Church at Welsh Newton, Herefordshire

When we visited the church of St Mary the Virgin, at Welsh Newton in Herefordshire, I was immediately struck by two things. Firstly, the amount of lichen that covered the church, the gravestones and all the other stone surfaces in the vicinity was prodigious. Secondly, the tower and spire, apparently thirteenth century, are the smallest that I've seen from that period.

 A third memorable feature became visible when we went inside - a stone rood screen of c.1330 - examples made of stone in parish churches are rare. Its existence also explained the fourteenth century dormer window designed to illuminate the rood (cross). One other notable feature is to be found in the graveyard: it is the tomb slab of St John Kemble who was executed in 1679.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Solitary in Birmingham

The saying, "You're never alone with a clone", needs to be updated to "You're never alone with a phone". Or perhaps not, because although a mobile phone offers 24/7 connectedness, very often there seems to be something other than a person on the other end: the phone occupies the owners attention with words and images rather than human to human contact. On a recent visit to the city of Birmingham this newly created space in the city centre seemed to be a place that most people were passing through. This man was an exception, engrossed in his phone among the concrete, blue glass and shadows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Croft Castle, Herefordshire

The first impression the visitor gets of Croft Castle is a seventeenth century house with decorative rather than functional corner turrets that received remodelling in the eighteenth century. Further examination reinforces this idea and it is a real pleasure to walk around the house (it isn't a castle in the usual sense) and work out what was added and when. The medieval St Michael, only a few feet from the main building, emphasizes the importance of the collective power of nobility and the church in seventeenth and eighteen century England. An early arrival at the house, which is in the care of the National Trust, gave me some deep shadows with which to layer my composition.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Long Canal, Westbury Court Gardens

This view of the Long Canal at Westbury Court Gardens, Gloucestershire, was taken from the Tall Pavilion, a structure built to give a view of the once extensive Dutch-inspired garden in its flat landscape. The original, much larger garden began to be constructed in 1696 and was completed in 1705. It was a fashionable garden style at the time, but one that did not last. Westbury is one of the few remaining examples, and we can see it today only because of the restoration work undertaken by the National Trust.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Italianate loggia, Hoarwithy

A couple of weeks ago we visited a number of "H.Art" arts and crafts exhibitions. This is an annual week in Herefordshire where artists and crafts-people get together, exhibit, and hopefully sell, their work. J.P. Seddon's Victorian Italianate church at Hoarwithy was one such site. The nave was full of a variety of exhibits and the narthex, loggia and back of the church had been turned into a large cafe serving refreshments to visitors. But not so full that I coudn't squeeze out a photograph of the columns and capitals of the loggia.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Lower Brockhampton Manor House, Herefordshire

Lower Brockhampton Manor House, near Bromyard, Herefordshire, is surrounded by a moat and entered by a gatehouse. On the day of our visit the water of the moat was hidden by water lilies and other aquatic plants and the timber-framing  was difficult to see because of the brightness of the day and the limewash. The gatehouse has been dated to 1542/3 and the oldest remaining parts of the house are early fifteenth century. It's possible that the moat was defensive but the gatehouse can only have been ornamental. We've visited this location a few times. Interestingly I chose pretty much the same location for this photograph as I did for the one I took (and had forgotten!) in June 2015.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Narrow boat on River Avon, Tewkesbury

The original narrow boats were commercial boats carrying heavy goods designed for Britain's eighteenth century canal system. To fit the narrow locks they had to be less than 7 feet 2 inches in width. Today's narrow boats are purpose-built leisure craft that copy the form of the commercial boats and are usually 6 feet 10 inches in width. Owners of modern boats often paint them in the style that was popular on the original narrow boats, with large names, flowers, wreaths, borders and other decorative details. Red and green are predominant as the background colours. The "Chedoona" with, presumably, Bob and Mary aboard, is seen pulling into a berth on the River Avon at Tewkesbury.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Mill Avon reflections

Paddle boarders and canoeists excepted, the smallest boats on the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury tend to be modest launches like the example above. Long "narrow boats" that have difficulty turning in the small waterway prevail, along with larger launches. I was drawn to this boat by its reflection combined with the reflection of the water-side flats and the vegetation.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Abbey Mill weir, Tewkesbury

The weir at Abbey Mill in Tewkesbury is a "fish belly" sluice that can be raised and lowered according to whether the river is at flood level or not. On the day of this photograph the sun was shining, the temperature was high and flood levels had been absent for several months. What was interesting, however, was the contrast between the water speedily rushing over the weir and the seemingly calm, reflective quality of it before it began its fall.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Shell hood, Castle Hill House

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries shell hoods were a fashionable enhancement of a main doorway. They were not used on the biggest houses but did find favour on smaller town houses and those where the main door was on or adjacent to a street. They were seen as giving stature to the house by drawing the eye to the entrance. The example above, at Castle Hill House in Monmouth, is on the street that leads to the grandest house in the town which is next to the remains of the medieval castle. The "shell", very typically, rests on console brackets above the transom light and the door. These hoods can never have provided much protection against rain: ornamentation was their main purpose.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Pink oriental lilies

Oriental lilies are one of those flowers that come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Plantsmen have bred them to the point where the differences between named varieties are often difficult to distinguish. Yet the public's desire for the flowers seems unquenchable. I am not blind to their attractions. Given the right colours in the right setting - the background to the blooms matters - the flowers can be appealing. But, on the whole, I find the the oriental lily just a bit "too much". Subtle, they are not, as these pink example demonstrate.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Brass band musician

As I've got older I've come to like brass band music more than I did in my younger years. I soon go off it when they play what I call "oompah" music, but a good piece of music played well, such as Percy Grainger's "Lincolnshire Posy", offers a treat for the ears. We listened to a brass band playing on the bandstand at Ross on Wye recently. Their programme included "oompah" music, but also a fine arrangement and rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime". As they played I was prompted to try for a photograph of one or more musicians. But the relatively high number of players squeezed into a relatively small space presented relatively few options and the best I got was this band member on the euphonium (or is it a tuba?)

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Alderman John Jones d.1630

One of the most interesting memorials in Gloucester Cathedral is that dedicated to Alderman John Jones. Its style shouts seventeenth century and its organisation attempts to bring the deceased back to life by having a painted half-length effigy framed in an oval out of which he projects. The figure is surrounded by details proclaiming his status and also the carved tools of his office. Behind each column are folded deeds dated 1581-1630. He holds a further deed in one hand and in the other is a book. To left and right are stands with writing materials. What is, I presume, a staff of office is streched across the memorial below him. Left and right of the columns are pairs of implements, the use of which is unknown to me. I have seen memorials in this style in many major churches and have always enjoyed the sense of theatre with which they have been deliberately imbued.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Monument to Sarah Morley by John Flaxman

In the north aisle of Gloucester Cathedral is a memorial to Sarah Morley by John Flaxman (1755-1826), one of the pre-eminent English sculptors of the Georgian period. Flaxman was known as a draughtsman as well as a sculptor of reliefs and stand-alone pieces, and after a difficult start to his career (where he designed for Wedgwood), he became much sought after for funerary monuments. The example shown in the photograph is one of his early commissions and is noteworthy for the fine composition and way the main figures are expressed in three dimensions rather than solely in relief. The text is very typical of this kind of monument and makes for an interesting read. (Remember that some letter "s" look like letter "f.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

River Wye from Wilton Bridge

Last week, as we walked along the River Wye with two of our young grandchildren, we climbed up on to the medieval bridge at Wilton. As we gazed downstream we all started counting and came up with the total of thirteen canoes. What we didn't spot was the two paddle boarders. What we didn't count was the Canada Geese and from the photograph I make it to be ninety three. Then there were four people enjoying the sand and shingle at the river's edge and two mute swans standing in the shallows. These two were soon joind by a third that flew from behind us, climbed to go over the bridge and narrowly missed me and my grandson. We both ducked as we felt the wind from its wings, and wondered why it didn't just fly through one of the bridge arches.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2