Daddy Long Legs

The crane fly (Tipulidae) - also known in the UK as the "daddy long legs"- is an insect I associate with the month of September. They are often seen during this month and during my working years there was a period when they regularly tripped the alarm of the building in which I worked. The engineer who was eventually called in to remedy the issue memorably said they must have been flying in formation. Why? Because a single crane fly passing through the beam would not trip it, but two within a short period would. This example was one of several on the door and windows at the front of our house one day.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Gatekeeper butterfly

The butterfly population of the UK seems to have crashed this year. Survey numbers show they are well down, and our unscientific study of local butterflies shows it to be the case in our garden and in the wider countryside too. Interestingly, the gatekeeper butterfly has thrived more than most other species, and this obliging example let me get quite close for my photograph.

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

Rowers and swans

It's not unusual to find rowing clubs and swans co-existing on a river. Rowers seem to want want deepish, clear water with a spot for a club house and boat store, in a location near the centre of a settlement. Swans (invariably mute swans) also like a location frequented by people because that is somewhere they can guarantee being fed! Of course conflicts can arise when the fast, sleek boats meet the slow, stately swans. But, with good will, they usually co-exist. One such location is the centre of the city of Worcester. These rowers stopped rowing and gently glided into the flock of swans that is usually found here. On the day I took this photograph the number of swans on this stretch of the River Severn was about four times the number seen in my shot.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

St Michael and All Angels, Great Witley

The church of St Michael and All Angels stands alongside the burnt out shell of Witley Court. It is a brick building with an exterior that was faced in Bath stone c.1850 by the architect, Samuel Daukes. The lavish Italian Baroque interior was brought to Great Witley from Cannon's House, Edgeware and fitted to the building by James Gibbs c.1735. The gilded walls and ceiling feature painted panels by Bellucci, a towering monument by Rysbrack and stained glass by Price. It is, if anything more unexpected in an English setting than yesterday's featured church at Hoarwithy.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

St Catherine, Hoarwithy

The church of St Catherine at Hoarwithy, Herefordshire, differs substantially from the usual Victorian Church of England building. Why? Well, it derives its appearance from Italian Romanesque churches. The bell tower, the rounded east end of the chancel, the loggia, the Roman tile roofs and the richly decorated, short apsidal chancel all speak of Italy rather than rural Herefordshire. It is a Grade 1 Listed building and on the day of our visit the steep path to the main entrance was covered in matting to make the ascent easier. A notice said that this had been permitted for one year during which time a more fitting finish was to be laid down.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Old warehouse, Hereford

The warehouse in today's photograph is on Gwynne Street near the River Wye and the old bridge in Hereford. It has been sensitively refurbished and displays its original polychrome brickwork, windows where the loading/unloading doors would have been and what looks like the housing for the pulley at the top of the facade. One feature I really like, and probably prompted my photograph, is the colour chosen for the paintwork.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Self-portrait in old mirror

Georgian country houses often feature rooms with large and/or plentiful mirrors. Sometimes these mirrors have holders for candles. The reason for this is to magnify the candle light which was the only source of indoor light at that time. A visit to a country house also reveals that many of these mirrors (and those from the Victorian period) have deteriorated and no longer reflect as well as they did. The photograph above shows me at Berrington Hall, Herefordshire, photographing a bronze figure in one of these old mirrors.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Mural by the Rudhall Brook

A corrugated iron fence next to the Rudhall Brook does no favours for that location in Ross on Wye. Consequently, several years ago murals were painted on it, one section depicting a colourful street scene with lights, the other with frogs, ducks and other animals to be seen on the Brook. In recent years it has shown its age somewhat and so sections are being re-painted and painted with different images. This duck's head took my fancy, particularly the glowing red eye amongs the blues and turquoise.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Witley Court's fountains

Witley Court was a large country house that succumbed to fire in 1937. Much of the exterior walls and grounds remain and the building is now in the care of Historic England. As well as looking after the remaining structure Historic England brought the magnificent fountains back into use. The main fountain, that depicts Perseus and Andromeda, is turned on for several minutes every hour on the hour and visitors assemble to see the spectacle as fountains slowly build up to their maximum height.

 photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Begonias and Creeping Jenny

Some walls maintained by the council in Monmouth are planted with the same flower scheme every year. It involves planters and pots fixed to the vertical surface and the filling of them with, mainly, Begonias and Creeping Jenny. Every year I see them and every year I admire them. And I think, as probably the council does too, "why change a winning combination?"

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Miners' Brass, Newland

In the medieval church of All Saints in Newland, Gloucestershire, is a small, rectangular brass 1 foot (30cm) long. It is fixed to a late medieval tomb slab to which it does not appear to have any connection. It is known as the Miners' Brass and shows the helmet, mantling and crest representing a free miner of the Forest of Dean. The miner is holding a pick and has a hod on his back and a candle holder between his teeth. The juxtaposition of this working man and the heraldic devices associated with the nobility is an odd one, and underlines the status of the free miners of the Forest.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Fields of borage

Walking by Offa's Dyke near Monmouth we came upon several lavender coloured fields. We knew they weren't lavender having become familiar with the lavender fields of Norfolk. Closer inspection revealed that it was the herb borage. We have seen this plant grown on farms once before, but not on this scale. Borage is grown for its seed oil which has a number of pharmaceutical uses including being the richest source of Omega 6 and for its culinary properties. This many flowering plants attracts high numbers of bees and we saw plenty of hives along the hedge sides of the fields - a further source of revenue for the growers of borage.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Offa's Dyke near Monmouth

Offa's Dyke is an 82 mile long earthwork, incorporating a ditch, that stretches along the border between England and Wales. It is thought to have been built for King Offa who was the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia 757AD-796AD, though recent research suggest part of it may date from the early 5th century, about the time the Romans departed Britain. The dyke varies in depth and width. A long-distance footpath, the Offa's Dyke Path, is 177 miles long and incorporates about 60 miles of the earth work. The photograph shows a deep section near the town of Monmouth with a footbridge inserted to take the path over the dyke.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Pink cyclamen flowers

My wife's regime with our potted cyclamens usually results in them flowering in winter. This year due to changes in her management they are flowering in August and September. We have a few different coloured cyclamens, some subtle, others like the pink example above, are positively eye popping.

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

Church and timber-framing, Colwall

The church of St James at Colwall, Herefordshire is a fairly typical stone building, the product of construction down the ages. The earliest parts of the main building are C12 with additions of the C13, C17 and C19. The south-west tower is work of the C14-C15. What is unusual is the timber-framed building next to the church. The listed building information gives it the name "Church Cottage" and one can imagine it served as the house of the clergy in the late C16 and early C17 when it was newly built. However, it is also described as the church ale-house and today it is used as a store. Its shape - long and not very deep, does suggest an agricultural rather than a domestic purpose. Whatever its purpose it does make an interesting composition alongside the church.

photo 2 © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone