Blackthorn blossom

Last year spring came late. This year it is here much earlier. Hawthorn hedges have been showing green leaves for a couple of weeks already and the beginnings of flower buds can be seen. We even saw a few early bluebells on 26th March. As for the early flowering blackthorn (Prunus spinoza) such is the weight of blossom already on view you could be forgiven for thinking it is trying to outdo the snow-like covering usually associated with hawthorn in May. It should produce a wonderful crop of sloe berries.


photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Wilton Bridge, Ross on Wye

Wilton Bridge is one of the three Grade 1 Listed structures that cross the River Wye. It was begun in 1597, completed in 1600, strengthened in 1914, widened on the north side in 1939 and restored in 1993. It comprises six rounded arches each with three flat ribs below, made of sandstone. There are cutwaters on the north (upstream side) and on the south (downstream side, seen above), the latter being splayed at the top to form angular pedestrian refuges. The central refuge features a tall sundial of 1718 with a gnomon on each face and an eroded inscription. My photograph was taken after the recent floodwaters had subsided and the only remaining evidence is the silt colouring of the bridge supports and the bankside grass and leaves.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Wye Street, Ross on Wye

I've posted a few photographs recently that feature colour-washed terraces of houses. Today's row includes some painted examples, but is more notable for the pleasing variety of designs that line the steep street. However, it's clear to me that this stretch of houses is elevated considerably by the yellow of the central building and especially by the chosen tint. A more lemon yellow would have worked less well than this hue that leans more towards orange.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Mariners' Church, Gloucester Quays

Before it became a place for shopping and leisure boating Gloucester Quays was called Gloucester Docks and it functioned just as you would imagine a place with that name would. Ships and barges from near and far carried goods to and from markets in this country and beyond. All this required manpower for the operation of the port and mariners for the boats, barges and ships. And in 1848-9 it seemed quite natural that a church should be built to support and sustain this population. It was stone-built in contrast to the brick-built warehouses that surrounded it. The architect, John Jacques, chose the cusped lancet style of the late 1200s and wisely avoided the expense and incongruity of a tower, giving it a simple bellcote.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Flood-reflected bandstand

I've taken a few photographs of the bandstand at Ross on Wye. The most recent shows two members of the outdoor audience appreciating a concert by a Gloucestershire brass band on a hot, sunny day. Its quite the contrast to the above shot of the bandstand reflected in floodwater. The two tunnels in the left background allow flood water to flow under the road above and spread the water  rather than concentrating it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

The Wye in flood

The River Wye is prone to flood at several locations on its journey from the Welsh mountains to the Severn Estuary. The other day we went to see the flooding in Ross on Wye. The main town is well above the river so it's possible to stand at a high vantage point and see the extent of flooding as well as venture down to the flooded riverside fields, parks etc. Here the stranded benchs usually give their occupants a view of the river itself.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

A gravestone puzzle

It's not unusual to come across individualistic gravestones - death seems to attract such things. However, I've never seen one like this before. It is in the graveyard of St Mary's church, Monmouth. The grid of letters forms a kind of acrostic that has the name of the deceased in the form of "HERE LIES JOHN RENIE", in such a way that the inscription can be read in 32,032 (or is it 45,760) different ways. What made a humble house painter, or perhaps his relatives, commemorate him in such a way? This website has some interesting ideas.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Raven

When I moved to Herefordshire I didn't imagine that I would live in a house over which ravens regularly flew, "barking" and sometimes performing their characteristic "rolling". In fact I didn't appreciate that ravens would be as common as they are in this part of the world. This species appears to be one of those whose population has recovered considerably since the reduction in persecution. The bird in the photograph was scavenging near a picnic site with its mate (they mate for life), and presented a few opportunities for a photograph.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Mermaid

This mermaid capital resides in the seventeenth century Grange Court in Leominster. Whether it dates from that time or is a"Jacobethan" addition of the nineteenth century I don't know. What I do know is that it is a charmingly composed piece with the mermaids hair echoing the volutes of an architectural capital and the net of caught fishes looking very swag-like. Of course, one is bound to ask why, given that mermaids can swim wonderfully well, they need a net with which to catch fish.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Another mandarin

As recent posts show I've been photographing some wildlife lately in the Forest of Dean. Ducks aren't usually associated with forests, but perching ducks like the mandarin build their nests in trees and frequent woodland ponds. Today's photograph is the third I've posted featuring a drake mandarin duck, and it's of an individual that let me get a little closer than usual so its spectacular colours dominate the shot.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Mandarin ducks and camouflage

As is typical with the majority of ducks, the male mandarin duck is brightly coloured and the female is relatively drab. In terms of camouflage the male stands out boldly against most backgrounds, and the female tends to blend in. Bright male colouring is thought to be connected to attracting a mate and drabness in the female an aid to camouflage when nesting. I knew this theoretically but it took this photograph, particularly the female surrounded by branches, bank and water, to bring home to me the extent to which this is so.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Little Egret

Though by tradition February 14th (Valentine's Day) is the date birds pair up for the breeding season the following month is when many species start to show mating behaviours. As the bird in this photograph shows, the little egrets on the River Wye at Ross on Wye have developed the long plumes characteristic of their breeding season. These slender, decorative feathers were much prized, along with those of other species, by nineteenth century hat makers who topped off their fashionable creations with groups of trailing plumes. It took hard work by early twentieth century activists such as Etta Lemon (yes, really!), one of the founder members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, before this fashion was abandoned.


photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Wild boar, Forest of Dean

If I was a photographer who specialised in wildlife this photograph would end up on the discard pile. But, I don't specialise, and usually take photographs of wildlife on a walk where the goal is exercise and photographing absolutely anything that takes my fancy. Consequently I was quite thrilled to be able to photograph this female wild boar with three youngsters, the first time I have seen the animals since we moved to the area. If the shot has any virtue it is that it replicates how people typically see wild boars - at a distance and among trees where they are momentarily glimpsed rather than clearly seen.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Grange Court, Leominster

The ornately decorated house known as Grange Court was, unusually and remarkably, created from Leominster's old market house of 1633-4. It was bought and moved to the present location in the 1850s. The open arches of the ground floor were filled in and rooms created in the space. Today it has a modern community building - cafe, meeting rooms, exhibition space, interpretation rooms etc - attached to the structure and much of it is open to the public.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Kyrle Street, Ross on Wye

I've photographed this street before, attracted by the colourful paintwork that draws the eye to this otherwise undistinguished row of nineteenth century workers' housing. On the day I took this shot the sun breaking through a dark sky that promised rain accentuated the brightness. Interestingly the number of houses that are adopting the deeply coloured facade is increasing, as a glance at Google Street view confirms.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

A First World War memorial window

Often memorial windows to those who fought and were injured or died in the two major wars of the twentieth century contain calm, reflective, sombre images. But a minority seek to show something of the fury and horror of mechanized warfare depicting combatants, machine guns, armoured vehicles, aircraft etc. The photograph above is a detail of a stained glass window in Worcester Cathedral and it clearly falls into the latter category. It dates from about 1921 and is by the Scottish artist, James Eadie Reid (1868-1928) who, as well as working in stained glass, designed wall murals for churches.

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