Cathedral lights

In the winter months the interior lights of cathedrals come into their own. The effectiveness of the lighting varies from building to building, with some using artificial light better than others. One of the best effects is lighting that emphasises the basic structure of the building. Today's photograph shows some wall lights in Hereford Cathedral. Here the effect is to emphasises the glass spheres of the lights and to throw a pool of light around them. My under-exposed shot has emphasised this effect.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Resting drake mallard

As we passed a distant, sleeping mallard I stopped and pointed my camera at it and saw its eye open. Even though the rear of the bird was pointing directly at us, with its head tucked under its wing, it could still bring an eye to bear on us to decide if we were a threat or not. The mallard was resting in shallow water at the pools edge, on a single leg, with its feathers insulating it from the morning breeze. We must have been sufficiently distant for it to feel safe because when I looked again, using my camera as a telescope, its eye was closed once more.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P950

Ginkgo biloba leaves

The tree, Ginkgo biloba (also known as maidenhair tree) has been called a living fossil. It is the last remaining living species of the order Ginkgoales which first appeared 290 million years ago. Fossils that are very similar to Ginkgo biloba appear in the middle Jurassic i.e. c.170 million years ago. The fan-shaped leaves of the tree are unique among trees today and are the easiest way of recognising it. If left unpruned the Ginkgo can grow to 50m tall and individuals are claimed to have live for 2,500 years. The tree's leaves turn to saffron yellow in autumn and it is this colour and the exclusive leaf shape that accounts for its popularity with gardeners.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Old crane, Gloucester Docks

When planning the transformation of an old docks into new recreational areas of water and former warehouses that feature flats and offices it must have been difficult to get the balance between old and new. Gloucester Docks made quite good choices in this regard, and retained enough, but not too much of the old. This crane has no practical function today other than to stir the visitor's imagination. My conversion of a colour photograph of the crane and its surroundings into black and white helps further in this regard.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Dried flowers and grasses

click photo to enlarge
There are a number of methods of flower preservation including hot air drying, silica gel drying, freeze drying and pressing. However, the most common, least difficult and consequently most widely favoured, is hanging small bunches in a well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight. We have a couple of vases of dried flowers and grasses. I'm no expert on suitable plants for drying but in our displays I can recognise lavender, poppy, yarrow and hare's tail grass. In the past we have had teasel and Physalis (Chinese Lanterns). I photographed  a detail from one of our vases as I cast about for a subject on a recent wet and dull day.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

The bus station

click photo to enlarge
This is the second photograph of Gloucester bus station that I've posted. The first was taken from inside on a bright day and featured the silhouettes of people. I took today's photograph as I wandered about inside and out looking for shots rather than sitting and waiting for our bus. For this photograph I hung about until the people in the glazed waiting areas on the right had filled the buses, leaving a view to the far end of the interesting building.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Lierne vaulting, Tewkesbury Abbey

The complex lierne vaulting  above the choir of Tewkesbury Abbey dates from the 1330s. It features unusually bright red and blue paintwork alongside more traditional cream. The bosses are gilded. The central ring of suns were the emblems of the Yorkists and are said to have been added by Edward IV after the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. This was the last important battle of the Wars of the Roses.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Poppyhead, Tewkesbury Abbey choir stalls

The choir stalls at Tewkesbury Abbey were extensively restored in 1879, with new additions, by John Oldrid Scott. He incorporated some medieval misericords and other old work with his own designs. The photograph shows one of the "poppyheads" on the north side, two winged creatures below with grapes, leaves and tendrils above. Poppyhead is a word derived from the French "poupee" meaning doll or puppet, and describes the 3-part finial carving of the end of a wooden bench or stall.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Willow pattern plate

Since about 1994 I have eaten food from willow pattern plates and bowls. It is thought that this design originated in England towards the end of the C18 when the blue and white ware of the Chinese Qing dynasty was very popular. A standard design evolved in the potteries around Stoke on Trent that had a white background with a blue water-side landscape of trees, a bridge with three figures, buildings, a fishing boat, two birds, a fence etc. The design appears to have been in production ever since those early days. A story about the willow pattern characters was written to help promote interest and sales of the crockery. Our version is the work of the Churchill company and has proved remarkably hard wearing.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Prior Park footbridge, Great Malvern

Most civic parks worth the name feature a small lake and most of these small lakes incorporate a footbridge. That's certainly the case at Prior Park in Great Malvern, Worcestershire. Here the bridge is constructed of unvarnished timber that, almost inevitably, has something of the Chinoiserie about it.

That oriental flavour isn't as obvious as in the timber bridge at Croome Park, but it has a sprinkling of characteristic features that derive from the popular blue and white willow pattern of crockery dating from the C18 and later.

photos © T. Boughen    Camera: Nikon Z 5