UPDATE: April 2020. Since making this video, the use of drones in the park has been banned.
Leicestershire’s Bradgate Park, a former medieval deer park, is stunning anytime of the year. I mostly visit in autumn to capture the annual deer rut (see here), but thought it would also be an ideal place to fly my new DJI Mavic Pro drone.
Sunrise may have been at 4.55am, but that just means at this time of year there’s more chance of getting the place to yourself! I wasn’t totally alone, there was plenty of deer, jackdaws, crows, meadow pipits, even a little owl and a cuckoo.
Old John Tower
Great views across the park are afforded from Old John, that’s the tower you can see in the video. The folly was built in 1784, the archway was attached a few years later giving it the look of a beer tankard. I’ll drink to that.
Bradgate house ruin
The ruin, at the end of the video (and visible in the photo above), was a Tudor house completed in 1520, now described by estate agents as “In need of some modernisation, a real blank canvas.” The low sunlight was great for showing the contours of parts of the building long since gone.
Deer
I tried including some of the videos I’ve taken of the deer in the park, but as they were all shot in autumn it didn’t really work. So my plan is to shoot similar aerial footage in autumn and combine the two. If I also film in summer and winter, I’d have enough footage to create another video of the changing seasons in the park; so look out for that next winter.
Further information
Steeped in history, there’s plenty to see and do in the park, check out their website for more information of upcoming events and guided walks around the park.
