Hambleton Wood on the banks of Rutland Water

Such a glorious day today (Sunday), went to Hambleton with my dog and camera and enjoyed the walk through Hambleton Wood on the banks of Rutland Water. Saw trout being caught by fishermen in boats, ducks and geese were enjoying the weather along with everyone else and the bluebells were still there to be admired, although they are tending to go over a little now.

One or two butterflies, mainly cabbage whites to be seen and there was one Orange Tip butterfly patrolling his territory. Thought I might have seen the odd grass snake, but not to be. A fabulous day in the sun nonetheless.

Rutland High Sheriff,s Service to the Community Awards

The Rutland High Sheriff's Awards took place in the Great Hall of Oakham Castle on Thursday 21st April 2011, a fitting place for Certificates to be presented to individuals from across the County for their outstanding Service to the Community.

To see all of the images taken log on to www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

Rutland to Melton CiCLE Challenge

Glorious weather for the Rutland to Melton CiCLE Challenge 2011 sponsored this year by Tescos. Reputed to be one of the toughest road races in the calender in this country with cyclists from all over the world entering.
This year the race was started by the Rt Hon Alan Duncan MP and the new High Sheriff for Rutland, Peter Lawson.

NEW HIGH SHERIFF FOR RUTLAND

Congratulations to our new High Sheriff for Rutland, Mr Peter Lawson

CiClee Challenge

Looking forward to seeing Oakham buzzing with cyclists again this year. Close thing but Colin Clews managed to pull off the deal again bless him

GREAT TO BE ALIVE

ISN'T IT JUST GREAT JUST TO BE ALIVE

Belvoir Half Marathon

Beautiful crisp,sunny morning at Hose last Sunday for the Belvoir Half Marathon when over 580 runners turned up to take part. Winner was Chris Southam from Stilton Striders in a time of 1.13.

Runners Setting Off at the Start

Winner Chris Southam from the Stilton Striders in Melton Mowbray

SEE MORE IMAGES AT

www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

RAF Cottesmore Marches Through Oakham for the Last Time

Sad day in Oakham on Thursday. Royal Air Force Cottesmore marched through Oakham in Rutland for the very last time. Before they marched through the town to the Rutland Museum for a reception a service was held at All Saints church in the town.
It really is the end of an era

Edward Collins Celebrates his 100th Birthday

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY TO EDWARD COLLINS

On Sunday 20th March Edward Collins' family joined him at the Framland Nursing Home in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, to help him celebrate his 100th birthday. To mark him becoming a centenarian he received a birthday card from HM Queen Elizabeth II.

SEE MORE IMAGES AT http://jimharrison.photoshelter.com/gallery/Edward-Collins-100th-Birthday/G0000q4Dxh31.XwQ/

Army Benevolent Fund-ABF-Annual Curry Lunch at St George's Barracks

On Sunday, 13th March, the Annual Curry Lunch organised to raise money for the Army Benevolent Fund-The Soldiers Charity-was held at St George's Barracks, Edith Weston.
As with every other year the event was very well supported, may it long continue.

TO SEE MORE IMAGES LOG ON TO
www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

Cottesmore Hunt Meet at Pickwell Manor

Had a great morning out photographing the Cottesmore Hunt meet at Pickwell Manor on Tuesday 2nd Feb. The time of the meet was changed from 11am to 12 noon presumably because of the possibility of ice.

 

YOU CAN SEE MORE OF MY IMAGES AT:-

www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

HRH Prince Charles Visits Launde Abbey

Had a great day yesterday photographing HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, during his visit to Launde Abbey. The atmosphere was relaxed and there wasn't any pushing and shoving trying to get the best picture due to the fact there were very few photographers vying for best position there. All in all a great afternoon. You can see the pictures I took by logging on to www.jimharrisonphotographer.photoshelter.com

Oakham from the Air

Have found some images I took whilst flying over Oakham in Rutland. They are really interesting. If you want to see all of the images, and I hope you do, you will need to log on to www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

Cottesmore Hunt Meet at the Kennels, Ashwell, Oakham, Rutland

Despite the damp,grey weather there was a good turnout for the Cottesmore Hunt meet held at the kennels in Ashwell near Oakham, Rutland. 

You can see more pictures by logging on to www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

Cottesmore Hunt Meet at Loddington

Had some better weather recently so went out to get a bit of fresh air and take a few pictures of the Cottesmore Hunt meeting at Loddington in Leicestershire. It was a good turnout, lots of mounted followers and foot followers there to enjoy the weather.

While there my old friend and very good equestrian photographer turned up to take some images for the Horse and Hound. We had a chat about the state of photography and then he went off to earn a crust. Nice to see you Nico.
Have a look on www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com to see some of the images taken there

Fantastic Sunrise

A fantastic sunrise taken this morning 5th January 2011

You can see more images at

www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

This year it was the turn of the Cottesmore Hounds to meet in the Play Close in Melton Mowbray for the annual New Year Meet in the town courtesy of the Melton Mowbray Town Estate.

Senior Town Warden, Mr Richard Sage, was there to greet the huntsman and the mounted followers as they arrived.

A good turnout from the local townspeople were also there giving the morning a really good atmosphere.

After the meet the Huntsman, Neil Coleman, lead off with the hounds and the followers behind, towards Whissendine for a days hunting.

See more images taken at the meet at

www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

COLD-COLD-COLD

This December has been so cold. The last time I felt this cold was when I visited my brother in Austria and the temperature went down to minus 24 degrees. Feels just as cold though. If you are going out with your camera in this weather wrap up warm and stay safe. Make sure you have plenty of batteries as the cold weather saps the battery power very quickly. Nothing worse than seeing that perfect picture then finding you can't record it. Also, bracket your exposures as all of this white can cause you to underexpose your images by at least 1 full stop. Happy Snapping. You can see more of my images at www.jimharrison.photoshelter.com

I agree with everything you say and with your permission Paul am publishing your letter on my blog

I am writing to you as a former mayor of Oakham and, I would hope, speak on behalf of the silent majority who are in favour of the Tesco extension. In view of the fact that you have given much column space in the past to those that are opposed to the extension, I trust you will give a little space to my contribution. Oh, and to those of you out there that will be saying I’m writing this because I am employed (part-time) by Tesco, well so what. Tesco don’t need me to speak for them so my concerns will always be for Oakham, its character and its longevity.

In last week’s editorial and letter pages I saw the usual misconceptions and prejudices that have dogged the issue since April this year and it is obvious that there are those that won’t accept change at any cost. In particular those that are against any organisation that is successful who are always going to be a prime target for this type of protestor. Those of you with short memories (for instance certain town councillors) seem to forget that just over ten years ago the site was derelict and it was obvious, to any right thinking person, that it was perfect for a supermarket development, of some flavour. As it happens Tesco was the successful candidate so tough on the rest. It is pointless making cheap comments like, “I don’t think it should have been there in the first place” because it’s too late now or saying that the bungalow is in a conservation area to prevent the change. The bungalow that was being considered for demolition is not of significance because, until recent times, it too was heading toward being derelict itself and only a couple of years ago needed refurbishment. Ergo the bungalow is irrelevant and not part of the conservation list anyway - as far I am aware.

The town council delivered its meaningless ‘U’ turn decision last week, with only half the council thinking the application was important enough to turn up for. We have one councillor thinking that he can change history by saying, “....it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.” And another, more confused councillor, said he was concerned about the single entrance from South Street and “... was not a satisfactory solution.” This after he had previously said he didn’t want pedestrian access from Penn Street. Is he now saying he would prefer a second vehicular access there (Penn Street) instead?

The town council had no reason to turn the application down given that Tesco had altered their plans to fit in more with public opinion, all be it a minority opinion. Councillors obviously let their personal prejudices get in the way of their duty. Perhaps both town and county councillors should have visited the site last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and try to find a parking space. It was impossible because the store was packed to the gunnels and people were driving away, probably to shop out of town. It has been proven before that the town, in its current form, cannot support three supermarkets, so for the town council to pass, without any objections at all, an application from Sainsbury’s, which in case they haven’t noticed is an out of town store, seems to be, at the very least, naive and at worst snobbish. What do out of town stores make? Yes, they make for dead High Streets. This is typical of the attitude adopted by them (OTC) and if I’m not mistaken a certain misguided loyalty to past members, who should know better when it concerns free enterprise.

The standard of conduct by certain members of the public at the meeting held on the 11^th October, and even some county council members, was appalling and I trust that those guilty of misconduct at the last meeting will not use next Monday’s meeting as an open forum to fire abuse and scorn at those who follow the rules and who have respect for others opinions. One attendee incorrectly used the council’s statistics in your letter pages the following week, to show that Tesco had 57% of the market in Oakham, which, if he had looked and listened to what was being said, would have shown that he was completely wrong and obviously confused. If he had taken the ‘mean’ average he would have seen that it represented something more like 18%. The notion that Tesco takes 57% of

2.

the business in Oakham can easily be destroyed with the truth but we all know that statistics can be manipulated as he proved in his correspondence to you.

Another person, at the same meeting, suggested we all buy our goods on-line and not to use supermarkets. The silence around the room at this suggestion was palpable.

Finally, for now, there are two aspects that the town council, and others, seem to have missed. One is that there has been talk, among certain people, of so called ‘White’ and DIY goods being sold in the Oakham Tesco store after completion, and while no-one can give 100% guarantees, I believe there are no immediate plans to allow this. However, I can’t hear anybody objecting to the Cooperative Society in Oakham selling these goods for some years, in direct competition with local high street stores. As one town councillor has already said, “I am all for competition.” What sort of competition are we talking about here, the selective type?

The second and final point is regarding the whole issue of future applications for additional supermarkets in Oakham, in particular those out of town stores, so vehemently supported by the town council. If the application for Tesco is turned down and it goes to appeal how much is it likely to cost the county? Have they any idea at all – no! They have been duplicitous in their deliberations and decision making and to be quite frank appear to have not thought it through at all. What makes them think that any new applications for supermarkets will be given the go ahead if this one is refused by Rutland County Council? Be careful, be very careful and look further than the end of your noses. Actually forget that, because for Oakham town council it’s too late.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Beech

20-07-10 417 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Have a look at the pictures on Flickr. Pictures taken are of the Frank Woodhead Cricket Final held at Thorpe Arnold Cricket Club between Bingham CC and Buckminster CC.
You can see more images at www.jimharrisonphotographer.com
20-07-10 417 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!