Abbey House Gardens, August 2020

By shendyNo Comments
I visit Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury most years, but this one was a bit different to the usual trips - I normally go to their clothes-optional days, and this was only the second time I've visited and kept my clothes on. As well as wanting to visit (and support) what is a rather lovely garden, they also had a sculpture exhibition on, which is something we've taken quite a liking to - see previous posts Quennington Fresh Air Sculpture and Quenington Fresh Air Sculpture, June 2019. Most of these were taken on my Fuji digital, but I was also shooting on slide film in the Hasselblad (the last one is from that) as well as some expired film in what was my dad's Pentax MX (a lovely all-manual SLR). The expired film thing was a bit of an experiment, not hugely successful if I'm honest. ...
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Day Trips 2018

By shendyNo Comments
Rather than spread this out into a long series of blog posts, I've condensed the various day trips into a single entry. Abbey House GardensOf course there's a visit to Abbey House Gardens, isn't there always? May this time, and the gardens looked good. And yes, it was a clothes optional visit - I've only been once when it hasn't been! Bowdown Woods/ThatchamIn early July I met a former colleague (now good friend) for a catch up and we had a wander round the woods and surrounding area - the edge of the former airbase at Greenham Common, the Kennet and Avon Canal. Rather nice, if a bit warm!Not many photos as that wasn't the real purpose of the day - but the B&W ones were taken on my Fuji X-T20 and an IR filter, so these are genuine IR images not a fake IR effect. Caen Hill LocksThe flight of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Caen Hill are well...
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Abbey House Gardens, Again!

By shendyNo Comments
Last Sunday was the latest of the clothes-optional days at Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury - and perhaps one of the last. Sadly, the owners are getting divorced and the house and garden are up for sale. The remaining clothes-optional days this year are the 17th and 31st August and the 21st September - depending on what happens with any new owner, they could be the last. Not many pics though - I've been so many times that there isn't much new to take any more! ...
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Abbey House Gardens

By shendyNo Comments
What's that, another set of photos from Abbey House Gardens? Well, yes - but this visit was a little different. SWMBO came along for the first time, and it was also the first time I've visited with my kit on - this wasn't one of their clothes optional days. I've not been this early in the year before, and unfortunately the masses of tulips that were out over Easter were past their best - we weren't able to get there when they were in their prime. However the rhododendrons were out and the gardens were a lot quieter than on the naturist days - which made taking photos a lot easier! I need to visit when the Laburnum arch is in flower, preferably with someone to pose in it.  ...
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