmas fair and lights trail which was located by the house so I decided a shower was needed and then I headed off to the festivities. Having a quick look round the Christmas Fair I found Denise and we went round the lights trail and watched the house lit up in many different colours. We also went under the house through the tunnels that were built for the servants to move goods around unseen, they were decorated for Christmas.

We found Sarah and headed back to  Basecamp, where we found Andy and Clare had joined us. Christmas Dinner had been expertly cooked by Jenny, we had Chicken, Pigs in Blankets, Roast Potatoes, Roast Parsnips, Carrots, Peas, Sweetcorn and Gravy, followed by Christmas Pudding and Brandy Sauce. We chatted and then went to bed as we were tired after a long day.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, we all left Base at 9.45 as we were due to meet Paul and Holly at Staunton Harold Reservoir Car Park at 10am, to carry on the day befores task, but today was extra special as we had Shropshire and Staffordshire NTV Group joining us. They had bought 12 volunteers with them, more volunteers means more work gets done, well that was the plan and it worked. When breaktime was called we produced our cakes and they produced their cakes. There were many different kinds, Victoria Sponge Cake, Orange and Sultana Cake, Banana, Date and Walnut Cake, Chocolate Brownies, Chilli Chocolate Brownies and Rice Crispie Mars Bar Cake. There were lots of whooping with the number of cakes available to try.

There was no room to sit in the cafe so we commandeered the picnic tables outside for our breaks. Mary left us after lunch to head home as she had plans for early Monday morning. The day was a day of blue skies, laughter, hard work and chatter. As the day drew to a close it was great to see the amount of willow we had coppiced, we hope the resident bird watcher is pleased. 

We said goodbye to SSNTV and headed for base where we dined on Chicken Curry, Rice and Naan, Sarah and Denise left us after dinner to head home and after washing up the evenings pans and crockery Andy and Clare left us too. That left Jenny, Jack and Myself, it had been a busy day, so the three of us headed to bed to relax get some kip.

On Monday morning we made sure we hoovered the basecamp, swept the floor, took down the Christmas Decs and packed up the food then headed for home. Jack left first, Jenny and I left shortly afterwards and called in at Kedleston Hall to see it decked out for Christmas. As we were heading in the hall we met Andy and Clare who had had the same idea as us. We very much liked the decorated Christmas Trees. My particular favourite was turquoise and blue ribbons.

It was a long journey home for me, I travelled in style having upgraded myself to First Class and got back to Edinburgh at 8pm.

It was a fantastic weekend with great chat, fabulous banter and great food. I’m very glad I had an extra day at home today as it is now Tuesday night and all the washing is done and I’m back to work tomorrow.

It was great to meet another group like ours, we hope this will be an ongoing arrangement going forwards. We hope to join SSNTV at Shugborough Hall this Summer.

Delightful Derbyshire - 28th - 30th June 2024

Seven go to Calke Abbey - Bracken, Pizza and Sunshine

Starring: Jenny, Ally, Denise, Mary, Sarah and Neil with a cameo from Chris M

Guest Starring: Ranger Vicky

It takes a lot of planning to organise a weekend and with work not confirming my shift swap until a month before, I couldn't confirm if I was able to lead the weekend so I was very glad when Jenny said she would. With it being her first time leading a weekend it took some reassurance and advice from Myself to get the weekend off the ground, I had every faith in her.

My journey started at 9.00am with a bus trip to the station and then a 4hr 20 train journey from Edinburgh to Derby, meeting Jenny, we picked up the click and collect from Sainsburys Derby and then made our way to our Basecamp on the Calke Abbey Estate. Mary had already arrived but had decided to wait before unloading her luggage including 6 bottles of wine, apparently she takes 6 bottles on every NT working holiday she attends, long or short.

Shortly after our arrival Sarah and Neil arrived. With all our beds made and pyjamas out we decided to try the local watering hole, which is also a microbrewery, the Milking Parlour is owned by The Tollgate Brewery, tenants of the Calke Estate. As it was a lovely sunny and warm evening it was suggested we walk, Jenny offered to drive so she and Mary travelled there by car. As I had been sat on a train for a while Sarah, Neil and Myself decided to walk, using a map and working out where the right path was. We walked for about 30 mins to the pub. Neil didn't trust the women to get him there safe and sound, so he asked two men the way, one knew the way one didn't. Upon arrival we joined Mary and Jenny in the sunshine, Sarah wanted to try all the beers, for a forthcoming beer Festival she was helping to organise. Jenny returned to Basecamp with Mary to prep the evening meal. She returned later to pick the rest of us up, upon arrival back at Basecamp, we enjoyed homemade pizza with Salad and Garlic bread. As we were eating Denise joined us and our party was complete. She also partook in Pizza. We had enough pizza to feed an army. After food we sat outside and chatted and caught up on news, then went to bed.

The Basecamp

When I first made contact about another weekend at Calke Abbey it was because Vicky Naylor who use to work at Styal had got in touch to say she had moved locations. I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to see Her and Calke Abbey again. On Saturday Vicky arrived just before 9am and informed us that we would be travelling to Carvers Rocks Nature Reserve which is just outside the Calke Estate, it has recently been taken over by the National Trust and Vicky is heading up the team there.

Being a volunteer you get to go behind the scenes or through private gates and this was one of those occasions, with 3 vehicles making the journey we went through a pretty nondescript gate which, unless looking for it I think you would probably not see it. Passing through the gate we drove along the road to a carpark which I think probably used to be a well used car park as it had benches and picnic tables alongside it. Having dropped two vehicles there, Vicky took her vehicle back along the road to a pedestrian gate which lead along walking tracks around the reserve. We took the path for some distance and up onto the heathland. Vicky and the team are wanting to get rid of the Bracken but due to the heather being there couldn’t come along with machinery until the area around the heather had been cleared. We were having to pull out the bracken, this although hard work was actually quite a satisfying task because you could see how much you had done. It did involve a lot of bending or crouching and some folk decided to either sit on the floor or their sit stool they had bought with them, with differing levels of success. Denise managed to somersault off her stool it was so elegantly executed that she could have won a gymnastics gold medal at the Olympic games! At Coffee time we enjoyed Jennys Chocolate Brownies and Bakewell Slice. There was one large area of heather and after Elevenses the majority of the group worked on that. Whether we got all the heather exposed is unknown as it just kept appearing.

We called a halt to this area at Lunchtime, by now it was getting quite hot and with no tree in the right area to shelter under we moved to the second area and enjoyed our lunch of pizza in the cooler air. It was at this stage that member Chris who has recently moved to the Derbyshire from the Liverpool Area joined us. With the Trust only recently taking over the site and it being a lovely day Vicky decided that a litter pick was needed so Chris was joined by Jenny for the said pick along the shore of the Reservoir that makes up part of the nature reserve. The rest of us started on this new area which the machinery would not be able to reach. We had been informed that at some stage in the near future the trust were hoping to get Ponies for the area so we were giving the ponies a helping hand. At 3.15 we called it a day and headed back to the carpark, some went back to the basecamp and another car load went to the aforementioned pub. When the pub goers returned we found preparations for dinner in full swing, Chris was chopping strawberries into very small pieces, Jenny was mixing them into whipped cream to pipe into homemade profiteroles - what an extravagance. Mary was on wine duty and we were all offered a glass of wine as we stepped in the door, something told Me she didn’t want to go home with the 6 bottles she had brought with her. We all enjoyed a hot shower and some partook in a lie down out of the warm air. Prior to the weekend Jenny had sent out an email giving us the choice of what we would like to eat so that evening we dined on the most popular choice, Roast Chicken with potatoes and vegetables. We also enjoyed the profiteroles. We did think about going to explore the estate but we decided to stay put and enjoy the company of each other and being able to sit outside. We were all tired after our day so we headed for bed.

The Milking Parlour Beer Garden

Clearing Bracken from round the Heather

Sunday again dawned warm but cloudy. Neil was early to rise and early to leave, Denise and Sarah missed his departure. We ate a breakfast of Cereals with fruit and yogurt and bacon sandwiches. Mary left after breakfast with all 6 bottles of wine. Jenny, Denise, Sarah and Myself, aching from the day before, went to visit the Abbey gaining access to the gardens through the staff entrance. On our way there we came across a gardener working on the tractor and some wooden musical instruments. He let us have a go on them. Once in the garden we admired the sweet peas and the apple trees. We eventually found our way to the house via the shop and the admissions kiosk. Calke Abbey is advertised on the NT Website as “A visit to Calke Abbey, like so many National Trust places, is a step back in time. But Calke is not presented like other country houses of its day. Paintwork is fading and peeling; vast collections of personal belongings are left as they were found.” It’s not wrong, it’s stuffed full of objects some of which were broken. And yes it did feel a little unloved. We returned to basecamp for lunch and then did a last tidy up and headed for home.

The Abbey

The Wooden Instruments

My thanks goes to Jenny for leading the weekend and picking me up from the station.

I look forward to seeing you all at Christmas in Cymru (Snowdonia) - Friday 6th to Sunday 8th December

Ally

In the Gardens at Calke Abbey

Christmas weekend at Calke Abbey - 6-8th December 2019

Lights, Tinsel, Santa!!!!

Nine people signed up for the annual Christmas weekend which this year came from Calke Abbey.  We hadn't been for 15 years and it was great to get back after so long.  Jenny had picked me up at Macclesfield station (thanks Jenny) and although we got stuck in a bit of traffic we made it to the basecamp by 5pm.  We were met by Mick, Pip and Neil who were just off to explore the park in the dark.  It was at this point that I informed the assembled group that Tim would not be joining us this weekend as he was not well.  We hope you are now feeling better Tim!  Jenny and I unpacked our things from Jenny's car and were shown around the basecamp by Neil who had decided not to go exploring.  Once we had worked out who was in which dorm we got our beds ready.  Pip and Mick got back and Jenny drove us into the village to find something to eat.  The first pub we tried wasn't serving food, so we tried another one (The Wheel Inn) which had been recommended by a local in the first pub, but which we had seen in the basecamp was now closed.  Surely the residents of the village couldn't be wrong could they?  They weren't ... the Wheel was most definitely open.  We knew that Denise was on her way after a day at work and decided to wait for her before ordering our food and had a sharing platter whilst we waited.  Once she arrived we ordered our food.  Everyone thought better of having turkey and all the trimmings as we would be having that tomorrow night.  Once finished and paid up we headed back to the park.  To enter after dark we had been given the barrier code ... would it work? Yes!  Next question ... as we were now in two cars, would both get through the barrier before it closed?  The answer was again yes!  Once back we showed Denise around, made sure the Christmas decorations that we had put up earlier in the evening were just so and waited for our esteemed leaders, Matt and Lisa, to arrive.  When they did we helped unload their car and soon headed to bed.

Saturday, we were up early to eat breakfast and make lunches.  At about 8.30 someone spotted a Ranger arrive for work.  Would this be our Ranger for the day?  At 9.30 said Ranger Iain came over and met us.  As there were 8 of us and the property dog, Hayley, we couldn't all fit in his vehicle and he asked if someone would be happy to drive the National Trust Land Rover.  Lisa offered and so we set off.  Much to Lisa's surprise we travelled out of the main park and onto the public road (!) to the worksite.  Our worktask for the day was to clear bracken and brambles from around recently planted trees.  We used scythes and loppers to clear an arm's length round each tree so the Rangers would be able to get their flail out to do the rest.  We did have to watch our footing because in some areas there were several large deep holes.  Thankfully there were no casualties.

At lunchtime, Iain ran Lisa and Matt back to base so they could begin cooking dinner.  After lunch the rest of us carried on working.  The task was great for getting any anger and tension out.  During the day we found a pond that the ranger didn't know was there which was nice.  At about 3 we called it a day as we were all flagging a bit.  We had done quite a large area and Iain was very pleased with what we had all done.  We put all the tools and our bags into the vehicles and drove back to base.  This time Mick was driving the Land Rover and we followed Iain in through the exit! The things you can do when you're in a marked National Trust vehicle!  Once back we helped Iain put the tools in their store and he showed us the flail.  Then we walked across the yard to the basecamp where Matt and Lisa were busy peeling parsnips, preparing potatoes and chopping carrots.  They always have the dinner timings down to a fine art.  The rest of us enjoyed a warming drink of mulled wine and a mince pie.  Some went for a shower which I would just like to take a moment to praise as they were brilliant - lovely and hot.  You can never be too sure what base camp showers are going to be like.  Mick and Pip went out to see the big house lit up.  A trail through the servants' quarters and tunnels had Christmassy lighting and decorative pieces.  At 6pm we sat down in our Christmas kitchen.  The table was covered in delicious food which was devoured by all.

Pudding was a sticky toffee pudding which I did not have because much as I love a good pudding I didn't think I would have been able to move afterwards!  After we had cleared the table and washed up the pots we moved ourselves into the comfy chairs and it was time for Secret Santa.  Before this took place I presented Matt with his 10 years service certificate and badge.  Well done Matt!

Santa then gave us all our secret presents and we did the Christmas Quiz that Lisa had written for us.  The funniest answer came from Team Pick & Mix.  What do you call a male turkey?  Twizzler!  The winner of the quiz ...? Matt.  Apparently he hadn't seen the questions beforehand!  After this we did play some of the games people had received in their secret Santa.  One that caused much hilarity was Pip's Mr Men and Little Miss Personality Game ... highly entertaining.  It was getting late by this time so we ventured to bed.

Sunday dawned bright and a little breezy and, as in previous years, the day was ours to do with as we wished.  Some headed home in the morning - Neil to watch his son race in a half marathon.  Did he win?  Mick, Pip, Jenny and I were not in quite such a rush so we visited the tunnels under the house (again) and the shop where many goodies were bought.  We then went for a walk round the parkland.  Excellent map reading by Mick!  Once back at base we ate our packed lunch and headed for home.

It was a fabulous weekend.  Well done to all involved.  To the rest of you ... where were you?  Next year we are travelling to Snowdonia for Christmas in Cymru.  I look forward to seeing you there.

Ally