Lady Jane Grey - 6 October 2013

Bradgate House in the middle of the Bradgate deer park is the ancestral home of the Grey family, the daughter of which was made Queen of England in 1553 and reigned for nine days before Mary took the throne and had her beheaded.

Below are the ruins of their home. 

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It is said that Jane was the victim of politically ambitious parents and until they took her to London and crowned her, she had no pretensions in that direction. Nor did she know where she was being taken until they arrived at the Tower of London. 

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An apparent myth about this time is that the woodsmen of the Charnwood Forest, in which the Greys' home is situated, would cut the tops from all the Royal oaks if Jane was beheaded. This tale has grown from the odd shape of many of the older oaks. However, oaks were coppiced at the time of Lady Jane and used for building ships for the navy. The odd shape would have resulted from the time that coppicing ceased.

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Every old house should have a ghost story and Bradgate House is no different. It is said that, at midnight on mid-summer's night, Lady Jane's coach approaches along the road from the south, the Newtown Linford road, and stops outside the front door of the house.

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However, the main road to the house was from the East, the direction of Anstey, and over a small bridge over the Lin.

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We always thought it was just a myth, but some friends and I spent a mid-summer's night in a small old slate quarry nearby, with a clear view of the house.

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Midnight approached, and we'd been telling horror stories to keep a light mood. We all watched as the moon disappeared behind an erie cloud and a slight mist rose from the damp grass.

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The bells of a nearby church rang out at midnight and we held our collective breath, looking expectantly towards Newtown Linford.

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We waited in silence and .............. Nothing happened, she stood us up! Not the first woman to do that :o)

All taken on

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm

Awaiting the Rut - 6 October 2013

Bradgate Park in Leicestershire has a really good policy of allowing people who are incapable of walking through the park, the opportunity to drive through the park for a couple of hours on a  Thursday and Saturday.

As I am waiting for an operation to replace my hip, we took advantage of this and spent both periods looking for any signs of the Rut which is due anytime now. Although there was sun shining, the shutter speeds seem quite low, that is because most were in shade.

There are signs that the Rut may have begun. The Fallow Deer Stag below was bedecked with weeds, which they do apparently to make themselves look more fearsome to their rivals.

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This one was having a good bellow to challenge all-comers.

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Another challenger collected some weeds to frighten him.

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I don't know if these two had worn themselves out or were waiting till everyone else had finished, but they didn't rise to the challenge

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This pair of young ones were making a half-hearted attempt at fighting, but I think they were too young to be serious.

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Others came along to see what all the shouting was about.

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When this big Red strolled through the arena, things settled down again.

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He decided to have a shout himself and followed up with a good antler rubbing on a tree.

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As we drove round, Maja spotted this Fallow deer in a shaded dell and with the help of flash I managed this pic.

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At the back of the ruins of Lady Jane Grey's family home a Jackdaw took advantage of a group of Fallow deer for a perch.

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And a resident peacock watched all the goings on.

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I will be laid up for a few weeks after my operation on Wednesday, so I won't be able to get out and take pictures. I may be able to post some that I took earlier and I shall spend most of my time trying to write another novel. I hope those of you that have tried them have enjoyed the read and will try others, there is a variety of subjects.

All taken on a 

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L series lens

A fishy story - 26 September 2013

We went for a walk around Watermead South yesterday, me in my chair and Maja struggling to push me.

All the way round we saw nothing to photograph. at one point we heard a group of Canada geese honking as they flew towards the lake. I readied my camera and sat poised, but they crossed the path too far ahead for any pictures of them in flight (they did the same as we were leaving).

As we were returning to the car park Maja exclaimed there's a grebe with a fish. I turned in time to get this sequence, it's not the best light but you have to take these opportunities when you can.

All taken at
1/2000 @ 6.3, iso 400, 400mm.

All pictures taken on a

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm L series lens.

The Bristol Cross Murders - my New book - 20 September 2013

My New book is now available from Amazon, it's in both Paperback and Electronic (Kindle etc) format. An exciting crime thriller based in Bristol during the 1860s with a twist in the tale.

I have kept it to 75 pages, to be able to offer it at a lower cost to attract readers who have not tried John Gwynant books before.

Using Amazon's search engine "Bristol Cross" will bring just one 'hit' - this book.

Wet 'N' Windy 16 September 2013

It was a wet and windy weekend and not much about, but Saturday morning had a dry spell and this Butterfly fluttered by and settled on the stone crop beside our house. A small Tortoiseshell, it stayed on the flowers for some time, enough time for me to go into the house and fetch my camera. Usually in these cases I arrive with my camera in time to see the subject disappearing into the distance.

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The wet weather meant I could finish my latest book and now Maja is editing it. It will be released as soon as I can create a cover for it. The title is "The Bristol Cross Murders." and it's a who dun it. It will be available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats.

All pictures taken with a 

Canon EOS7d, and EF 100 - 400mm L series lens 

Here there be Dragon(fly)s

There was a lot of activity at Thornton reservoir yesterday, masses of Coots collected near the fall on the north west end. I don't know the collective noun for coots - maybe it should be a 'belligerence of coots' because where more than two are collected there is usually a fight. This time though there was peace, during an hour or so watching there were only a couple of short chases.

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I just missed a bee coming out of the Bind weed flower and was just about to leave when this hoverfly obliged.

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These two Scaup females were mixed in with the coots and later were joined by six more. There was obviously something attracting them, they didn't seem to be feeding any more than normal.

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Like the Coots, this Migrant Hawker (I think that's what it is, the brown shoulders don't seem to fit anything else) didn't behave normally, they are usually too fast for a picture but this one settled right in front of us.

All photos taken on a

Canon EOS7d, EF 100 - 400mm L series lens

Bird Bath 27 August 2013

I have seen many birds of different types having a bath, Tuftys and Mallard are particularly keen on cleanliness. I have even seen Great Crested Grebe having a bit of a dip, but this GC Grebe must have thought he was particularly dirty. He ducked and preened for about ten minutes, shaking the extra water off in between.

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All pictures taken on

Canon EOS 7d, EF 100 - 400mm, L series Lens