I was working in Tewkesbury Gloucestershire while living 10 miles away in Pershore Worcestershire.  On the weekends especially if it was cloudy and overcast I liked to visit the towns and cities of the west midlands and this week I chose to do the Battle walk through Tewkesbury starting at the Abbey.

Day Pack

When I am walking in the countryside or the hills like the Malverns then I go out with my full kit and my lowpro rucksuck on my back.
Lowepro Photo Hatchback

This includes my DLSR, my tripod, all my filters and other accessories and I dress appropriately.   This lowepro photo hatchback is great for a day pack with enough room for the essentials.

Canon Compact Camera

When walking around a town such as Tewkesbury then I only take my pocket canon compact camera.   My current canon compact camera is the discontinued S120.   These compact cameras have all the settings that you get with a DLSR including shooting in  RAW format and full manual override.  What you cant do is change lenses etc.  But still for a compact camera it takes great photos at full resolution and is a great tool for learning about controlling exposure before moving onto a DLSR and of course it fits in your pocket and is good for street photography.
Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II
You can also do exposures of up to 30 seconds so I also carry a mini pocket tripod too.  You can often find a post, bin or something to rest the tripod on, put the camera on a 2 second timer and take a great low light shot without anyone being aware.  Its my intention to upgrade my Canon compact soon to the wonderful Canon powershot 20MB G7 X.  Now these type of Canon compacts are not much cheaper than a lower end DLSR.

Tewkesbury Abbey

The walk started next to the very impressive Tewkesbury Abbey, I could get a good exposure hand holding and not need to use the mini tripod.  I was pleased with the shot of Tewkesbury Abbey where the clouds add a little drama to the image.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the thick clouds behind me and lit up the stonework of Tewkesbury Abbey adding some depth and texture to the shot.  Good start.  My only regret is not entering inside the Abbey and taking a look around but needed to get to the bank before midday.

There is a pay and display carpark beside Tewkesbury abbey for those driving beside Priory park.

Battle Walk

For reference I was using the Tewkesbury walk out of the AAs 50 walks Gloucestershire.  The Tewkesbury walk takes you along a path called battle walk and alongside the river Avon back into the high street of Tewkesbury getting on for 5 miles in total.

Tewkesbury despite the social housing is stooped in history and some of it still preserved including Margaret’s field and the bloody meadows where a very important English battle took place.  Back in the highstreet of Tewkesbury there are many medieval black and white houses, lots of coffee shops and pubs too where you can take some refreshments after your walk before heading back to the Abbey.