We went for a nice walk on the estate surrounding Calke Abbey with some friends on Wednesday. It was a beautiful autumn day and the photos turned out really nice. I hope you enjoy them too.
We spent quite a while balancing on the fallen chestnut logs here. I’ve always wondered what the forests would have looked like before the chestnut blight eliminated them from the eastern deciduous forests. Apparently, the American Chestnut was even bigger than the European Chestnut. The stand of trees at Calke are amazing; but I can imagine a whole forest of trees must have been even more majestic.
A bit further along, we found this old oak tree with branches that almost touch the ground. It is perfect for scrambling up!
There is a spot where the main trunk splits into several large branches which is perfect for sitting. We ate our snack comfortably ensconced amongst the branches.
River is quite a climber. She asked me to film her as she ascended one side of the tree, crossed through the middle, and descended on another branch on the other side.
Sage managed to get around pretty well too.
I love the light and the changing leaf colors under this beech tree.
This tree is known as the “Old Man of Calke” and is thought to be between 1000 and 1200 years old. There is a hollow space in the middle of the trunk, just big enough for a couple of kids.
River told me she wants to come here everyday!
November 3rd, 2007 at 2:34 am
Awesome trees, and your leaves are still green! Ours have all fallen, and we are scuffing about in the piles before they get rained on. Everything smells spicy and cool. First frost was last night.
November 4th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Amazing!!–Both you guys and the trees! Thank you so much for taking the time to post these pictures and your comments, Andy! I look forward to them every day, and they will be a wonderful record for your girls to have of their growing years! I don’t know if you ever saw the tree book I bought because of its reference to the Sequoia dawn redwood that is in my yard, but I went back to it after I saw your pictures and noticed that it is written by a Brit and that all the trees are in either England or Ireland. There is a reference to Chatsworth in Derbyshire–is that near you? I loved seeing River scamper around in the tree, and Sagey looked great sitting up in those mighty branches! Grana
November 4th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
We went to Chatsworth for a faire a while ago, but we didn’t see any big old trees. We were thinking we might go back sometime to explore more thoroughly. You can find it on the map here: http://www.elytra.net/blog/maps/
November 7th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
We love those beautiful girls and miss them very much! Henry and I especially liked all the artwork in Barcelona. All our love! D,C,E,H