Nature - seen on my morning stroll.

In our village we have an old mill, complete with wheel and obviously a river running past complete with mill pond. This is an ideal spot it seems for a pair of Gray Wagtails who nest here, and who I have seen flitting about frequently, but never photographed. Today that changed, as one of them obliged by posing so close to me!  First on the bridge near the path and then went hunting just below me in the river.

The grey wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests with slate grey upper parts and distinctive lemon yellow under-tail. Its tail is noticeably longer than those of pied and yellow wagtails. They have gradually increased their range in the past 150 years and in the UK have expanded into the English lowlands from the northern and western uplands.

I was so pleased as I see them so frequently, but never too close.

What have I caught here?

Meanwhile, on the roof of the church, a Kestrel examines his proposed nesting site.

And then checks the view from the top.

Please be careful and don't fall in, as I have just washed those feathers.

Female Orange Tip butterfly

Male Banded Demoiselle

Female Banded Demoiselle

It is really amazing what you can see around you on a simple stroll. Such beauty and wonder - and so easily missed!

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The journey of the Marquis Cornwallis

As you enter the village of Upper Layham from the A12 direction, one of the first buildings that you come across is the Marquis, offering bars, fine dining and accomodation in a beautiful setting looking down across the Brett Vale. Well worth eating there but only because a local businessman invested time and money to transform this derelict old pub.

Just the front view gives an idea of its transformation from old (above) to now (below)

From old sign (above) to new sign (below)

As I said, Run Down!

Not sure which century they were talking about!

Didn't like to taste the beer or the pickle in the backyard.

... and the beautifully kept rear garden - I think not! 

Today it is landscaped and some laid to car parking with another building for accomodation, separate to the main one.

So, I wondered, where did the name Marquis Cornwallis come from? A bit of research yielded the following information:

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, KG, PC (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United States and the United Kingdom he is best remembered as one of the leading British generals in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the Siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. He later served as a civil and military governor in Ireland, where he helped bring about the Act of Union; and in India, where he helped enact the Cornwallis Code and the Permanent Settlement.

Born into an aristocratic family and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Cornwallis joined the army in 1757, seeing action in the Seven Years' War. Upon his father's death in 1762 he became Earl Cornwallis and entered the House of Lords. From 1766 until 1805 he was Colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He next saw military action in 1776 in the American War of Independence. Active in the advance forces of many campaigns, in 1780 he inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the American army at the Battle of Camden. He also commanded British forces in the March 1781 Pyrrhic victory at Guilford Court House. Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown in October 1781 after an extended campaign through the Southern states, marked by disagreements between him and his superior, General Sir Henry Clinton.

Despite this defeat, Cornwallis retained the confidence of successive British governments and continued to enjoy an active career. Knighted in 1786, he was in that year appointed to be Governor-General and commander-in-chief in India. There he enacted numerous significant reforms within the East India Company and its territories, including the Cornwallis Code, part of which implemented important land taxation reforms known as the Permanent Settlement. From 1789 to 1792 he led British and Company forces in the Third Anglo-Mysore War to defeat the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan.

Returning to Britain in 1794, Cornwallis was given the post of Master-General of the Ordnance. In 1798 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Commander-in-chief of Ireland, where he oversaw the response to the 1798 Irish Rebellion, including a French invasion of Ireland, and was instrumental in bringing about the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. Following his Irish service, Cornwallis was the chief British signatory to the 1802 Treaty of Amiens and was reappointed to India in 1805. He died in India not long after his arrival.

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More signs of Spring

Continuing the theme of spring awakening, I have a few more images taken in various locations, but mainly in Suffolk and near to home. This is most peoples favourite time of year and you can see why. After the long drag of winter, to be awaked , as it were, by the sight of so much beauty, should make anyone cheerful!

One of our lesser seen wild flowers is the Snake's-head fritillary. It was not so long ago that the spring markets of Covent Garden were overflowing with the nodding, pink-and white-chequered blooms of snake's-head fritillaries. Handfuls picked from meadows beside the River Thames were taken to London by local children to be sold for a pretty penny or two. But, today, the carpets of this flower that once straddled our rivers and adorned our wet meadows have become a rare sight. Locally, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, have particular meadows open so that you can book to go and see them when in flower. The situation is as dire as that!

Hedgerows full of Blackthorne

The leaves of the Buttercup. You don't often notice them at the stage.

Ransoms or Wild Garlic. Another of the flowers I look forward to seeing in the woods and roadsides near home. You can usually smell them well before the flowers come fully into bloom.

Pathway through the very pungent Oilseed Rape

Scorpion Fly or perhaps better known as the Lacewing.

No spring would be complete without the Bluebell

Bearded Tit probable hunting for his young or maybe just nest building still. Who knows, but great to see.

The flowers of the Sweet Chestnut

Female Orange Tip butterfly. Common, but always great to see.

Duck symmetry - youngsters being shown their world.

As the Oilseed Rape dies back, so the poppies show through.

These things arrive every year without fail but I never get tired of looking out for them as I walk the countryside.

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Emily enjoys the park

One of the joys of young babies and even slightly older ones, is their wonderment at the most mundane of things!  Emily is nearly one year old and a visit to the park was amusing to watch and one wondered, just what was she thinking as she explored her surroundings.

Emily with proud mum

That man there who is pointing at you, is Grandad

Let's start by seeing you stand on your own, and then you can go and explore.

OK, so what is bright yellow thing?

Let`s touch it and perhaps give it a pull.

Yuck! something sticky on my fingers now.

You take it Grandad

Now to get something for mummy.

Here you go mummy!

Now, who else is there I can give something to?

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Time with Adam

Adam, our grandson, spent several days with us during the first half of 2011 and hopefully enjoyed himself in the various activities we did together. He seemed to anyway, and we certainly did!

Lets help Nanna water the polythene

First pictures are of Nanna explaining the hidden secrets of the rings on a tree that had been felled in Arger Fen. 

Then I will have my picture taken on a tree stump. 

Arger fen has the most magnificent display of bluebells and Adam ran up and down the steps in the part of the woods so that we could get a blurred image. Bless him! 

Without the blur! 

Next was a trip to see the steam trains at Hedingham railway museum 

Catching insects in among the poppy display in the Oilseed Rape field near home. This year we had one of the best poppy displays for many a year. 

However, the Oilseed Rape was so tall in places that he had to have a `piggy back` which he loved. 

Finishing off the day with a picnic 

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