Back in February I launched a Valentine Photoshoot competition where I encouraged couples in the Sheffield & surrounding areas to tell me about their most romantic local location. I had some wonderful entries and it was very difficult to decide on a winning couple so I put it to a panel who picked the story of Andy and Fiona.
Before I tell you about Fiona and Andy here are a few of the other entries which were short listed.
Rachel & Nick chose Chelsea Park as their most romantic location and this is why: “You can have a beautiful picnic in a quiet location and after a lazy afternoon you can watch the sun cast long shadows across the grass. A guilty pleasure made greater by the knowledge that you’re in the middle of an urban area, a few miles from a City Centre.”
Catherine & Robert chose Burbidge Rocks in Derbyshire: “The most romantic place has to be sitting on the edge of Burbidge Rocks in Derbyshire, moments of peace to sit, talk, relax and simply watch the world go by, with odd moments of distraction to keep us entertained.”
Jennie & Adam chose Whirlowbrook Hall. They were married there in July 2008 and I had the privilege of taking their wedding photos but I didn’t realise how special the place was to them. Jennie says, “Adam took me there when we’d only be going out for a matter of weeks. I was off work ill and needed to get out of the house. He drove me there and we just sat on a bench hugging each other whilst I coughed and spluttered! It was a sunny, bitter autumn day and he kept me warm and cosy. I think it was then that I knew he was the one. We have so many happy memories of Whirlowbrook Hall, including our wedding day, as this was the happiest of our lives. It’s set in a beautiful location, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and I would be honoured to have you photograph us again, in our favourite romantic location.”
Possibly the most amusing story was the one sent in by Maxine & Neil!
“I think that one of our romantic locations is a telephone box on the A619 Chatsworth Road (through Chesterfield) at the junction of Westbrook Drive! Why? It’s where Neil rang from, when we worked at Cole Brothers, to tell me that the offer on our home had been accepted. : ) We still live there, over 12 years later. Aaah! “
Some wonderful, romantic stories but the winning story and location was from Andy and Fiona. Here’s their entry:
“The location is a bit off the beaten track LOL! I don’t know even if it’s legal – I’m guessing it is I think it’s a ‘public footpath’ and we sort of veer off it into the woods.
When Andy and I first started dating (centuries ago I know!) we used to take a walk in Tankersley Manor woods and we found a little clearing in amongst the woods where we started going regularly for picnics – it’s a lovely spot, totally natural with trees and bushes I keep meaning to take the metal detector cos I feel we may find old coins or some other piece of history there. We even carved our initials on a tree with our keys (and keep topping it up now and again). The last time we went was Andy’s birthday just over a year ago when he didn’t know, I prepared a picnic and warm clothes as his birthday is in October – and luckily it was a dry day so we had a lovely lunch completely away from the beaten track.
I appreciate it’s not a proper tourist spot, but we think it’s romantic (for us anyway ahhhhh)”
I think it was the story about carving their intials into a tree that won the panel over! I went with Andy and Fiona to their favourite location to do the shoot and they came prepared with a wonderful picnic of champagne, love hearts, sandwiches & chocolate! We also found the tree where they first carved their initials into and they were able to redo it all over again! A lovely couple with a lovely story.
Here are some of their photos:
The happy couple & their tree
Carving their initials into the tree.
Champagne
Fiona & Andy
Romantic Picnic
Love Hearts...pamper me.
Happy smiles
Romance is alive and well.
