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