Portable pier and St Catherine's Island, Tenby

When we visited Tenby in Wales we saw a few boats offering offshore trips. Embarking at low tide presented something of a problem but the owners of the "James Noel" had the problem beat. They were using this portable pier that was moved around by a tractor on Castle Beach. Behind the portable pier in this photograph is St Catherine's Island. It can be reached on foot at low tide but at high tide it is only accessible by swimming or by boat. The building on the island is a fort constructed in 1870, the only one of several that were conceived in 1859 and envisaged to oppose any threatened landing by French troops.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Razorbills

Looking back through my archives I find that I last photographed guillemots in April 1984. This was at Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire. At that time I also photographed guillemots, puffins, kittiwakes and gannets. I have a memory (though no photographs) of seeing guillemots, black guillemots, razorbills and other sea birds, including fulmars, nesting at St Bee's Head, Cumbria, in 1999. Looking through my shots of razorbills I find that the eye of these birds is so dark that it barely shows up on any of my photographs. When I called up the Google Images photographs of this bird I find that other photographers have the same problem. It makes them look a little odd.

The photographs above were taken at Stackpole Head, Pembrokeshire.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Guillemots at Stackpole Head, Pembrokeshire

At the time of our visit to Stackpole Head in early May the guillemots were gathering ready for the breeding season. This species does not build a nest but lays a single pyriform (pear shaped) egg directly onto the rock ledge. The advantage of an unusually pointed egg is that, if it rolls, it does so in a tight circle and is therefore less likely to fall off the ledge.

In the southern UK the first eggs are laid in mid-May. In the north early June is more typical. Guillemots are communal nesters (and feeders, as the second photograph shows.

Incidentally, the location of the guillemots in the first photograph can just be discerned on the lower right hand edge of the top photograph of the previous post.

photo 1 © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

photo 2 © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Stackpole Head, Pembrokeshire

Stackpole Head is a limestone headland favoured by a number of bird species including guillemot, razorbill, herring gull, chough, raven, jackdaw, peregrine and shag. At the time of our visit the short turf above the cliffs was flecked by the lilac and pink of the sea squill and sea thrift (also called sea pink), and the cliff nesting sea birds were gathering for their breeding season.

 

The headland has stacks, caves and arches and underground collapses were easily recognised by the pits and holes in the cliff-top walk.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Pembrokeshire sea cliffs

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park seeks to preserve and make available the beauty and interest of the coast of this part of Britain. It features sea cliffs, caves, natural arches, bays, estuaries and islands, and the whole of the National Park has a publicly accessible footpath that hugs the coastline. The photograph at the top of the page shows the view northwards from above Barafundle Bay, near Stackpole Quay. An inshore fishing boat seemed to be checking whatever was fastened to the buoys.

 The photograph immediately above shows the same boat from a different point on the headland with sea caves in the cliffs beyond.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Low water and high water, Tenby

For twenty years of my life I lived within two miles of the sea - close enough for our windows to have salt deposited on them in windy weather. One of the lessons I learned during this time was the sheer variety of photographs that were possible during the different stages of the tides. I was reminded of this during our recent visits to Tenby in Pembrokeshire, south Wales. The shot above, taken from a slipway at high water was one of many that I took where the foregound object differed - in this case I chose a rowing boat and fishing gear.

The second shot, taken at low water, shows the interesting variety of small boats and the colourful buildings above the harbour.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

View from Tenby Harbour

click photo to enlarge

This view from Tenby harbour looks north from near the slipway and the yacht club. At high tide the small pleasure craft, yachts and inshore fishing boats were all afloat or at sea. The sunny day and clear light made the most of the colours near and far, including the brightly painted hotels and apartments overlooking the sea on the High Street and the road known as The Norton.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Tenby harbour

 

click image to enlarge
The town of Tenby in south-west Wales is a settlement of long standing. It is first mentioned in a poem of the C9. During the medieval period it became the site of a castle and had town walls and towers built around it. It grew to prominence as a fishing port and a significant centre of import and export. During the late C18 and C19 tourism became important to the town and it remains so today. A visitor to Tenby who parks near North Beach gets the above view as they walk into the town. The pier, slipway, lifeboat stations, Castle Hill and the colourful buildings behind the harbour's edge make a fine composition at high tide or low.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Colourful Llandovery

Passing through the Welsh town of Llandovery the other day we stopped for a coffee. As we searched for somewhere to buy it we came upon this group of colourfully painted buildings decked with Union flags and pennants with the red, white and green of the Welsh flag. They were clearly celebrating the coronation of Charles III, though I have no doubt that the town makes an annual summer effort with its decorations, royal occasion or not.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

White lily

White lilies are very frequently found in church flower displays. They are used for their symbolism. White represents purity in general and purity as it attaches to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It can also represent rebirth and consequently it is particularly found at Easter adjacent to the font and also near representations of the rebirth of Christ. This example in Tewkesbury Abbey caught my eye due to the vivid colours of the stamens.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Yarn bombed bus shelter

Yarn bombing - the decoration of street furniture with with knitted objects, sometimes themed, sometimes not - has really taken off in recent years. I've grown accustomed to seasonal and event-themed displays appearing across the year in the market town where we live. On a recent visit to Tewkesbury we saw some more yarn bombing but I couldn't tell what had promted it. The largest piece was a glass and metal bus shelter where the seat and its sheltering canopy was colourfully decorated (above). Those waiting for the bus probably appreciated the warmer, cushioned bench. What seemed a less good idea was the yarn bombing on the seat of a slatted metal bench just out of shot to the right of the shelter. It occurred to me that any rain that fell on it would linger, making the bench unusable until the wool dried.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Contrasting styles of architecture

The church of St Francis Xavier (Roman Catholic) and the former Post Office, both on Broad Street, Hereford, make odd but striking neighbours. The church is by Charles Day, dates from 1837-9 and is in the Greek style with a portico featuring two giant Doric columns in antis. It is finished in a bright yellow stucco. The adoption of a pagan Greek style for a Christian church was not universally accepted at the time it was built. The adjacent Post Office of 1880-1 is by E.G. Rivers in the Jacobean style. It is faced with Portland ashlar and has the characteristic Gothic and Renaissance details, though leaning rather heavily to the former. Such building juxtapositions don't please everyone but I quite liked the pairing of the upper stories.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Belligerent mute swans

This pair of mute swans appear to be the best of friends. However, they also both appear to be males (cobs) and prior to this piece of seemingly amicable side-by-side swimming they were noisily chasing and squaring up to each other. When swans place their wings in this arched, raised position and vigorously propel themselves through the water (called "busking") it is a sign of belligerence. I photographed the pair after setting the camera exposure at -0.7 EV. It was necessary to avoid overxposing the white feathers. It also produced the happy result of darkening the water and making the birds more prominent in the image.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Looking down on Great Malvern

My wife's position on an outcrop of rock above the Worcestershire town of Great Malvern looks precarious. In fact, it is less hazardous than it might seem. Moreover, it gives a peregrine falcon's eye view of that part of the town around the medieval priory church. The photograph was taken on an unseasonally cold late April day when even the sun didn't feel spring-like - hence the warm jacket and trousers, hat and gloves.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Paragliders, above Worcestershire Beacon, Malvern Hills

click image to enlarge

During a walk on the Malvern Hills we came upon some paragliders on Worcestershire Beacon taking advantage of the weather to enjoy their hobby. The wind was a light to moderate easterly and visibility was good. Consequently the wind blew across the Severn Valley then up the Worcestershire side of the Malverns allowing the pilots to step into the wind and soar above the slopes and summit with ease. At the maximum there were nineteen paragliders aloft at once, initially clustered then gradually separating by height and location. When they were "en masse" we speculated on what would happen following a collision between two craft. My mind's-eye image of such an event made me think that paragliding wasn't the hobby for me!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Looking across Herefordshire

 click image to enlarge

One of our favourite views of Herefordshire is the prospect seen as we look back when climbing to the summit of Worcestershire Beacon on the Malvern Hills. The wooded nature of the county is evident as is the undulating landscape overlaid with the ancient network of hedged fields. The mixed agriculture of sheep, cattle, arable and fruit can be discerned as can the small villages and farmsteads. On the distant horizon are the western hills leading up to the Welsh mountains. This larger than usual photograph was taken on 25th April 2023, a time when a late and colder than usual spring was beginning to make itself felt.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5