Coinciding with his 40th year as a professional photographer, Paul Nicholls recently unveiled his book Gloucestershire: A Celebration.
Paul began his career at Peckham’s in Stroud, before working for the Bailey Newspaper Group and later The Citizen in Gloucester. He’s been freelance since 2014 and regularly supplies pictures to the national press.
Gloucestershire: A Celebration is packed with photos taken over the past four decades covering everything from unique and unusual events, including Randwick Wap, the internationally famous Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and the Bisley Well Dressing ceremony.
News events such as the Gloucester floods of 2005 and Royal visits from the late Queen Elizabeth also grace the pages alongside pictures of UK Prime Ministers from Margaret Thatcher through to Rishi Sunak and every PM between, and world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Barack Obama.
A notable section recounts Paul’s visit to Kosovo in 2004 with The Gloucestershire Regiment The Rifles during their peacekeeping duties.
The book is equally fascinating for life-long Gloucestershire residents as well as someone who has never set foot in the county. The reproduction of the images is especially impressive, many of them having been taken on black and white film but still sit perfectly with pictures captured on the latest digital equipment.
Gloucestershire: A Celebration is published by Amberley Publishing (£18.99) and is available at Stroud Bookshop, Waterstones, and Amazon and many other shops.
Pictures by Paul Nicholls
