Words, thoughts, and an invitation from Neale James, presenter/producer of The Friday Photowalk.

The Dene Rally is one of those Hampshire events that feels like it's been going forever, and probably has. It's a small traditional English country fair built around steam engines, traction engines, vintage motorcycles, classic cars, and the kind of people who've been coming back every year for longer than they can remember. Collectors, engineers, mechanics, restorers, and families who've inherited the obsession from their parents. Real exhibitors doing real things, not a staged heritage experience.

I’d like to do an annual meet-up following the success of our 500th Episode get-together, hosted in 2025 at Greenham Common, so the Dene Rally is this year's.

We're spending the day there together as photographers, making pictures of it all, and if you fancy a micro project to hang the day on, this rally makes for a wonderful subject. The characters are already there, the light changes all day, and there's much wonderful material (with a side serving of English eccentricity) across the site to point your camera at.

It’s also a great chance to record an episode of the Photowalk Podcast on the day, so there's a chance you might end up in it.

This isn't a workshop, as such. There are no exercises, no feedback sessions, no structure imposed on what is already a wonderfully chaotic and photogenic day. It's simply a chance to turn up somewhere with a story to shoot, with other photographers, wander, shoot, talk, and share the experience, although we will be comparing notes mid-afternoon over a suspiciously warm ale from the beer tent!

There's plenty to work with, traction engines being coaxed into life, miniature railways, living history displays, portrait opportunities everywhere you look, and the general beautiful mess of an English summer fair doing its thing in a field in Hampshire, south England.

For those who want to make a proper weekend of it, you're welcome to camp on site from the evening of the 20th through to the 21st. Wake up to the sound of traction engines being warmed up. Photograph the fair before the crowds arrive: it's a genuinely lovely way to experience it.

For those staying later, I’ll be hosting a barbecue Saturday night and for those who choose to camp and stay overnight, famous show bacon butties in the morning.

Come for the day, stay for the night, bring a camera and decent footwear. The weather will do whatever it wants: it's England, so that's part of the story too.

PRICING AND LOGISTICS

There is a nominal contribution/cost to cover entrance to the rally, the organisation of our meet-up, evening barbecue, and pitch. If you intend to come for the day/barbecue, the contribution is £25. To camp overnight, regardless of one or two nights, the cost is £49.