The Pilot Office, Hull

In the city of Hull, by the old pier and overlooking the River Humber, stands the Pilot Office. This reserved, but stately, building is the work of the architect, John Earle. It was erected in 1819 and received further work in the mid-nineteenth century. Its distinguishing feature is the strong contrast between the relatively modest but stylish painted door and window surrounds, with the red brickwork. Like many Georgian buildings the first floor is the most important and the larger windows and higher ceilings here reflect that. However, arguably the most important is the top storey with the small windows for it is from here that the organisation would see the comings and goings of pilots and ships on the river.

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

River Welland at Deeping St James

I've photographed this landscape view a few times because it holds some of the features that I most associate with the lowlands and the Fens - a church spire rising above the roofs of the surrounding village, willow trees by the riverside, and the slowly moving river itself, meandering through the fields and settlements, raised banks protecting the surrounding areas from its overflow.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Eighteenth century town houses

Eighteenth century English architects and builders got a lot right with the exterior elevations of their buildings, but in particular they understood proportion and how to arrange the parts in relation to the whole and to each other. They also completely assimilated the lessons taught by the architects of classical antiquity about how to use moulding and shadow to make a facade come alive. That is best exemplified in the English country houses of the period but can also be seen in more modest town houses such as these on St Mary's Street in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Ceiling lights

Too many of today's products are styled with an eye to appealing to a buyer, going out of fashion and prompting another purchase before the object itself has completed its potential life-span. Some of the best, however, are designed with function uppermost in the mind of the designer, without an overlay of styling or fashion. The ceiling lights in today's photograph are a case in point. They offer, through the recessed light and the reflectors, lighting that does not glare and functions well in an office (or gallery as in this instance). That they also offer interesting semi-abstract shapes to the passing photographer is a bonus.

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

Old roofs, Stamford, Lincolnshire

There is something pleasing about the aged, worn materials that form these roofs in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Just as there is something attractive about the way they all differ, all cluster together, and collectively make a jumble that the eye finds fascinating. Collyweston stone tiles, slates from Wales and Westmoreland, bricks from locally dug pits and Peterborough, stone from nearby Barnack and elsewhere, and clay chimney pots from who knows where, can all be seen and all make a contribution. The constituent parts of the buildings look timeless but few, if any, date from before the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and quite a bit is nineteenth century.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Pool by the River Slea

I've passed this pool a couple of times on a walk along the River Slea from Sleaford and never worked out why it is there. It borders the river but its flow into the Slea is controlled. The hut at one end of it appears to be linked with its purpose.The pool is clearly man-made, at times looks stagnant, and has reeds encroaching on it. My eye is drawn to it because the straw-burning power station can be glimpsed beyond and together, on a frosty morning, they make an interesting composition.

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

St Margaret, King's Lynn

The building of King's Lynn's church of St Margaret began around 1101 and from those early days evidence may be seen in the base of the west towers. However, like most large churches its construction took a few hundred years. The oldest tower is the far one (south west) built in the 1100s and 1200s, but with a new bell stage added in the 1300s. The other tower mainly dates from 1453 and the following years. Since they were each built in the style(s) of the times they differ considerably. The church had a priory attached in the early days. In 2011 it was re-designated King's Lynn Minster by the Bishop of Norwich.

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

Wooden angel with lute

The worshippers in England's medieval churches were often surveyed from on high by angels. Wooden angels, of the kind shown above, that is.These angels were frequently playing instruments - making music and singing - as they were said to do in the Bible. Almost all of those above the nave and chancel of the church of St Nicholas in King's Lynn, Norfolk were equipped with stringed, wind and percussion instruments, and all but two were made of unpainted wood. Only those in the chancel near the altar received colour. Incidentally, photographing these angels is always difficult due to the glare from windows and artificial lights. You can see it creeping in at the bottom of the frame.

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

Inshore fishing boat, King's Lynn

A number of fishing boats can be seen moored at Kings Lynn in Norfolk. These inshore boats mainly fish in the large, shallow bay between Lincolnshire and East Anglia called The Wash. Their principal catch is, I read, cockles, most of which are processed in the town and then sold to Spain. Though the boats are usually tied fast to the quayside sometimes one is more loosely fastened, like "Seagull" above, making for a more interesting photograph.

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

Green Man misericord

A misericord is a seat in church choir stalls. It folds up and offers a small ledge on which a medieval monk would lean. This would rest his weary legs and make onlookers think he was standing during the periods of the long religious service when that was required. The one in the photograph, is raised (the ledge is above the carved head), and has like most misericords, a carving on its base. Here it is a "Green Man", a character that is widely thought to be pre-Christian i.e. pagan, but which the church adopted and adapted. This example is one of the "disgorging" variety. That is to say, leaves come only from his mouth. It dates from c.1370-80 and is one of a group in the church of St Margaret at King's Lynn in Norfolk.

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

Palace Theatre, Newark on Trent

The Palace Theatre at Newark on Trent in Nottinghamshire was built in 1920 as a cinema, but with the facility to offer stage shows too. To furnish additional income two shops were added to the building. Unlike many cinemas and theatres it appears to have weathered the ups and downs of public taste and continues to offer a wide programme of shows. The Palace stands on a corner and its decorative facade wraps around it. As befits a building dedicated to fun and fantasy it is ornate, the most striking ornament being the three slender towers topped with onion domes.

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

Frosty Fenland landscape

Winter trees make good photographic subjects. They give landscapes detail and their skeletal silhouettes offer a stark beauty. On a frosty winter day the contrast between black branches and the overcast sky and whitened ground is stronger still. In the photograph the mist is enhancing this effect further. The trees visible above are managing to hang on in an intensively farmed area because they have grown either on the side of a drainage ditch or next to a farm building and so are are no impediment to the vehicles that cultivate the land and harvest the crops.

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

Fenland smallholding

The Fens used to be a land of small, independent farmers and smallholders, each earning a living from the fertile soil of this drained, lowland area. However, mechanisation and the pressure for cheap food led to consolidation, bigger farms and contractors working the land. Smallholders still exist, but in much reduced numbers, often as hobbyists. This old smallholding appears to have been recently sold. I photographed it on a frosty morning as dark clouds moving in from the west began to obscure the sun and turn the day darker than was promised.

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

Misty Town Bridge, Boston

I gave a talk about photography in our village recently and in it I emphasised how much I like the weather that many shun for the qualities that it brings to photographic images. There's nothing to beat snow, frost, showers, mist and fog (I exclude constant rain) for interesting photography. During January we've had quite a bit of fog and mist and this photograph of people crossing the Town Bridge in Boston, Lincolnshire exemplifies what I mean. The shot is made by the silhouettes, tones, different qualities of light, shadows, all of which was suffused in a soft mist that was lifting even as I raised my camera to my eye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100