Great photos, no cheese.
The Lido Family Fest, held at The Lido outdoor swimming pool in Cheltenham, was great fun to photograph. It was raising money for Motor Neurone Disease and despite the inclement weather, nothing could dampen everyones spirits as they splashed and played!
Cheltenham Connect is a highly successful local community initiative that was founded in 2009 and that has gone on to be one of the fastest growing and most active initiatives in Cheltenham. It was set up with the aim of strengthening and empowering the residential and trading community of South Cheltenham ( Leckhampton, Naunton Park, The Bath Road, The Suffolks, Tivoli and The Park). Anyone in Cheltenham can become a member, especially if you are interested in supporting the area.
Over the last few years, Mouse About Town has formed close connections with this organisation. I shot their 2012 village show, which was held in the Bath Road Market at the time, so I was thrilled to be invited along this year to document their 2014 show!
Bakers, makers and growers were all invited to come along and exhibit their talents, and maybe even win the 'best-in-show' award for their pumpkin, cake, jam or needlework! There were children's categories and a fancy dress parade too!
It was a great afternoon with lots going on. I hope their next show will be as big a success.
Last year Mouse About Town was invited along to cover Paws in the Park, a dog festival of enormous magnitude that takes place in Pittville Park, Cheltenham, once a year in August.
It was my usual documentary style of photography; capturing candid moments by simple observation. A few other factors play key parts too, of course, lighting and position being two elements that spring to mind instantly.
It was a great morning. A fantastic variety of characters, and that was just the owners! Being a dog lover and owner myself, it never surprises me how often the dogs look like their owners. Some similarities were scarily uncanny!
I hope you like the photos in this series. I hope to be back there again this year. Watch this space!
Last weekend, Mouse About Town popped down to Montpellier Day; a celebration of our talented local traders, who with their passion and craft, are what make the Montpellier District of Cheltenham so very special.
Montpellier is a bustle of quirky, independent shops. From the cavernous vintage treasures in Pink Vintage to the cool and contemporary delights in Pod, there are home stores, children's clothes boutiques and fabulous kitchen houses.
The Montpellier association are always putting on local events, so I hope to be involved this year in some of them.
Each year, the picturesque village of Eastcombe, Gloucestershire, is invaded by gnomes as part of it's annual gnome hunt. It's a family event following a trail around the beautiful village and gardens to track down hidden gnomes.
This year I had the pleasure of going along to photograph it and I soon found myself distracted, peering under bushes and turning over stones! The event starts at Eastcombe Primary School, where there are stalls, refreshments and face painting in the playground, and finishes at The Lamb Inn for cream teas. There's even an ice cream parlour in one of the gardens, if you can find it!
The Eastcombe Gnome Hunt is an absolute must, I'll definitely be bringing my children along to it next year!
The Lechlade Duck Race is an annual charity event, held in Lechlade at The Riverside Wharf on the River Thames.
At the last minute, I was approached by the organisers and invited to come along. With two very young children in tow, (my husband was away working), I hiked the buggy and my camera equipment around and managed to get some lovely shots, which I hope portrait how much fun and how successful the event was.
Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE launched the race at 1400 and 6000 local people cheered on the ducks until their finish line.
In addition to the main duck race, there were fun fair rides, inflatables, independent trading stalls, children's games, BBQ and ice-cream!
Local businesses could get involved by entering 'Duck Idol' and of course, not forgetting the fantastic 'Bob The Duck' mascot, who the kids adored!
It was a great day out for everyone, including myself and my children. I've been invited back to next year's event as their roaming photographer, hopefully my husband will be able to join us and we can enjoy a family day out in between all the photos I'll be taking!
The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours annually on the first Sunday in June in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. Since starting in 2009, thousands of Big Lunches have taken place in all types of communities.
This photographic coverage I took is from the big lunch that was held on our street, at the junction between Commercial Street and Gratton Street in Cheltenham. It was a terrific afternoon, spent with friends and neighbours. The children had the most fun I can ever remember - racing each other on scooters down the road, playing 'drivers' in Daddy's van, writing all over the pavements in chalk, eating huge wedges of cake. Just a total blast!
