Multum in Parvo

Multum in Parvo is Rutland's strapline, and it means Much in Little. Before we go any further, this is plain wrong. It might work for, say, Tokyo, or Monaco, but the whole point of Rutland is that there isn't much in it. So Not Much in Little would be more fitting.

What you will find in Rutland are two small market towns, Oakham and Uppingham, a dozen or so pretty villages, the odd castle, estate and manor house and lots of farms. Most of the land is either arable (predominently wheat at the moment) or horses. There are an awful lot of horses in Rutland. So perhaps Multum in Parvo actually started out as Multum Equus in Parvo, then lost the Equus somewhere along the way.

As well as buildings and horses, there are two polo clubs (more horses) and two military bases. RAF Cottesmore is half a mile down a no-through lane from our house. The lane ends at what are commonly known as the "Crash gates". Quite why they are called crash gates is a mystery to me. Cottesmore in home to Harriers which take off and land vertically (commonly known as VTOL), so landing on the gate would be rather careless and stupid. Saying that, one did crash into a field near Ashwell last year; perhaps he was trying to land on the crash gates and missed by a couple of miles.

Despite living so close to the airfield, we are generally undisturbed by any activity. The Harriers only fly Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and rarely over the village, and they paid for eveyone to have double glazing installed anyway. On the odd occasion they need to practice at night the CO puts a very polite letter in the Post Office window apologising in advance. The most activity is seen around Families Day (perhaps this is why they need the crash gates - put Great Aunt Vera in a Tornado and what else is there to stop her?) , when there are all sorts of shenanigans. Last year we had aerobatic displays plus visits by the Vulcan Bomber and Eurofighter. Very exciting, and all visible from our back garden.

The one glaring ommission I have made so far is, of course, the whacking great inner-sea that makes up much of Rutland. Rutland Water is a giant reservoir that swallowed up whole villages a few years ago to provide a home for some ospreys. It's very lovely from a distance, but get close up (if you can afford the astronomical parking charges) and you'll find it heaving with the sort of people who are scared to go into the real countryside in case they get spiked/shot/poisoned or slightly muddy. In the nearly two years we've lived here, we have only been to Rutland Water once, and had a great time watching Annie plant muddy paws on horrified Townies.

If you want to learn more about Rutland, this is a lovely book. I have also put some links to Rutland websites at the bottom of the page.