A visit to Calke Abbey, a National Trust property in Derbyshire, is planned for Sunday 18th April 2010 and with an informal picnic in the grounds and tour of the house. Details of the event are alongside together with booking information. Calke Abbey is a Baroque mansion built in 1701-03 around the courtyard of an earlier Elizabethan mansion and has has remained virtually unaltered since the death of the last baronet in 1924. It has a unique Caricature Room, a gold and white drawing room and an early 18th century Chinese silk state bed. There is a carriage display in the stable clock. Calke Park is a fine landscaped setting extending to 750 acres. Simon Jenkins describes Calke Abbey as "a time-warp mansion with a majestic bed" and "the picture on the guidebook says it all - stag-head trophies lie upturned on an old bed and in an open grate. Round them are scattered birds' eggs, a broken rush chair, a dolls' house, some old prints and boxes of Hudson's Dry Soap. Every English house may have one such room - Calke is composed almost entirely of them." He adds the house seems "lost in a large fold in a deer park in the Derbyshire hills." National Trust website. More Where is Calke Abbey and how do I get there? Calke Abbey Ticknall Derbyshire DE73 7LE ---- OS 128:SK367226 Ten miles south of Derby on the A514 at Ticknall between Swadlincote and Melbourne. A one-way system operates in the Park - access only via the Ticknall entrance. Directions and a maps. More Multimap How do I join the V8 Picnic in the Park 2010? Bookings can be made direct with the organiser Ken Clayton for this event. The event is open to all members of the MG Car Club and their friends. Download a booking form Contact Ken Clayton for bookings Further details of the event. More Event organiser Ken Clayton Mob. 07973 899056 Email Important No part of the event is timed and it is not a rally or a competitive event.