Peter de Grandison revisited

About five years ago I took a photograph of the tomb of Peter de Grandison (d.1358) in Hereford Cathedral. It is a typical of its date having a sculpture of the deceased on a raised, panelled tomb chest with rib vaulting and canopies above. The smaller figure carvings depict the Coronation of the Virgin and four saints (Cantilupe, Ethelbert, John the Baptist and Thomas Beckett). My focus this time was the depiction of Peter de Grandison and his armoured upper body. This probably received repairs after damage by iconoclasts. However, it outshines many tombs of its date due to the fine detail that was recoloured in a restoration of the 1940s. Incidentally, the surname can be spelled with a single or double s.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Church organ pipes

The church organ pipes that attract the attention of visitors are usually those that have received paintwork decoration - like this recently posted example, and this painted en chamade set at Usk church. But, there are many unadorned organ pipes in Britain's churches and they catch the eye with their simplicity, repetition and contrast, as with the example above in St Mary's church, Ross on Wye.

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

Leaping salmon sculpture

The sculpture shown in the photograph is a depiction of leaping salmon by the artist, Walenty Pytel. It was made in 1997, is constructed of steel with a granite base, and can be seen by the corner of the road next to "The Man of Ross" public house in Ross on Wye. It is one of three public sculptures by the artist in the town: the other two are by the River Wye and depict mallards and mute swans.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Greater Periwinkle

The gardens of the houses we have lived in have often featured the Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major). It is an attractive flower that appears early in the year and hangs on at the end of the season. Another of its strengths is its ability to grow, flower and make an impact in the shade of shrubs and trees. But, it has one drawback - it spreads relatively easily and finds its way to places where its undoubted charms are not welcome.

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

A Tewkesbury house

Tewkesbury is a town with many fine, old buildings. It is particularly rich in domestic houses, most of which are unique in design: few houses on the main historic streets have neighbours that look the same as they do. The town has many timber-framed dwellings and the example above on Barton Street is a good indication of what can be seen.

It consists of three jettied storeys above the ground floor. These feature a C17 remodelling of a C16 structure. The only jarring note is the Victorian shop front window on the ground floor. Pride of place on the elevation is the first floor oriel window with its leaded lights. The bottom of the window is supported by C17 carved brackets (see photo 2).

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

Newly appearing water plants

One of the houses we lived in had a pond with water lilies. I very much enjoyed photographing the lilies as they appeard in spring. But, more than that, I particularly enjoyed photographing them as they changed colour and faded away in autumn. I was reminded of that pond when we passed the weir on the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury. Water lily leaves were appearing. So too was another plant that produces, if my memory serves me well, broad spear-shaped leaves. They weren't yet filling this part of the river as they eventually will, so I took a photograph of the contrasting plants and their reflections.

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

C18 cartouche gravestone

To my mind the design of gravestones hit a peak in the C18. In the C17, as gravestones grew in popularity, they exhibited a naivety of subject and execution. In the C19 mass production, Gothic influences and grandiosity overwhelmed the original and innovative designs that can still be seen. C20 gravestones are usually more modest, machine-made and make use of too wide a variety of stone. The C18 used a limited palette of (usually local) stone, ornament and lettering. The example above, at St Michael, Walford, Herefordshire, has the typical winged putto head and foliage arranged as a cartouche. Rising damp has obscured the lower lettering, but above it is crisp and shows interesting abbreviations. If you look carefully you can still discern parts of the faint, scratched, guide-lines to keep the lettering level and of the correct height.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Coleford mural

The small Gloucestershire town of Coleford is located in the Forest of Dean, a former coal mining and iron working area. On a wall of one of the town's houses is a mural that celebrates three writers who lived in the area - Joyce Latham, F.W. Harvey and Dennis Potter. I imagine that I am quite typical in that I don't know anything of the first two names. I do, however, know quite a bit about Dennis Potter, particularly his innovative series for TV that include Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone