Tag: adventure

REVIEW – Devizes Arts Festival– Bob Holman: “Have A Go: Phone Photography” @ Cheese Hall (Monday 8th June 2026)

I Think I Get The Picture Now

by Andy Fawthrop

Monday morning seems an odd time to be going to an “Arts” event, and early heavy showers didn’t do the day any favours either.  It almost felt like getting up to go to school when double maths is scheduled, but that was a very (very) long time ago for me, so I sharpened my pencils and set out in determined fashion for the Cheese Hall……

A doughty class of about twenty folks had turned up to hear professional photographer Bob Holman run a workshop session on “how to elevate your phone photography and WOW your friends”.  Not only had this master-class been the first item on DAF’s Events Calendar to sell out, but had proved so popular that another session had been arranged for the afternoon – and that had sold out too! So I guessed there were a lot of people around the town who were having issues with their competence at phone photography!

This was another one of those little DAF gems which gave our good citizens a chance to actually “have a go”, rather than just sit back passively and be entertained.  And this was definitely not entertainment, much more instructional in nature.  It fell into two basic halves: the first being almost traditional chalk-and-talk from the front, and the second was a much more hands-on practical session.

Bob ran through a lot of basic settings, and how to set the phone’s camera up to suit the types of things you might want to do.  Cue lots of “a-ha” moments as people began to discover some basic things about their phone that they’d not realised before.  Previously unexplored menus, sub-menus and options came blinking into the light. This then morphed into a tips-and-techniques section (including “filling the frame”, never using the flash, using the timer, macro shooting, video including slow-motion etc).  We got plenty of advice on what NOT to do, and features NOT to use, which was equally useful.  We talked about focus, contrast, using the light, burst mode, black-and-white….well you get the picture (see what I did there?.

After the break and a chance to let our spinning heads settle a little, we donned coats and headed into the great outdoors for some much more practical shooting tips, causing alarm and amusement in equal measures to ordinary citizens of the town going about their daily business.  Before you knew it, twenty-odd folks were swarming around the Town Hall, down St Johns and into the churchyard, taking pictures of all sorts, from a variety of strange new angles.  We were taught about “leading lines”, “framing”, composition, perspective and some lovely trickery using a range of reflecting surfaces (windows, mirrors, puddles of water).  Again you could hear the “oohs” and “aahs” as various pennies dropped.  Finally, after this enjoyable bit of play-time, we were trooped back into the classroom for a final round-up before the lunch-time buzzer went.

I’d say that by now we were all starting to feel quite pleased with ourselves, not only because we’d all blossomed into a new regiment of crack photographers, but also because the lesson was almost at an end. It was at this point that Bob told us that taking better pictures was “the easy bit”.  All those great shots would now require editing before they were truly perfect. And that, we learned, was a whole other set of dark arts, and a different discipline altogether!  Something for another time methinks.

Overall this was an informative and helpful session. My only quibble was that, despite being clearly advertised as suitable for both iPhone and Android devices, the latter (of which there were several in the room) were not really catered for. Bob admitted upfront that he was largely unfamiliar with Android settings, so a few of us had to play quite a lot of catch-up and translation during the session. For the iPhone majority, however, this session got a definite thumbs up.

Anyway, we’re into the final week of the Devizes Arts Festival now. However, there’s still plenty of great stuff still to come over the next few days, both ticketed and free.  There are more “have-a-go” sessions, too, so why not get your sleeves rolled up and get stuck in?

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until the night of Sunday 14th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

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McDonalds in East Devizes?!

There’s no fooling you; this headline is Mc-deliberately misleading! There’s not even a burger, just a clickbait sesame seeded pun. I had to grab your…

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Time to Be Thinking About CrownFest 2026

Not just a pretty spiral church, there’s plenty for Bishop’s Cannings to be proud about. Evidence with the personal touch recently defeated a brazen landgrab, conveying a parish council dedicated to its community. Likewise, The Crown is the community hub which seems to bounce back whatever the odds….

A minority of pitchfork and torch wielding killjoys may’ve chased away the proprietors who hosted two years of a most memorable and charity fundraising festival, but the replacement Tory councillor election fraudster departed with their tale between their legs far faster.

If, in this sorry era of village pubs closures, the two best methods of keeping afloat are either good food or entertainment, the latest landlords of their only village pub honour both options. Isn’t it time we helped them celebrate? Because, what we thought was history, CrownFest, returns this year, and looks better than ever before.

Across this country you could trek, finding great festivals everywhere, but here’s one early in July you can catch the bus to! A landmark charity music festival garnished with some of the finest local acts, highly recommended by us at Devizine, and supporting Wiltshire Hope and Harmony, a charity providing essential support to those with SEN needs and to families caring for loved ones living with conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s, as well as those at end of life, offering compassion, dignity, and a true sense of hope.

And we have high hopes for CrownFest’s exceptional live music program, community spirit, and deeply meaningful cause, on Saturday 4th July. My only concern, with twelve performances including our favourites Talk in Code, George Wilding, Ruby Darbyshire and Lucas Hardy, plus Kinisha, whose Tina Turner tribute stole the show as the penultimate slot at the last CrownFest and my personal fav tribute, Mitchell and his ants as those kings of the wild frontier, is how they’re going to fit them all in!

Now, the press release sent to us, though I rarely accept a copy & paste job, called the lineup “impressive,” and they’re not kidding. Irish folksters The Publicans are also on that roster, with Salisbury cover darlings Innovator, Mother Ukers Ukulele Band, and three newcomers Braydon Lees, Dylan Bratley, and 5 Nights Adyans.

Beyond the music, CrownFest is a fully inclusive, family-friendly environment. Attendees benefit from a Sensory & Wellbeing tent, interactive drumming circles, on-site camping facilities, and a range of food and drink options, ensuring an enjoyable and accessible experience for all.

A spokesperson for the event said, “CrownFest 2026 is about more than great music, it’s about people coming together to support one another. We’re incredibly proud to create an event where enjoyment and purpose go hand in hand, and where every attendee plays a part in making a difference.”

A bit more press release detail, with gates opening at 11:00am, tickets are priced from £32.50, with family packages available at £75. My part, that is actually very reasonable for what you’re getting. With every ticket sold contributing to the ongoing work of Wiltshire Hope and Harmony, it’ll turn a day of entertainment into tangible community impact; exactly what a village pub needs to be, a community asset, and with the gorgeous and spacious surroundings, The Crown can achieve, only if the community backs it.

Tickets are available online and from the Crown Inn Bishops Cannings, hope to see you there?! 

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The Wurzels To Play At FullTone 2026!

If Devizes’ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Road’s Park Farm for next summer’s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rustic feel than The Wurzels, who have just been announced on the line-up?!

If Somerset’s Scrumpy and Western genre has fermented longer than a cider press from folk roots, it’s surely The Wurzels who brought mass attention to it with their number one parody of Melanie’s Brand New Key, The Combine Harvester. The staggering thing about this is, it was in 1976, but what’s more staggering, is people are still singing it today, and likely will be at FullTone Festival on 11th & 12th July 2026!

Organiser of FullTone, Jemma Brown said of the booking, “there’s not much more we can say to that!” But you know me, I’ve always got something to say, and I’m saying that is a fantastic surprise which only remains to add to the already brilliant show the orchestra and guest acts will deliver.

What else we do know at this early stage, is the huge fifty-piece orchestra will play through sets of  Holst’s The Planets & Star Wars, a Symphonic Queen with Ricardo Afonso, The Best of Motown, an eighties spectacular and Devizes-own BBC radio DJ James Threlfall will be on the dance anthems.

If I wonder what songs the Wurzels will play, top choice has to be I’ll Never Get a Scrumpy Here, which contains the line, “’Cos you never get surprises livin’ in Devizes,” and spurred my rant column of the same name, you might remember it. I did write to them to ask permission, they were too busy drinking cider to be in any way concerned. I asked if it was sly stab at our brewery, or that Devizes was as far eastward they favour to venture, but they explained it was used because it rhymed! Well, they’re venturing here in July, and if they give us the key, we can all have a brand new combine harvester.

Various venues in/around D-Town – Saturday & Sunday 7/8th June 2025

Just How Big Is That Fringe? Or Two Go Myth-Busting

Andy Fawthrop

We’ve always held that D-Town is a great place to live, and one of the many reasons is that it punches well above its weight in terms of the arts and cultural events.  Just speaking to musicians and artists who visit the town for gigs and festivals, the feedback is always the same: they’re in awe of just how much we’ve got going on here.….

Do we need to recite the list?  Oh go on then – two/ three Beer Festivals (DOCA Winter Ales, Seend, CAMRA DBF), an arts festival (DAF), a food and drink festival, Fulltone on The Green, our own theatre, two opera companies (WHO, DMT), Devizes to Westminster canoe race, Long Street Blues Club, the DOCA events (Street Festival, Colour Rush, Lantern Parade, Carnival, Picnic In The Park)….I could (and usually do), go on.  There’s pubs with regular live music (White Bear, Three Crowns, The Southgate), fairs and circuses on The Green, book clubs, sports clubs…(you’re really going on a bit now…Ed).

But somehow that old refrain of “Nothing Ever Happens In Devizes” has been making a come-back of late on social media, yet it just ain’t true.  But like all myths, it refuses to lie down and die.  Despite this revered organ (ooh, matron) laying out the many, many choices you might have every week, and bringing you previews and reviews of everything and anything arts-based that we can get our sticky little fingers on, some folks seem to persist in apparently finding “nothing” to do. So it’s time to, yet again, challenge that myth and have another go at laying it to rest for once and for all.

Anyway…..at the moment of writing we’re right in the middle of the Devizes Arts Festival fortnight, with plenty of variety to please all tastes.  But, admittedly, some of these events can command ticket prices that are unaffordable for some.  So, inspired somewhat by last weekend’s wonderful free Rowdefest (thank you Darren!) and, admittedly, a bit of a “robust discussion” in the pub, I decided to see just how much fun and entertainment you could enjoy over this weekend at next to no cost. It’s a challenge I decided to take on by getting off my luxury sofa, and propel myself out “into the field” (as it were).

Armed with only a stout pair of walking boots, an inquisitive and open mind, and a supportive girlfriend, I headed out into the local area to see what I could actually come up with on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  The results are below:

  • 1. Devizes Farmers’ Market in The Market Place Bar (Saturday 9 am)
  • · What it was: monthly gathering of local suppliers
  • · What was it like?  Plenty of choice – venison, bread, honey, olives, cheese, bread & fruit, flowers and plants, fresh coffee, cider, cakes.  Plenty of good fresh stuff from suppliers within a 30 mile radius of D-Town.  Added to stalls in the Shambles, this is worth a half hour of anyone’s time, either for shopping or simply browsing.
  • · Cost: £FREE
  • · Children’s rating: 1/5, Adults’ rating: 4/5
  • 2. K&A Canal Walk towpath, any old time
  • · What it was: a c. 4 mile walk down the towpath from D-Town to Poulshot
  • · What was it like?  Lots of people out strolling or cycling, boats passing up and down the flight (an opportunity for some gomgoozling).  We also saw many species of birds, including four, yes four, different grey herons – such elegant birds.
  • · Cost: £FREE
  • · Children’s rating: 1/5, Adults’ rating: 5/5
  • 3. Poulshot Medicine in Nature Herbal Walk at Poulshot Village Hall (Saturday 10.30am – 12)
  • · What it was: a short walk led by Katherine Baldock & Simon Parkes (ecologist) around the village to explore the wild and naturalised medicinal plants growing thereabouts, and an opportunity to make some herbal vinegar after foraging the local hedgerows.
  • · What was it like?  Way too slow for me, it was part talk, part very gentle amble around the village green and woodland, part discovery of a number of wild plants.  We discussed culinary and medicinal uses. At least I found bits of Poulshot I didn’t know about, including the pond, the specially-created woodland, and some country paths (useful for getting over to Whistley Road later on).
  • · Cost: £5/ person
  • · Children’s rating: 0/5, Adults’ rating: 2/5
  • 4. Wiltshire Steam & Vintage Rally Lower Park Farm, Whistley Road (Saturday & Sunday 10 – 5)
  • · What it was:.  An event organised by WAPG (Wiltshire Agricultural Preservation Group), featuring static displays of steam traction engines, tractors, miniature steam engines, heavy horses, trade stalls, fairground, military vehicles, classic cars.
  • · What was it like? As it was chucking it down with rain as we arrived, the most welcome thing for the first half hour was the (well-stocked) beer tent.  I could have done without the loud piped music but, hey, it was dry and there was beer!  When the rain slowed down a bit we did the full circuit and there was plenty to see, the most impressive of which were the full-size old traction engines in steam (some also seen later driving through D-Town).  There were pop-up food outlets, fresh coffee, craft stalls and tents, a 1940s-themed tea and cakes tent, bouncy castle for the children etc.  The site was large with plenty of parking but, because of the rain, getting increasingly muddy.
  • · Cost: £10/ person + drinks
  • · Children’s rating: 4/5, Adults’ rating: 4/5
  • 5. Pete Robson & J P Oldfield in The Bear, Cellar Bar (Saturday 8pm)
  • · What it was: foot-stomping blues from two solo performers
  • · What was it like?  Each performer used steel guitar and stomp box to deliver some hard-cutting blues.  CDs for sale. Not very well attended, which was a shame.  Perhaps it needed to be better advertised. For me Pete Robson was the better performer of the two, taking a slightly less hard-edge approach to his vocals, and mixing up the tempo, giving more light and shade to his set.  The cellar bar is an OK venue at best, being a rather odd shape, with very low ceiling and an only partially-stocked bar.  I suspect it needs to be used much more often if it’s going flourish as a venue.
  • · Cost: £FREE + drinks
  • · Adults’ rating: 3/5
  • · Note –we could have also gone to see either Matchbox Mutiny/ Tom Harris in The Three Crowns or The Duskers in The Southgate (both FREE entry), but there’s only so many hours in the day!
  • 6. Crammer Watch Day on the Small Green Devizes (Sunday 11am onwards)
  • · What it was: a chance to meet those involved in celebrating and preserving the Crammer. RSPCA, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Wessex Water, Friends of The Crammer, Lawrence Society of Artists, Sustainable Devizes + The Moonrakers Legend (performed at 12 noon and 1pm), photography competition, charity tombola
  • · What was it like?  We missed the Moonrakers performance, so as an experience I found it a bit thin on the ground.  There was little to see and do, unless you wanted to stand and chat to someone about the issues which the Crammer faces. Several stands were just offering information leaflets. Although a worthy attempt, for me personally it was just not very engaging.
  • · Cost: £FREE
  • · Children’s rating: 1/5, Adults’ rating: 1/5
  • 7. Lions on The Green on The Green (Sunday 10am -4pm)
  • · What it was: organised by Devizes Lions Club, a vehicle display (cars, bikes, scooters, military etc) and family fun day (lots of stalls, bar, food outlets)
  • · What was it like?  Covering the whole of the large Green, this was really excellently-well organised.  The central area was given over to the displays of antique, rare and sports cars.  Stalls had cakes, plants (from Plot 35), metal signs, honey etc.  There was a bouncy castle and fairground rides for children.  A licensed bar, coffee shop etc.  Lots to look at and plenty of photo opportunities. Fantasy Radio were broadcasting live from the site.
  • · Cost: £FREE (donations to the Lions collecting buckets) + drinks
  • · Children’s rating: 4/5, Adults’ rating: 5/5
  • 8. Devizes Arts Festival Free Fringe: Whiskey River (@ British Lion garden  Sunday 2 – 5pm)
  • · What it was: Roots Music From the Welsh frontier
  • · What was it like?  The trio Whiskey River played Americana, Cajun, Zydeco, Folk, Country, Blues and a smattering of Celtic music. Using guitar, fiddle, flute, harmonica, mandolin and concertina, these guys provided an excellent and enjoyable afternoon of music in the (occasional) sunshine.  The bar was open, and there was a BBQ going on throughout. People sitting out enjoying a drink, dogs, children, good music – perfect!
  • · Cost: £FREE + (a large, undisclosed) drinks bill
  • · Children’s rating: 3/5, Adults’ rating: 5/5
  • 9. Wood & Steel (@ The Southgate Inn Sunday 5-7pm)
  • · What it was: an acoustic duo playing blues, jazz and ragtime
  • · What was it like?  This duo were new to me, but I was very impressed by what I heard.  Two very good musicians, clearly comfortable in their own skin, played two excellent 50-minute sets and got a very well-deserved encore.  Lots of covers from many ages and genres, using dobro, guitar, upright bass and vocals.  Excellent musical accompaniment to a late, lazy Sunday afternoon. Great atmosphere too.
  • · Cost: £FREE (donations to “the hat”) + more (undisclosed) drinks
  • · Adults’ rating: 5/5
  • · Note – we could also have gone to see Bodge It & Scarper  at The White Bear (Sunday 5-7pm) playing acoustic music, but didn’t hear about this until quite late.  Also can’t be in two places at once.  This event was also FREE.  

In summary:

  • · Miles walked – about 10
  • · Bird species spotted – about 20, including swans, herons, jackdaws, mallard, moorhen, starlings, robins, great tits etc;
  • · Friends met – loads – far too many to mention!
  • · Total cost (for two) – £27.80 (of which £20 was for the steam fair) + the drinks (but let’s not mention that bit!);
  • · Fun and entertainment had – loads and loads and loads;
  • · Well-being – absolutely knackered, but very happy.  Looking forward to next weekend!

Yes it all took a little bit of planning, but it wasn’t that difficult really.  We walked to/ from most venues, so we got lots of other good D-Town stuff (Caen Hill locks, the towpath etc) and took only one short (cheap) bus ride when the heavens opened.  So there was plenty of exercise and fresh air to mitigate the various bits of eating and drinking.  Did I mention that the odd libation was partaken of?  And I’m not saying that EVERY weekend is quite this packed, but it certainly can be if you put your mind to it.  Bear in mind that there’s LOADS of other stuff going on – these were simply the things we happened to pick out.  There were choices – and we made them!

Nothing Ever Happens In Devizes???  Don’t make me laugh.