Drone is where the heart for Petersfield photographer as Big Ladder calendar reaches new heights

Whenever there’s a big newsworthy event in Petersfield, you can almost guarantee that Chris Gorman will be there.

The drone photographer par excellence has captured a bird’s eye view of everything from the Lavant Street fire to fallen trees on Stoner Hill during the last year.

But the Big Ladder supremo who “gets the camera where the photographer can’t go” wanted to keep it lighter with his latest calendar, now available in-store and online.

He said: “I wanted to have pretty pictures in there so I didn’t put the one of the Lavant Street fire in there, for instance, or the picture of the tree across Stoner Hill.

“Whenever I create a calendar I want to keep the pictures original as possible, because I don’t want them to be similar to the year before.

“I had to put the picture of Stonehenge in, and that’s on the cover, because that’s probably the most successful picture I’ve ever taken.

“I actually took it on January 3. There was a such a good frost that morning and it was glistening – every national newspaper used it and it was on the front of four.”

There is a local interest as a stunning overhead view of a Watercress Line steam engine chugging along is one of the images. And remember the long dry spell we had? It resulted in one of Gorman’s favourite pictures of the year.

“I really like the golfers,” said Chris, commenting on the “little green men” picture of two on a Wimbledon green.

“They’re on this bit of green and everything around it is dry. It seems so long ago, now.”

The 2026 Big Ladder Calendar is available from One Tree Books in Petersfield or online from www.bigladder.co.uk with a portion of profits going to Dementia UK.