Grumpybadger's Webby

Astrophography

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Astrophotography images taken from the back garden

Travel

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A collection of travel images

Wildlife

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A collection of wildlife images

Peterborough LRO 2018

Sat, 15 Sep 2018 19:00:00 +0000

RIAT 2018 (Wednesday)

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Bedford Steam Fair 2016

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Mannington 4x4 May 2016

Mon, 30 May 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Mannington 4x4 April 2016

Sat, 16 Apr 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Brick Kiln 4x4

Sun, 13 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

I had a great day out on Sunday with the Solent and District Land Rover Club (with the SHIRE Land Rover Club) at a “play site” called “Brick Kiln Farm”, just outside Alton in Hampshire.

Unfortunately after an entire 20 minutes my own vehicle decided it didn’t really want to do four-wheel-drive any more with the centre diff-lock not able to be engaged, which in this mud meant the end of my fun. However every cloud has a silver lining, and this opportunity permitted me to watch other folks break their trucks while I snapped away.

Blashford Lakes

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Before heading out, a quick snap of my latest garden wildlife addition. These fellas will just have to go…

Arriving at Blashford on a sunny spring morning, the Daffys were just starting to bloom.

There was very little out on the water, however in the reeds the Bittern made a stealthy appearance - my first sighting.

Over the water, a Cormorant lay watch:

A Tufted Duck:

Devon 4x4 meet with Defender2.net members

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 19:00:00 +0000

January 30th saw me head out West early on a dark Saturday morning to South Moulton, which is not too far from Barnstable in Devon, to meet members of the Defender2.net.

Great set of enthusiasts to spend a morning with, especially when given cups of tea and sausage rolls from Liz and Simon, the owners of D44.

Romadog’s v8 110 was the highlight for me - just what I am after. It did however take him 10 years to build, which is a lot longer than I want to spend!

Titchfield Nature Reserve (December 2015)

Sun, 20 Dec 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Having just upgraded the camera hardware portfolio to include Nikon’s 800mm lens, I needed a location to take it out for a test drive.

The day before the Winter solstice probably wasn’t the best time to photography, but regardless I headed to a local nature reserve (Titchfield Nature Reserve) on a windy and dull day.

There is plenty to see at Titchfield, albeit rather a long way away from the hides, which included a pair of Marsh Harriers, a Kingfisher, Heron, Curlew, Lapwing, Canada Goose, Coot, Pheasant, Teal.

Green laning in Wales 2015

Sat, 21 Nov 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Another fantastic trip with Yorkshire 4x4 Specialists, this time to Wales based around Dolgellau. The weather offered up an extra treat - snow overnight!

Giving the Td5 a 2 inch lift

Sun, 11 Oct 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Having upgraded the wheels to an Italian made 8" wide Mach 5 alloy, shod in BFGoodrich’s excellent KM2 (285/75R16), I next had the problem of working out how to avoid the tyres from rubbing on the wheel arches under articulation.

After lengthy research, I settled on a Gwyn Lewis supplied 2" lift kit. Not wanting to regret skimping on parts later, I went for the whole hog, including castor corrected front radius arms (hockey sticks) and double cardon prop-shafts:

Peterborough LRO 2015

Sat, 19 Sep 2015 19:00:00 +0000

My second year at the Peterborough Land Rover show, and this time with added sun! At 290 miles for a round trip, its pushing the limits of what I can do in a day while remaining focused behind the wheel, but for buying bits I don’t think the UK has a better event. I’ll just have to move further North…

Land Rovers on the Land Rover stand were all immaculate, including this transporter.

Little Gransden Airshow

Sun, 30 Aug 2015 19:00:00 +0000

A trip to Little Gransden for their annual airshow in August in hope of seeing the Vulcan fly past in its final year. Sadly the weather put the stoppers on that plan, but a fun airshow none-the-less.

A game of aeroplane cricket followed, and can you spot which is the model in the aerobatic duo routine?

RIAT 2015 (Friday)

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Miserable weather to start the day at RIAT 2015. We decided to stop at Rhymes Farm this year for a different perspective - an inspired choice from a photography perspective.

Yeovilton Air Day 2015

Sat, 11 Jul 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Another great display at the Yeovilton Navy Air Day - one of the highlight shows on the airshow calendar.

MG Live 2015

Sun, 21 Jun 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Another year at MG Live, and this time the Weather Gods were smiling a little more than the previous year.

Garden Birds in Welwyn

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 19:00:00 +0000

A few birds which inhabit a certain garden in the Welwyn area:

Great Tit Goes to Church

A Blue Tit’s Nuts

Punk Rocker Haircut

Robby

What are you looking at?

Dunnock

Visiting RSPB Minsmere

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 19:00:00 +0000

RSPB Minsmere is a coastal wetland site in Suffolk, based just to the north of the Sizewell B nuclear power station.

The site contains a series of hides from which wetland wildlife can be observed - albeit on the day of visiting at quite some distance!

We visited the site on a warm spring day in April, and saw the following birds:

Canada Geese

Land Rover Td5 Defender - Mach 5 Alloys

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 19:00:00 +0000

To smarten up my vehicle, I decided to order a set of 5 Mach 5 alloy wheels from Devon 4x4, complete with BF Goodrich KM2 mud terrain tyres in 285/75R16 size (33").

Before starting…

The new tyre is a good inch taller than the previous BF Goodrich KO 265/75/R16.

Land Rover Solihull Factory Tour

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 19:00:00 +0000

In the (planned) final year of production of the Land Rover Defender, I with my Father attended a Solihull factory tour of the production of the Defender.

So early in the morning we set off to arrive at a large car manufacturing site, with a lengthy set of instructions where to go to find the tour site.

Photography was limited within the building to a ‘celebration’ room, a temporary construction built in the middle of the factory floor, where we dressed up in period attire and saw the new with the old.

Intel 5960X Build Log

Fri, 06 Feb 2015 20:00:00 +0000

PC hardware appears to have really slowed its development pace down in the last 5 years. My last PC was purchased in 2011, and comprised of:

Intel 2600K (Sandybridge)
32GB RAM
nVidia 780Ti
512GB Corsair GTX Neutron
3TB Seagate hard disk x 2

(the graphics card was upgraded to the 780Ti last year). Of course no respectable PC do-it-yourself-er would go with anything other than a water cooled system, and I had chosen a 5/8" outer diamter tubing for maximum water flow.

Green laning in the Lake District

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Had a fantastic time “off-roading” in the Lake District at the start of December (weekend of the 6th and 7th), on an organised tour with Yorkshire 4x4 Specialists, led by Russell.

It was quite a long drive up from Southampton, but took turns driving with my Dad who accompanied me to share the burden.

The day kicked off by throwing us in the ‘deep end’, with a very steep rocky technical road up into the mountains. The group consisted of 5 vehicles, 4 Defenders and one Discovery. There were plenty of axle twisters to leave us stranded finely balanced:

Land Rover Td5 Defender Nolden LED Lights

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 20:00:00 +0000

The lights fitted to my Land Rover were not exactly the latest word in high luminosity. In fact they probably go someway to explaining why the Lumen value of headlights is usually measured in the thousands - a scale which is perfectly suited to recording the light value of my lights in the lower numbers.

To make matters worse, mine had ‘fogged’ up in a stripe pattern on the inside of their lenses:

Picanova, printing photos on canvas

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 21:00:00 +0000

A work colleague recommeded a German printing company called ‘Picanova’, which do discount deals with significant savings (like 60% off at the time of writing!), providing you get the right URL.

I thought that would give it a go, so dropped the recently taken Kingfisher onto their website and chose the 60x40cm size.

Delivery time was 15 days which was longer than they stated, but I guess its a long way from German. It came wrapped in a single cardboard shell.

Kingfishers at Blashford Lakes

Sat, 16 Aug 2014 19:00:00 +0000

A trip to Blashford Lakes in search of Kingfishers in August started off in one of the hides with a nice close up of a Lapwing:

Followed by the arrival of a Heron, gliding in over the waves to a stand situated out in the lake.

A baby Crested Grebe was also paddling along with its Mother/Father:

By which point the Heron seemed to have noticed me in the hide - they sure do have sharp eyes!

RIAT 2014 (Saturday)

Sat, 12 Jul 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Very hot Saturday which meant the air was quite turbulent and not suited to long distance photography.

RIAT 2014 (Friday Arrivals)

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Another warm but overcast RIAT Friday arrivals day.

Not all the action was in the air…

Le Mans Classic 2014

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 19:00:00 +0000

The Le Mans Classic 2014 once again provided the usual fun and contrasting weather conditions!

Abingdon Air and Country Show 2014

Sun, 04 May 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Abingdon Air and Country Show 2014 images:

Land Rover Td5 Defender - Fitting Addition Gauges

Thu, 01 May 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Using one of the MudUK “Mud Pods” I wanted to fit a number of dials to monitor the engine. I might have gone down the road of one of the South African MadMan Monitors if I had known about its full potential, but went with a full set of Croytek VDO gauges, which comprised of:

Voltmeter
Boost pressure
Oil Temperature
Oil Pressure
td5 rev counter

The rev counter was fitted into the main instrument panel for ease of viewing, the other gauges shuffled along one slot and the clock moved to the Mud Pod.

Land Rover Td5 Defender - Fitting An Intercooler

Thu, 01 May 2014 19:00:00 +0000

An “Alive” Intercooler had arrived which needed to be fitted. How hard could it possible be I asked myself?

On the models with air conditioning, the intercooler is sandwiched between the main engine radiator and the air conditioning radiator at the front, behind the grill.

You can se it here sandwiched inbetween:

Getting the old one out isn’t too hard. Undo the top slam panel…

Land Rover Td5 Defender - Fitting Noise Insulation

Thu, 01 May 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Defenders are never going to offer Bentley levels of noise insulation. However since by default the td5 is somewhat close to the maximum allowable noise levels for a work place without ear protection, there is room for improvement!

The kit I chose was the Exmoor Trim R380 Moulded Matting System (black) which is not exactly cheap - but had several positive reviews.

The kit comprises of a thick rubbery moulded pieces for both the seat box and cabin floor section which runs over the gearbox tunnel.

KSP Plugins

Sat, 15 Feb 2014 15:30:00 +0000

Plugins for KSP allow you to add new features and change the behaviour of the game.

The primary plugin site is http://kerbalspaceport.com. However I found more up to date plugins and mods available on the Kerbal Space Program forums, http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/.

The first plugin I have used is the “Visual Enhancements” mod, which primarily adds clouds, making for a much more dynamic launch experience:

I’m not sure if it also changed the mountain terrain, or if I just happened to land in a nice area:

Exploring Space with KSP

Sat, 08 Feb 2014 19:00:00 +0000

So - the Kerbal Space Program - possibly the greatest computer game to ever reside on my disk storage.

Getting Started

Its all about science! Science is the KSP unit of development, the more you generate/collect, the better the rocketry parts you can use is.

As you start with very limited parts, a good way to begin is out on the rocket pad, without launching a thing.

Science can be collected from ‘biomes’ - simply put different zones of the universe. Conveniently, the rocket pad is one biome, the surrounding area is another,standing on the steps of the starter rocket capsule counts as a third (‘flying’ over the rocket pad), not to mention the runway the surrounding ocean shores and the water itself, so that’s six areas to research straight away, giving you a starting boost to your planetary excursions!

2014 has landed

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 22:14:28 +0000

2014 is here, and in the finest tradition I am attempting to enhance my life with a series of New Year Resolutions, mainly:

Lose weight
Explore space with a better safety record in the Kerbal Space Program
Only publish my very favourite photographs from an outing
Start a blog

So, the blog. After trying out Flat Press and being concerned about how much support/longevity there was in that, a colleague suggested trying Jekyll, which seems just the ticket.

Land Rover Lightweight

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Shortly before selling it, I painted my little Lightweight back into a millitary paint scheme, a matt Nato green.

Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

For my Birthday in 2013 I was treated to a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford. Had a fantastic time, the props were all those used in the films.

Boston for SHARE 2013

Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:00:00 +0000

In August 2013 I was fortunate enough to travel to Boston, Massachusetts to speak at a conference on behalf of my employer.

Unlike the west coast US cities I had visited, Boston has a much more familiar layout, being one of the earlier cities which was initially built by the British.

The view out the hotel stretched across to a lake and beyond.

I was also afforded a pleasent sunset in the evening:

RIAT 2013 (Friday Arrivals)

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Friday arrivals (and practice day) at Fairford for the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). The sun beat down for once…

Test River 2013

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

A few quick snaps from various trips to the Test River in Hampshire.

MG Live 2013

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

MG Live 2013 at Silverstone is a annual event mixing historic motor racing, a general ‘meet up’ and show and shine of MGs of all ages.