A CALENDAR celebrating the scenic views of Bude and the talent of local people is now on sale.

The 2019 Bude Calendar has been married together by local photographer Chris Small of Ocean and Earth Photography, printing business Studio 27 and Spencer Thorn Bookshop.

Studio 27 is a postcard, calendar and souvenir business based in Crackington Haven.

Married couple, Steve and Karen Johnson, have been running the souvenir side for a number of years while Steve was an employee of J Salmon Ltd, Britain’s oldest postcard company.

At the beginning of 2018, J Salmon ceased publishing and printing after 130 years, so the couple saw an ideal opportunity for Steve to jump on board full-time to expand their business and create their own range of calendars and postcards.

Covering Cornwall and Devon, they have had a busy year so far and as well as designing generic calendars for the areas mentioned, they have maintained the all-important bespoke range.

Working alongside Chris Small, as well as Chris Pringle from Spencer Thorn Bookshop, they are delighted to launch the 2019 Bude calendar, which is available at Spencer Thorn Bookshop, the Crescent Post Office and Box of Secrets.

Over ten years ago, Spencer Thorn Bookshop started discussing the possibility of producing a Bude calendar with J Salmon. J Salmon hadn’t entertained the idea of producing something so local, concentrating instead on county-based products.

Spencer Thorn sold their Cornwall calendars well, but knew the local market as well as the visitors wanted something more local and special.

The calendar was hugely successful and printing numbers increased year-on-year. J Salmon went on to use the same concept for other towns and cities across the country, from Brighton to Cambridge. When the company closed at the beginning of the year, it felt like ‘the end of an era’.

Steve, from Studio 27, was approached by Chris at Spencer Thorn to discuss carrying the calendar and postcard concept on, and in time building on it with county calendars as well as new postcard and greeting card designs.

Chris from Spencer Thorn said: “We are so thrilled that Studio 27 has taken on the Bude calendar for 2019 onwards. We will be the main stockist and have greatly enjoyed putting it together. We sell so many to locals and visitors, and know through our website that Bude calendars are sent to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong and right through Europe.”