Week 4 of my 365 project was spent over the pond in the “old country” visiting family and friends, so apologies to you if you came looking for images of Montreal – Normal service will be returning next week.

Day 22 – Jan 22nd 2012

Decided to drive a few miles to shoot Saint Wistan’s church in Wistow – a tiny hamlet between Leicester and Market Harborough.

The church dates back to Norman times (although the tower was added in the thirteenth century). I’ve often envisioned taking a picture of the church surrounded by mist in the early morning/evening, but that wasn’t the case today, since it was mid-day and bright sunshine…next time perhaps.

Saint Wistan’s church is opposite Wistow Hall where King Charles I slept on 4th June 1645 before the battle of Naseby where the King’s army were defeated by Oliver Cromwell on the 14th of June.

Day 23 – Jan 23rd 2012

The small village of Foxton is just North of Market Harborough and is best known for the staircase flight of 10 locks on the Grand Union Canal (the largest on the English canal system). The locks took 4 years to build and were completed in 1814.

To overcome congestion and accommodate larger boats, an inclined plane was constructed (1898-1900). Designed by Gordon Cale Thomas the incline could transport 2 narrowboats up and 2 down at the same time and took only 12 minutes compared to to the 1 1/4 hours to navigate through the adjacent locks. Despite this, the Incline was  closed in 1911 and dismantled in 1926. Only the rails remain where the tanks of water holding the boats were drawn up the 75 ft incline.

Walking up the hill can bring on a thirst, thankfully Foxton Locks has 2 pubs – The Foxton Locks Inn and Bridge 61.

Day 24 – Jan 24th 2012

A rainy day led to a shopping trip in Leicester. I only managed to grab this quick shot of Saint Martin’s Arcade in the town center.

Day 25 – Jan 25th 2012

Another quite day on the photo taking front, so reverted to light painting a commemorative tiger issued by The Leicester Tigers Rugby Club to celebrate winning back to back national and European championship trophies in 2001/2.

Day 26 – Jan 26th 2012

Traveled down to Essex in the morning and was only able to capture this photo during the entire day. A local pub (The Old Swan) in Kibworth had these signs “mocking” not only the terrible Italian Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, but also poking fun at a rival publican in the village who recently did job swaps with the local MP and the village vicar.

Day 27 – Jan 27th 2012

I had planned a trip into London today to meet up with some old friends and family, and of course do some sightseeing and grab some photos. Unfortunately had to cancel my planned visit at the last minute and instead did a little tour of a few quaint villages in the local area.

First stop was Finchingfield, a picture-postcard English village, with duck pond, village green, medieval and Georgian cottages and 18th century windmill – Finchingfield is apparently one of the most photographed villages in England.

Next stop, the small country town of Thaxted. The town dates back to before the Domesday book (1086) and has a number of tourist attractions as well as the towns famed Morris Dancers.

Standing on a hill, the Parish church dominates the town and is regarded as one of the grandest in Essex. Building began in 1340 but was not completed until 1510. Unfortunately it’s currently undergoing renovation, so not the most photogenic church at present. However, from the graveyard, you couldn’t see the scaffolding, so I did manage to get one fairly reasonable shot.

In a field behind the graveyard stands John Webb’s Windmill. Built in 1804 it was a working mill until 1907. Left to fall into disrepair, renovation began in the late 50’s to restore the windmill to its former glory and in 1996 after the restoration of one of the milling stones it can once again claim to be a working mill – that is until Easter 2010 when one of the sails fell to the ground and inflicted damage – hence no sails are currently attached.

Another tourist attraction in Thaxted is the Guildhall. There is currently some discussion on whether it is in fact a Guildhall, when it was built and by whom. Many guide books state it dates back to 1390 and was built by the Guild of Cutlers, but recent tree ring dating pegs it more like 1450 to 1475. The design also is not like that of a typical Guildhall but resembles more a civil meeting place (a moote or mote hall). Whatever the history, it makes a nice focal point in the town center.

Day 28 – Jan 28th 2012

Took a quick walk around the lakes of Little Easton. The days posted picture was of a single tree standing in a field. The clouds were quite impressive and lent themselves to a bit of HDR processing and some additional tweaking in Topaz Adjust.

Although I took some pictures of the lakes the results were not that great and the only other shot that was worth posting was looking down the path through an “avenue” of trees.

Another week complete, only 48 to go.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

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