May
This consisted of two events: The Evesham Medieval Market
and The Cotswold Festival of Steam. I
didn’t manage the Cropthorne Walkabout due to the uncertain nature of the
weather that weekend, although the weather on the Sunday afternoon was probably
good enough to have made an attempt at it.
I did have a fallback plan of the Eckington Flower Festival (which was
the same weekend as the Medieval Market), but the weather that weekend was
worse. The current production total for
the month is 72 images, but I still have some work from the 25th to
process, so am expecting the final total to increase somewhat.
I did two sessions at the EMM, and they turned out to be
quite productive; as a result, the photograph collection is the largest I’ve
produced for this event. The main
session was on the Saturday, with a shorter session on the Sunday after I’d
finished a shift on the Vale of Evesham Historical Society’s stand at the
event. I wouldn’t say I’ve produced
anything amazing, but I was concentrating more on the people rather than the
activities.
The CFOS turned into an example of “No battle plan ever
survives contact with the enemy”; the enemy in this case being the weather,
which swung to the opposite extreme with a heatwave. The timetables were more of a case of hope
rather than reality for all three days, and multiple things went wrong on the
Sunday, to the point where I appeared to be at risk of getting stranded
somewhere far from my car. I’d also made
a rather questionable decision to walk from Winchcombe to Gotherington to get
some photographs at Far Stanley; this was exhausting, but I made it without
incident.
I did consider not going on the Monday, but there were a
couple of shots I was still seeking. In
light of the Sunday issues, the Monday timetable was changed, with several
locomotives not being rostered for various reasons. Even then, it didn’t last long, and apart
from one journey from Toddington to Broadway and back, I stayed in Toddington,
leaving around Midday (and I spent part of the morning at a neighbouring
Traction Engine show). I believe I got
one of the shots I wanted, but a locomotive failure meant I didn’t get the
other one.
I did consider going to the Perrygrove Railway on the final
weekend, but there were some other matters I wanted to take care of, so I
dropped the idea.
June
I am spending a week in Dorset during the month (2026 marks
the 20th anniversary of my first visit to the county). I have several activities planned and
hopefully will be able to get a least two National Trust visits during my stay
(I’m a bit behind with NT visits this year, so want to catch up a bit during
the month).
I’m hoping that I may be able to get a session or two in
closer to home as well. I need 138
photographs to make the second quarter target (subject to completion of May
work), but having managed 155 last June, I’m reasonably confident I can do
this.
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