Guests at Camilla's birthday party

We had an easier day than anticipated as some friends aren't coming to visit which gave us more time to get up slowly, as well being able to go to Camilla's birthday party for longer. It was being held at Lansdown Hall which she had hired for the day. It seemed fitting as she has been employed as a fund raiser for the hall and gallery project which I am overseeing for the council, who bought the building to save it for the community more than three years ago.

Camilla is also the chair of Stroud Preservation Trust and has been organising the production of the book we are publishing, 'Stroud – a town changed by activism'; we hope to get delivery of the first copies tomorrow! I have been involved in taking portraits of the interviewees as well, so I am keen to see which ones were chosen and how they look on the printed page.

But today was Camilla's day, and more than a hundred people had gathered, many having come a long way. We were greeted with fizzy drinks and time to meet old friends and gather new ones, before lunch was served. A fantastic spread of traditional Indian food was prepared by local friends of Camilla and her husband Shridar which tasted so good.

I had promised to take pictures of her friends for Camilla, but also of the hall itself, because the trust that runs it wants images of it being used by the community for its website and other promotional material. So I kept busy behind the lens, whilst Woodpeckers got up to dance to the Bucket Band, who are two local musicians playing violin/fiddle, guitar, harmonica and percussion using buckets amongst many other things. They were great fun and played a range of folk tunes from different countries. At one point a young man got up to and actually managed to do a cossack dance as well as his own more free form variations. It turns out he has just graduated from dance school, and he was roundly applauded. Jo also got up to tell a wonderful Japanese fan story, which I hadn't heard of before, which was rivetting to watch.

Children played with each other on the play zone that had been set up for them, and Helena became very involved with their play, encouraging them and bringing them onto the dance floor to dance with her and the others. There were no tears and lots of fun being had. Camilla made a wonderful speech before the cake was cut, encouraging everyone to have a party before it is too late and thanking us for being with her on her 60th birthday, which it turned out she was sharing with several other girlfriends! Hear, hear!

At one point I saw this couple taking pictures of each other with their young boy on their camera phones. So I went t offer to take a picture with their cameras which could include them all, as so often the photographer can never share that scene easily. They were delighted but my results weren't great, so I quickly took a couple of pictures with my camera which I have promised to email to them later. They used to live in Stroud but have moved to Gloucester where they could buy a house more cheaply. It was lovely to meet them too. We are so lucky here to have such fun, and I expect Helena will be telling her story of the day as well.