I got down on my hands and knees to snap butterflies at Rodborough Common near Stroud yesterday, and came back with a tick nymph attached to my hand.
Annoyingly, there seems to be conflicting information on how best to remove them. One source says to use tweezers, gripping as close to the skin as possible and pull gently but firmly with an anticlockwise twist. This is what I did and it detached intact. Its abdomen wasn't swollen and there was no puncture mark on my skin, just a slight pucker mark where it had gripped. So I'm reasonably certain that I got it off before it had started to feed - it started to crawl up the tweezers to have another try. Nasty little thing.
Then I read elsewhere, on no account twist as you pull.....
I've now got an itchy little lump on the back of my hand, and I *think* it's in a different place, in which case it's a normal type midge or mozzie bite in addition to the tick. But I can't be certain so I'm going to have to keep an eye on it. 
Oh, poor Eccles! sounds nasty
I googled it too and I see they are only likely (and then not very likely) to give you any lasting problem/infection if they are fully engorged from their feed and it sounds as if you got it off well before then. Nasty wee beastie! 
I'm even more certain now that the lump is from another insect bite as Lime's doesn't appear until three to thirty days after the bite. This came up within hours, like a regular mozzie type bite and last night it was itchy. I've had bites like this one before, probably a mozzie, and they're an expected hazard of nature photography. I think I shall invest in a light coloured pair of jeans to enable me to spot them on my clothing.
I was nattering to a couple of the volunteers at the local reserve, and one young guy said he'd made the mistake of wearing shorts during a summer day in amongst long grass and stuff. He had the unfortunate task of picking twentyone ticks from his legs afterwards. I don't know how I'd have handled that!
This is what it was all for. It's the rare Duke of Burgundy, and Rodborough Common is one of the best places in the country for them:
Beautiful photo, eccles! Glad you are unscathed and tickless (bloodsuckers are seriously creepy, I think I'd find it quite difficult to deal with that - though I've only ever seen a tick for real once. At least leeches are supposed to drop off if you cigarette them, though of course nobody smokes any more and I suppose one just has to hope someone's got a lighter for firelighting purposes).
There's a sequel to this story. At Goblin Combe in Somerset last weekend I encountered the wee beasties again. I found one nymph on my shirtsleeve. On the way back through the woodland I also spotted an adult and a nymph on a blade of grass just waiting for a passing victim, so when I got home I checked myself all over and found one crawling up my arm. All set to breath a sigh of relief I then discovered another firmly attached to my shin with its legs in the air ready to make a meal of me. I removed it with tweezers and got it all out but it left a nasty weeping bitemark. I've been on antibiotics as a precautionary measure since Monday.
I've emailed the Wildlife Trust that manages the reserve suggesting they put up a warning notice by the information board at the reserve entrance.
So, to anyone who likes to walk in long grass or woodland where there are other mammals around, wear long trousers and tuck them into your socks. Had I done so I'd have avoided this one.
Also, wear long sleeves and light coloured clothing so they can be easily spotted on your clothes.
I now have a new pair of light khaki jeans for such places, and a pair of tick hooks with which to remove them cleanly should they get me again.
But on a lighter note, I did catch another little creature. This is a grizzled skipper, a tiny localised butterfly that relies on scrubby ground with low growing plants such as wild strawberry, and is increasingly rare.
Oh Eccles! Well they are beautiful pictures but those ticks do seem to have it in for you glad you are on the ABs as a precaution.
Hope it heals up very soon - and thanks for the lovely pictures - you are like the Milk Tray man, battling every obstacle come rain shine thunder or tick to bring us back pictures from the dangerous wilds! 
Thanks Merry & Helio.
Regular butterfly enthusiasts encounter ticks often and are used to taking steps to avoid them, and removing them if caught out, but they're a new thing to me as they've not been a problem in the areas I've visited in the past, even those areas where they're known to exist.
I don't have any recollection of ticks being a problem during my childhood. Are they more common in the UK now, or were we just unaware of them?
Yes, they are more common in the UK now. People apparently think it's a product of climate change. They have been a known nuisance in places like The New Forest in Hampshire for a number of years, but in the West of England I have never previously known them to be this prevalent.
We spent a summer at Brockenhurst in The New Forest when I was about nine. My mum complained about gnat bites but ticks never came up.
Highlight (or lowlight) that sticks in my mind was getting kicked by a New Forest pony -- perfect hoofprint on my thigh. Better luck than my unfortunate cousin who copped both back hoofs in his belly!
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