Skip to content

Wiltshire in Pictures: Royalty, sun and results

News imagePA Media The Duchess of Edinburgh sits next to 105-year-old Royal Marines veteran James 'Jim' Wren. She is holding a photo album and going through it with him, She wears a dress patterned with pink and he is in uniform with multiple medals.PA Media
The Duchess of Edinburgh met Royal Marines veteran James "Jim" Wren

It's been a scorcher in Wiltshire this week, forcing farmers to harvest their wheat crops early.

There has also been a royal visit from Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, for the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day.

Of course, envelopes revealing A-level results were opened on Thursday.

Over at Stourhead, heavy horses have been brought in by the National Trust to help clear timber.

News imageLucy Fenna/National Trust A draft horse in harness stands with a man behind it, holding leads coming from the harness. He is in full high-vis with a hard hat. They are standing in a grassy area, but there are trees going far into the distance.Lucy Fenna/National Trust

Serious muscle: Heavy horses have been enlisted by the National Trust to help manage the woodland on the Stourhead estate near Warminster. The Wessex heavy horses, which are good at handling terrains that are tricky for machines, are extracting timber from the 2,650-acre Top Wood.

News imageA group of young people, all holding bits of paper with results, stand together with their arms in the air either smiling or cheering. They are outside on a sunny day, in front of a building that looks like an old manor house covered in ivy.

And relax: Schools and colleges across Wiltshire have been abuzz with pupils finding out their A-level results. Many are celebrating – including these teens at Devizes School.

News imageGreensleeves Care Ken Lewis, 81, sits in a blue armchair smiling at the camera. He has a small plant in one hand and in the other, he is holding a green piece of paper which has handwritten on it 'don't fear the unknown'.Greensleeves Care

Sharing wisdom: Residents at Kingston House care home in Calne have been potting plants and sharing advice for younger generations at the same time. Ken Lewis, 81, said: "Don't fear the unknown. If you want to do something, just go for it."

News imageLongleat An drone shot of a grassy area with a few sheep dotted about. There are parched brown lines among the green grass, which show where old buildings once were.Longleat

History through heat: Sun-scorched grass has this week revealed the outline of old features at the Longleat estate, including the World War Two American military hospital. The parched marks appear because soil over buried landscape features is shallower than in the surrounding areas.

News imageAlan Crowhurst/Getty Images A racehorse and jockey coming towards the camera. The jockey is dressed in blue silks. There are two other horses and riders in the background, but slightly blurred.Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Speed in the sun: Another day for Salisbury Races as William Buick riding Morris Dancer wins the British Stallion Studs EBF Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury Racecourse.

News imageBig Breakfast Plus A group of people in a cafe-type area, all smiling at the camera. All but one man in the middle, the High Sherriff of Wiltshire, are wearing aprons with a logo that feature a large fried egg. There is a sign in between them saying Big Breakfast Plus.Big Breakfast Plus

Food for thought: A Swindon charity welcomed Wiltshire's High Sheriff Martin Nye to the town's Big Breakfast Plus, which is open seven days a week offering a cooked breakfast to homeless and hungry people. Based at the Pilgrim Centre, it sources food locally where it can, such as milk from a farm in Wroughton, sausages from Bishopstone and donations of fruit from a local allotment.

News imageA big yellow combine harvester is operating in a field of wheat on a sunny day. The golden field stretches into the distance and a tractor can be seen too.

Heat and wheat: The dry weather this year has led to the county's farmers harvesting early and quickly. Combine harvesters and golden fields are regular sights already in Wiltshire this year.

News imagePart of a mural, which shows a UFO painted onto atmospheric cloud background onto a concrete wall.

Spooky: A huge mural has been completed in a Warminster car park, marking 60 years since the Warminster Thing, a series of mysterious noises and UFO sightings in the town.

News imageWeatherWatchers/AmandaNorfolk A river with a curved metal footbridge over it on a sunny day. The water is clear to the bottom, with greenery on either side, including some purple wildflowers.WeatherWatchers/AmandaNorfolk

Simply dazzling: While the sun has scorched the grass in some places, other scenes have been sparkling, including this river in Salisbury.

Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

More stories like this