April
The March total ended up at 33 images, which I was reasonably happy with. April ended up at 89 images, a total I am very happy with, and going some way to dealing with the Q1 deficit.I did technically visit the Severn Valley Railway twice during the month as previously stated, but only the first visit, which was to the Spring Steam Gala, produced any photographs. I went on the Thursday, as at the time I booked my ticket, I believed I would not be available on any of the other days. In the end, some last-minute changes of plan probably meant I could have done another day, either the Friday or the Sunday.
The second visit involved a members’ day for the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust, and for once, it was held at a convenient location and date (although I did have to book time work for it, but I was taking some time off anyway at that time), which I find doesn’t happen a lot with the heritage locomotive societies that I am a member of. However, the photography options of 71000 were limited, and I felt that I’d done better during the gala, so didn’t bother taking any more. I didn’t feel that there was a lot of point in me staying on after the initial presentations and left early; I think that perhaps my time would have been better spent elsewhere, especially as the weather was pretty good that day.
I made my first National Trust of 2026 visit to Hanbury Hall during the month, taking my mother along. It had been originally intended to do this earlier in the year, but this didn’t quite work out. I took images inside the hall for the first time on this visit; hopefully the collection will be updated in May.
May
I’d like to be able to attend the Cropthorne Walkabout this year, but as I write this, the weather over the two scheduled days is not looking good. However, The Eckington Flower Festival is being held later in the month, so I may do that instead if the weather is better. I may have to use the Evesham Medieval Market as a fallback, but it’s possible that I may volunteer to do a shift on the Vale of Evesham Historical Society’s Stand at the event, so I might end doing some work on the event regardless.
I will almost certainly attend the Gloucestershire Warwickshire’s Spring Gala, unless the weather is really bad over that weekend, and I hope to be able to get another National Trust visit done as well.
If I can maintain - or better still, exceed - the production figures for May and June that I obtained in the corresponding months in 2025, then the production targets should be back on track at the end of the second quarter.
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