Red Deer at Bradgate Park Ruins

It was a wonderful morning. Clear blue sky, white frost on the lawn, but it couldn't last. It was cloudy and grey by early afternoon.

I'm getting very bad at getting up, using the excuse of just having one more thing to do on the computer to  do before getting washed and changed. So it wasn't until after 2pm that I felt fit and ready to take Basil for a walk.

I needed to give my legs good exercise. Since injuring my knee in November and falling in the mud a few weeks ago, I've been loath to walk far. Since a trip to Venice looms at the end of the month which will require some walking, I need to get into condition.

Which is why Basil and I ended up at the Newtown Linford car park of Bradgate Park at 3.30 pm. I took my x-t2 and long lens just in case there were any deer to be seen, although I wasn't hopeful. The objective was the Deer Barn refectory halfway between Newtown Linford and Cropston.

Not only did I manage to stagger there and back, and it really was staggering on the return leg, we saw lots of deer.

A herd of red deer with two stags was grazing close to the ruins (see photo), while a good many fallow deer were grazing in the fields on the other side of the track. Walking back, I spotted another, even larger, troupe of red deer quite close to The Sanctuary. Perhaps they were all awaiting feeding time. When I'd gone looking for the red deer in the Autumn, I hadn't found any so it was pleasing to see them in such numbers. The extra photo is of a rather young fallow deer fawn.

Basil had a super time, running all over the path, the ground and close to the river. The Rangers told me that he didn't need to be on a lead if he was going to be close enough for recall. We haven't had such a good walk for ages.

We bumped into Mormons on the path. An elder from Thailand and another from Albania. The Thai had been telling his hosts that the deer would be hunted in Thailand. I was able to tell him that the deer in the park are also culled. Eyes opened in amazement, especially when I said the venison was on sale in the shop in the car park.