With a dark and ominous looking sky at 6.30 pm, some intrepid club members set off on the journey to Cricklade for our second photoshoot of the summer. By the time the short journey had been completed the sky had cleared and we were bathed in evening sunshine. After photographing the Jubilee Clock outside the Vale Hotel, we made our way to St Sampson’s parish church. Unfortunately we were not able to access the interior of the building but instead focused on its imposing structure and the various crosses in the churchyard.

From there we walked the High Street, passing St Mary’s church and some fine Georgian town houses before reaching the Town bridge and the curiously named “The Stank”. A group of boy scouts and guides were building a wooden bridge to cross the River Thames which provided some interesting observations. The Cornishman in our group spotted the fact that the Red Lion offered St Austell Brewery beers so we finished the evening with a well deserved pint.

To ease ourselves into the Summer photoshoot programme that runs from June until end August, the Town Gardens in Swindon was selected as our first location to visit. For once the weather gods looked upon us favourably and, after an overcast day, the sun appeared and we were able to enjoy a pleasant evening glow.

Laid out in a former quarry of Purbeck stone, owned by the Goddard family, the gardens offer a variety of features including an aviary, small pond, cherry tree lined central path, rose garden, flower displays, bandstand and a sunken garden. So there was a good range of subjects to photograph and the opportunity to experiment with some less familiar camera settings.

An unusual feature along the northern boundary of the rectangular garden is an entrance porch with iron turnstiles and brick pillars that leads to a domed bandstand in Art Deco style, called the Concert Bowl. In normal times this hosts musical events but access is currently not allowed.

The tranquil atmosphere is the gardens made for a relaxing time, wandering around and trying to capture some images that the other attendees may not have spotted.