Collection of photographs from Lord Heseltine's Thenford Arboretum to go on display at gallery near Banbury

Oxford-based photographer Nicholas Posner spent more than 100 hours over the past year photographing the gardens at Thenford House.

Nicholas described the extensive project, which involved taking pictures of more than 3,500 trees and shrubs as ‘the greatest photographic project of my life’.

The project was initiated after a chance encounter Nicholas had with Lord Heseltine when visiting Thenford in the summer of 2023.

A conversation between the two led to the politician asking Nicholas if he was up to the task of creating a detailed photographic record of the gardens.

Now almost two years later, Nicholas has a collection of 84 exceptional photographs taken from the gardens ready to exhibit.

The exhibition focuses in particular on the Thenford snowdrop collection, which has National Plant Collection status and attracts hundreds of enthusiasts for snowdrop walks each year.

Nicholas said: “Having been used to photographing people, snowdrops were a fresh challenge.

“Lord Heseltine was very clear on what was required. This included the inside of the flower, and I had to devise a way to position the camera and lighting to capture this.”

The exhibition, which is titled DROPS OF SPRING: Photographs of Thenford Arboretum and Gardens, will be on display at the Heseltine Gallery based in Chenderit School.

It is open to the public from 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday, from February 1 until March 28.

For more information, visit: https://www.theheseltinegallery.org.uk/