Calke Abbey – Fun For Us All!

We visited National Trust’s Calke Abbey last week, and had a fantastic time there. I shared how much I adored the gardens in my post a couple of days ago, that you can read all about here – Calke Abbey’s Gardens.

Calke Abbey

We began with the estate’s many outbuildings and stables…

Calke Abbey stables

The grounds were just huge, with fabulous gardens, meadows, hills, and woodland to roam around. Boo must have covered miles, running about, whilst Little Man watched and laughed at her from his pushchair…

Calke Abbey grounds1

Calke Abbey grounds

Calke Abbey grounds3

Calke Abbey grounds2

Calke Abbey grounds4

calke abbey grounds5

calke abbey grounds6

There was even a grotto and a tunnel to discover..

calke abbey gardens grotto

calke abbey tunnel

Little Man enjoyed seeing the world from his throne, his pushchair, as he got wheeled about, taking in some beautiful sights. That’s not to say that he didn’t get to the point of protestation, though, at which stage, he got out and stretched his legs, toddling about happily in front of a queue of people…

calke abbey in the pushchair

calke abbey outside

We went into the house, but as is often the case with these things, we didn’t linger – my children are not the calm collected sort that you’d be comfortable to have around centuries old valuables!

Calke Abbey inside

It was fascinating in there, the bits that I did pause to see. One day, I’ll actually have time to read about the places, too!

And finally, we spotted a very peaceful-looking herd..

calke abbey deer

It was a really lovely day out. It’s a beautiful place, with so much space for the kids to run about and have fun. I do love our National Trust membership!

I’d like to tell you that with all of that running about, Boo was totally exhausted and napped on the way home, and then slept in until 8am the following day. But this is Boo, so nah, she never tires!

Here’s a post sharing more of our National Trust adventures, if you’d like to explore.

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26 thoughts on “Calke Abbey – Fun For Us All!”

  1. Look how big your Little Man is in that photo! He’s growing up 🙂 Loving the grotto and after last week’s HDYGG post, I’m definitely adding it to our list xx

    1. I know – he’s looking like a proper little boy now, not a baby! He’s still my baby 🙂 Yes, you must get back there, we loved it x

  2. An NT membership is so enticing right about now. So many place to visit like this one. Sigh. Everything is so pretty here. Like if you need a muse for you art you just go here and you will find it! I dont know what else to say … im just so happy to see the photos and how much fun you had in here =) #countrykids

    1. You’re right, there are so many things to be caught up in and photograph, it’s just stunning, Merlinda. Thank you x

  3. Daisy Broomfield

    We’ve got NT membership for the first time this year and it’s been absolutely brilliant! I wasn’t sure about my boys enjoying stately homes but all the ones we’ve visited have had something to keep them entertained inside and really amazing spaces to explore outside too. Loving the look of that tunnel. #CountryKids

  4. A majestic NT property with fantastic grounds! Plenty of space for children to have fun exploring, climbing trees and generally burning off some energy. The NT membership is such a bargain as entry to some wonderful properties and great days out! Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.

  5. Wow looks amazing! Love all the adventurous photos of your little one too! What a stunning place. I need to visit more places like this. #countrykids

    1. It’s so beautiful there, Jenny. And yes, anywhere we go, there will be Boo racing about, clambering and climbing everything that she can! x

  6. This looks fab! My mum & I took the boys to Ham House near Richmond upon Thames yesterday – didn’t go in the house but they had lots of fun playing hide & seek in the grounds! I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it this week. There’s no way we could have kept EJ in a buggy while JJ ran around – in fact we didn’t even bother taking it out of the car!!

    1. Ah, so glad you had fun, and yes, my kids are just as happy in the grounds anyway. Little Man is surprisingly good in his pushchair. Boo wouldn’t have been at his age, but I suspect he’s a little lazier, or smarter?!

  7. So interesting – I used to live v close to Calke Abbey and have been there so many times, but I have never once seen that tunnel and have never once been inside. It looks so fantastic though!

  8. Looks like great fun and I love the picture of the herd. My lots are “the calm collected sort that you’d be comfortable to have around centuries old valuables!” Either so don’t worry and your braver then me to take them to such a place. Last time I tried I was too busy telling them not to touch to admire them.

    Great post #countrykids

    1. Yep, that’s pretty much how it goes! But still worth the experience and it gives me a brief chance to soak up some history!

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