April
After a frustrating first quarter of 2024, April was an improvement. I produced 66 photographs which fulfilled the production requirement for the month (target of 50) and plugged the shortfall from March, resulting in being slightly ahead of target at the end of the month. The weather improved somewhat, and I managed to time my week of work with the best of it, although I could perhaps have done some work in that time.
April has seen one new collection added, another collection receiving its first new material in over a decade, and another one renamed due to the subject being renamed. The new collection is "Attingham Park", the first “new” National Trust property visited this year; actually it’s also the first NT visit of any kind for me this year. It was also the first visit to an NT property by my mother after becoming a member of the beginning of the month.
“On Safari” has gained new material thanks to a visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park; my first in 15 years. I had intended to do it in the last quarter of 2023, but the excessive rainfall caused issues with their parking facilities and visitor numbers were being limited as a result; had I managed it at that time, based on the production figures for this year’s session, I would have just about made my production target for 2023.
The “Transport” collection formerly known as “Evesham Vale Light Railway” has been renamed to “Valley Railway Adventure”. The line came under new ownership at the end of February and the new owners, who also own the Perrygrove Railway, have rebranded the line to reflect the location of it; I’ve altered the collection name in line with this, although I personally think it’s somewhat vague with regards to location, and might be confused with other railways with “Valley Railway” in their names. I also found out that they'd had a gala in February to reflect the changeover; had I known about this at the time, I might well have attended (I did take a couple of photographs on the line in April).
As of the time of writing, there is still some material from the month to be added to the site.
May
My normal policy of attending (or at least booking) the
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Spring Gala on all days will not apply
this year, as the Dean Forest Railway have also scheduled their spring gala for
the same weekend. Since I would like to
do both, I’ve decided to attend the DFR’s event on the Saturday, and the GWSR’s
one on the remaining two days. Just for
good measure, the Perrygrove Railway are having a gala the weekend before, and
if I manage that as well, May could be very railway-oriented.
If the weather on the first weekend of the month is good
enough, I hope to attend this year’s Cropthorne Walkabout; if not, I will have
to give some thought to doing the Evesham Medieval Market event later in month
(same weekend as the Perrygrove Railway Gala).
I also want to visit a National Trust property, which I will probably
aim for the second weekend of the month.
If all goes to plan, I should get the 80 photographs I want for the
month.
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