Downton Dispatches — salisbury

We are proud to be using some of the beautiful images of Wiltshire that local photographer Chris Lock has taken. He has been taking pictures of the Wiltshire landscape for the last 15 years after coming to the conclusion that you don’t have to travel far from home to find wonderful scenes to photograph. Based in the Nadder Valley, his subject matter is mostly from South Wiltshire and Dorset. His work has featured in Wiltshire Life magazine and a wide variety of other publications.

Wiltshire can be an underrated county, one that visitors often drive through on their way to Devon and Cornwall, but there is so much more to Wiltshire than Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. From the open expanses and big skies of the Vale of Pewsey and the Marlborough Downs to the picturesque river valleys of the Avon, Nadder, Wylye and Ebble, there is always something new to discover.

Winter can be a challenging time for photography, with days of grey skies and rain providing little opportunity to capture the landscape at its best, but – as these images illustrate - crisp frosty mornings or a hint of autumn mist can transform the countryside. Chris is always keen to be out as the sun comes up, setting up his tripod and Canon 5D digital SLR camera in the cold, waiting for that perfect moment when the light is at its best. Of course, the promise of some elusive snow in the weather forecast is always welcome!

You can see more of Chris’s work at www.chrislockphotography.co.uk

He is available for commissions and can be contacted at info@chrislockphotography.co.uk.

At the start of the month we celebrated our 1st anniversary by opening the doors to our Chalet at the Salisbury Christmas market, where it all started last year. It has been wonderful catching up with old and new faces and even better converting non gin drinkers, for those yet to come to the market we look forward to meeting you. We have plenty of goodies on the stand for the non gin drinkers as well. 

Explorer's Gin launched at the Salisbury Christmas Market 2018. The first two batches of 180 bottles were sold within two days, much faster than anticipated. In total 17 batches were completed. Local support and feedback were fantastic. We are grateful to everyone who came to see us and you can now order online or see us every Friday night at Downton Brewery.