Image Map

Autumn Holiday

Saturday 17 November 2012



I'm back from my holidays.  Again.  You could be forgiven for thinking that I am always away.  I don't get six months off work a year or anything.  Yes, the holiday allowance is quite generous but I take it as lots of smaller holidays throughout the year instead of one big jaunt to somewhere far away.  Plus I like holiday cottages in this country.  I can cope without sun quite easily - give me somewhere cosy with a log fire, lots of beautiful countryside to walk around and some nearby market towns with good charity shops and I am as happy as a pig in muck.

This time I went to stay in one of the lodges at Calke Abbey, just on the border of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Mum and Char came for the weekend (see above for them getting up to leaf-kicking larks) and then I spent the rest of the week on my glorious lonesome.

The house is closed at this time of year but I've been before so it wasn't a source of great sadness to me.  If you haven't been, GO. It is the most wonderful place inside and very unlike any other National Trust house you'll see.  It's all preserved in a complete state of 1880's decline with jumble and rubbish everywhere and it's got such an atmosphere.  Even the stable yard (which is open all year round cos it houses the shop and restaurant) is very similar.  Nothing has been tidied up.


I'd also recommend a little wander around Ashby de la Zouch one day. It was pissing it down with rain when I went, which wasn't ideal. But it has a castle and loads of great charity shops, so what more do you want?


Books ahoy! That's a Folio Society copy of Cold Comfort Farm at the bottom, yoicks!

Then I spent the rest of the week reading, watching DVDs and doing a spot of beading. It's my autumn/winter craft of choice.


I did stir from the sofa occasionally, honest I did.  Lots of walking also happened.


The parkland there is quite astonishingly beautiful at this time of year.  I'll leave it to a guidebook to explain all the whys and wherefores of it being a site of special scientific interest but I can tell you how gorgeous it was. Better still, I can show you. Look at the colours!


But look at how lovely the cottage was. I think you can probably understand why I didn't need to go out that much.  


Back to normal life for me now though!

14 comments:

  1. Ooh, the cottage looks lovely. I too am a big fan of autumn colours. The whole thing just sounds lovely x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Calke Abbey is VERY much on my list of NT to-dos! Even more now having seen your post! Great photos :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The cottage looks a delight! I do love proper old NT places but hate the daft entrance fees. x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ahh spooky I just mentioned Calke Abbey on Foof & Faff's post about urban exploration last night. It is by far the most interesting NT place I've been and I'd recommend it to anyone, but it is heartbreaking to see anywhere abandoned and in decline.

    I always love the sound of your solo holidays, I really must try it myself one time. Loving the pics in this post too, they're so atmospheric - have you been getting a new camera? xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks lovely and what a pretty cow.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, this place looks amazing. You describe my ideal holiday perfectly

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks like a great autumn break! x

    ReplyDelete
  8. This looks beautiful, I ma planning to do little cottage type holidays next year so I will remember this post!

    Maria xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. It sounds delightful, glad you had a lovely time. I am impressed by the beading- what are you making there- that thing on top of the round thing (er my vocabulary- nil here!)

    ReplyDelete
  10. That cottage looks like something in a storybook. I love the picture of the resting sheep. And all the Ngaio Marsh books: last summer I went to one of my usual thrift shops when someone had obviously just donated about three boxes of mystery novels. I scooped up all the ones by Ngaio Marsh and am still making my way through them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This all looks spiffing! Never stay in cottages or anything historic, just nasty hotels :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ahh that is the cutest little cottage! I've never been to any where like that but I'd love to stay in a cottage or a cabin xxx

    ReplyDelete
  13. I want to know what you wrote in the guest book!

    ReplyDelete
  14. It looks amazing! The cottage is lovely and I love those Autumn colours.

    ReplyDelete

I'm easily pleased - a simple comment will cheer me up no end. So do drop me a line below...

Sorry to readers who prefer to comment anonymously but I am getting clobbered with spam at the moment so have had to disable anon comments. Feel free to get in touch with me in another way!