The Flickr 迪韋齊斯 Image Generatr

Pear blossom, with a bokeh of hawthorn blossom in the background, in the back garden of my old house in Devizes. I do love springtime.

Pear blossom in the back garden of my old house in Devizes. I do love springtime.

Hawthorn blossom in the back garden of my old house in Devizes. I do love springtime.

St John's Court is a very atmospheric little lane leading to the historic St John's Church in the Wiltshire market town of Devizes (pop. 16,000).

On the left, Nos. 1-3 have an 18th Century frontage, but behind it the buildings may be as old as the late 16th Century; on the right, No. 4 is said to be even older, a Medieval Hall, although the official listing dates it to the end of the 18th Century. Overlooking them is St John's itself.

St John's dates from 1130 when it was constructed as a chapel to the recently completed castle. It is rumoured that the altar relic at its foundation was a feather from the wing of the Angel Gabriel. The feather has yet to be discovered!

Simon Jenkins points out the strong contrast between the - unexceptional - English Perpendicular style of the nave and the decidedly French Norman style of the east end of the church. The north and south chapels that flank the Norman chancel make up a third focus of interest.

A gorgeous autumn sunset in St John's churchyard in the Wiltshire market town of Devizes (pop. 16,800).

A gloriously pink post-sunset twilight from the foot of Etchilhampton Hill, between the hamlet of Coate and the village of Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire.

A gorgeous autumn sunset in St John's churchyard in the Wiltshire market town of Devizes (pop. 16,800).

A gloriously pink post-sunset twilight from the foot of Etchilhampton Hill, between the hamlet of Coate and the village of Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire.

Now the main part of the Peppermill Hotel complex, 39 St John's Street is a late 18th/early 19th century painted stucco house and Grade II* listed. The official listing states that "Nos 23 to 41 (consec) and the part of the National Westminster Old Bank in Market Place form a very fine group." This is an integral part of the Georgian streetscape of this Wiltshire market town (pop. 19,000).

The attractive British Lion pub is Grade II listed, and on a prominent site at a significant junction in Wiltshire's inter-town road network. It dates to the early 18th Century. It's also a really good pub, independently owned and with a constantly changing cast of real ales.

The attractive buildings of 5-7 Estcourt Street in Devizes and the neighbouring British Lion pub are both Grade II listed, and are on a prominent site at a significant junction in Wiltshire's inter-town road network. 5-7 Estcourt Street are early 19th Century, while the British Lion is much older, dating to the early 18th Century. It's also a really good pub, independently owned and with a constantly changing cast of real ales.

Four listed buildings grace the north east corner of the Market Place in the Wiltshire town of Devizes (pop. 15,500 or so). All were built in the Georgian era when the Kennet and Avon Canal and coaches ferrying the wealthy from London to their summer residences in Bath brought great prosperity to the town. By far the finest and probably the oldest is the Black Swan Inn, dated to 1737; to its left are successively the Pie Shop Building, possibly just about Victorian as is dated to around 1840; then the 18th Century Panella House with its wonderful Doric screen, and finally 21-22 Market Place, also 18th Century with its yellow painted stucco.

The Costa Coffee building is obviously more modern, but does make some real effort to fit into the surrounding Georgian townscape.

2-4 Southbroom Road, a semi-detached house in the Wiltshire market town of Devizes, on a prominent site. I think this is Edwardian, although I suppose it could be inter-War.

Southbroom Road, Devizes, under a full moon. Four more sleeps til Hallowe'en.

Devizes is a market town in Wiltshire with a population of around 15,500.

Frosty fields just outside the Wiltshire village of Potterne, near Devizes, looking towards the rural area of Hartmoor.

Twilight on Long Street, in the heart of Georgian Devizes, the pretty little heart of Wiltshire.

A lone tree catching a winter sunset in the Sleight Valley just outside Devizes in Wiltshire.

The Crammer is the pond in the centre of the Wiltshire market town of Devizes (pop. 19,500).

Perhaps the most famous local legend is that of the Moonrakers, which is reputed to have taken place at the Crammer (the town’s pond) .

The story goes that a group of Wiltshire smugglers heard the Excise Men approaching the town, therefore they had to quickly conceal the contraband brandy they were carrying by rolling the barrels into the Crammer. Once the Excise Men had passed, the smugglers needed to recover the barrels using a rake. The Excise Man were suspicious and therefore came back to take a second look. Catching the men with rakes they demanded to know what they were doing.

Not being stupid, one pointed to the reflection of the moon in the water and said that they were trying to rake out the cheese from the water. The Excise Men left, laughing at how stupid Devizes people can be. However it was the smugglers who had the loudest laugh as their quick thinking had stopped them being caught. To this day, Wiltshire people are known as ‘Moonrakers’.

I arrived to Bishops Cannings to take a service one Sunday evening in late January to find the church had the most magnificently coloured clouds for a backdrop, in the deep magenta of late twilight when they're just catching the sun at the right angle. Fortunately, I had the D750 with me; less fortunately, I had forgotten the correct fitting for the tripod, so I had to use fencing and gravestones for stability, and even then had to be careful not to the let the exposure time get too long, so I had to shoot at a noisy ISO of 6400. Also, it was a big, sub-regional service, and I was under time pressure. So I'm pleased with this but also frustrated I didn't do better.

The Wiltshire village of Bishops Cannings is dominated by the spire of its fine parish church, St Mary the Virgin.

This church may be built on the site of a Saxon original but the magnificent 41 metre spire was added during the 15th Century church expansion boom on top of a late 12th Century building. Although the village even today has a population of only 1,800 or so, the chantry chapel attached to the church was richly endowed with lands, making this one of the most impressive village parish churches in Wiltshire, and a prominent landmark from the A361 Devizes to Avebury road.

A bridleway running up onto Roundway Down from Bishops Cannings in Wiltshire. Although it's strangely hard to tell here if it's going up or down with those converging parallels.