It was another lovely sunny March spring day.  Its rare we get a weekend mid March where its glorious sunshine both Saturday and Sunday.  I had already been out the day before with a trip to Black Hill in Herefordshire.  My legs were aching even still feel guilty staying indoors on a sunny day.  I selected a short walk nearby of around 3 to 4 miles just outside Tewkesbury along the river Severn near Deerhurst in Gloucestershire.

The Severn Way Deerhurst

For my guide I was using the On the Severn Way at Deerhurst in the AA’s 50 walks in Gloucestershire.  Its a lovely walk along the severn way, along the river bank of the Severn. With the river Severn being the longest river in England.

Although it was a Sunday mid afternoon, a lovely sunny day, the village of Deerhurst in Gloucestershire is pretty remote and the Severn way here not get many visitors if you appreciate peace and tranquillity.

Handheld Shots

The day was so bright I tried taking shots handheld.   With image stabilisation I was able to handhold and get sharp images with shutter speeds dropping below 1/15 sec.  Generally its recommended your shutter speed should be higher than your focal length and for hand held not to go below 1/60 sec.  But with image stabilisation can give you anything from 2-4 extra stops to play with so I calculated that gave me at least 1/60 sec.  Note image stabilisation should always be switched off when using a tripod.  It can be difficult to remember all these switches and settings in the field switching from tripod to handhelds settings and visa versa.

The other advantage with handheld shots is its flexibility in the angle of shots you can take with getting down to ground level always an option.  Spring was so evident along the Severn way in Deerhurst, beautiful flowers blooming, bees collecting honey and even saw a few yellow butterflies that I failed to get a photo of.   Need to be more patient maybe.  Life is like a butterfly.

Towards Apperly

At a pub by the Severn riverside you turn left and follow a public footpath up a steepish hill into the village of Apperly.   Looking back there was some cool views of the Severn way around Deerhurst and the Malvern Hills in the distance.

For this shot re-enlisted the tripod and used a polariser.  The polariser has really highlighted the clouds, although the blue sky needed some post processing due to being to dark top left corner and too light right hand side.

A walk through  the village of Apperly left at the village hall across the playing fields and back into the countryside.  I would rather these walks avoid roads and populated areas.

Oddas Chapel

The last leg of the walk through the parish of Deerhurst takes you back to the car park and Oddas Chapel.   With Oddas Chapel being the real star and highlight of the AA walk.

Oddas Chapel is one of only a few of truly Anglo Saxon buildings left standing in England.  A nice sunny spring afternoon walk around Deerhurst in Gloucestershire digitally captured to share with you and maybe inspire a trip yourself.