View over Herefordshire

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On a recent walk on the Malvern Hills I was reminded how sunlight and clouds can enrich a view of the landscape. Not only do they make it feel more three-dimensional, they focus the viewer's eyes on elements that might otherwise offer less interest. On this shot they also make the foreground, the main subject, feel separate from the bluish, hazy distant landscape.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

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

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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

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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

Parched Malvern Hills

On a recent family walk up to Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point of the Malvern Hills. A strong wind was blowing so we sheltered a little way down from the summit in the lee of some rocks. There we ate our packed lunch as we sat and looked northwards. The extremely dry summer had banished the green of British Isles grass and replaced it with the yellow brown more typical of southern continental Europe. The sunny warmth of the holiday period had brought walkers out in force and they can be seen dotted about the photograph. The view shows North Hill on the right with Table Hill to its left. Green Valley (usually well-named but not on this day) is in the middle distance. The track across the centre of the photograph is Lady Howard de Walden Drive. This is named after a local resident who, in Victorian times, gave £4000 for the construction of footpaths on the Malverns.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Instant city

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During a family walk on the Malvern Hills in August we looked down and saw that an instant city had appeared at the Three Counties Showground. It was a massive assembly of caravans and motorhomes with a few (very few) tents. As we walked up the crests of the hills we chatted about the reasons why anyone in their right minds would want to gather in this way, and we couldn't come up with an answer. However, a quick internet search revealed the two-fold reasons. Firstly, it was a show of new products by dealers in caravans and motorhomes, and secondly there was live country and western music - all this over a three day period. And, as I pondered further, I still couldn't come up with a reason why anyone in their right minds would want to gather in this way!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Fog in the Severn Valley

The River Severn is, at 220 miles, the longest river in the United Kingdom. Its valley, where it passes through Worcestershire, is wide and shallow. Consequently, at the appropriate times of year, it harbours long-lasting fog. During a recent walk on the Malvern Hills we gazed down on the white blanket that stretched from the edge of the town of Great Malvern to the distant Cotswolds. As we studied the phenomenon below we spared a thought for the near neighbours who would experience quite different days: bright and sunny or dim and dismal.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Herefordshire fog seen from the Malverns

A few days ago we had a walk on the Malvern Hills. The forecast was for fog slowly clearing to reveal a flawless blue sky. In January, in this part of the world, that means it will be still and cold. And so it proved - almost. What happened was, the fog cleared except for where it didn't. So, the valley of the River Severn  and adjoining areas remained in thick fog all day. On the Herefordshire side of the hills the fog thinned but didn't quite disappear, especially in the more distant valleys. Frost remained in the shadows. And, for once, the higher ground of the Malverns was warmer than the lower surrounding areas. The town of Great Malvern was decidedly chilly even though it was sunny and fog-free. The view above shows nearby and distant Herefordshire.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Malvern Hills toposcope

Go to any notable viewpoint and you're quite likely to find a toposcope. You may know it by a different name: perhaps topograph or orientation table. Whatever you call it the device will probably be circular, show the points of the compass (or just North), and will have pointers and labels for nearby visible features (hills, rivers, settlements, buildings etc). Sometimes, much less helpfully, it will show the direction of towns and cities over the horizon or even in a different country or continent. Today's photograph shows the toposcope at the summit of the Malvern Hills (Worcestershire Beacon), and the view to the west, across Herefordshire, to the county's high point and  boundary with Wales at the Black Mountain.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Sylvan Great Malvern

The Worcestershire spa town of Great Malvern expanded greatly in the nineteenth century to accommodate both visitors who came to "take the waters" and well-to-do people who wanted to live a genteel life on the tree clad slopes of the Malvern Hills. Today there are Victorian houses and hotels in abundance in the town, often with large, tree and shrub filled gardens that give the town a sylvan character. I spotted the tops of these buildings among the trees as we looked up the hillside. The mixture of evergreens and deciduous trees is quite typical of the area and means that greenery in profusion is still on show in the winter months.

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

Late September view from the Malverns

To my mind autumn advances quite slowly in England. It is a period that we think of as embracing the months of September, October and November. However, early September is usually indistinguishable from summer and even late September can appear and feel very summer-like. This view of Ockeridge Farm and beyond, taken on the 27th, from near British Camp, an Iron Age hill fort on the Malvern Hills, shows trees that have only slight autumn tinges, and can only be placed later in September by the extent of ploughed fields.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

An unidentified bird

Several days ago, as we were walking near the Worcestershire Beacon on the Malvern Hills, my bird watcher's eye noticed a small, all white bird, about thirty yards away. It was flying low and disappeared behind a slight ridge. I was puzzled because there are no small, white British birds other than the snow bunting, with which I am familiar, and that isn't all white. I assumed it must be an albino and changed route to try and see it again. Through the camera lens I could see it was completely white with a pinkish bill and a dark eye - not, therefore an albino proper. It was the size and general shape of a bird such as the greenfinch but its tail was longer and the outer feathers flared outwards. It also let us get closer than most wild birds of that size would allow. Perhaps it was an aviary escapee. Exhausive internet trawling turns up nothing similar. On balance I think it is an escapee but I can't pin a name to it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

View from Summer Hill

As we walked up Summer Hill, one of the lower hills that lead to the summit of Worcestershire Beacon in the Malvern Hills, we paused to look out over the Herefordshire landscape. From this vantage point it is a chequerboard of fields of pasture and crops, each bordered by hedgerows, with plentiful areas of woodland, all laid across undulations and ridges that stretch into the distance where, faintly, a low cloud, higher hills and mountains can be seen. Farms, rural houses, hamlets and villages can be glimpsed through the trees and the red Herefordshire soil is revealed in fields where crops have yet to grow. I took the photograph two days before the end of March and made a mental note to take a similar shot in May or June when the trees are fully in leaf.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Stonechat, Malvern Hills

When I first watched birds, decades ago in the Yorkshire Dales, I never saw stonechats. There were plenty of whinchats, a species whose numbers have tumbled to the point where their conservation status is Red and I rarely see them today. When I lived on the west coast I knew I would see stonechats at St Bee's Head in Cumbria. And in Lincolnshire they were relatively common on The Wash bird reserves and were occasionally seen further inland in winter. Today I know I can guarantee seeing stonechats on the Malvern Hills. Not only are they easy to see at that location, you can also hear their distinctive call that sounds like two stones being knocked together.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

The blue Malvern Hills

As we walked along the side of the the prominent wooded hill known as Penyard Park, near the village of Western under Penyard, we kept getting views of the the autumn coloured Herefordshire landscape below. Fields of ploughed red soil contrasted with the fresh green of sprouting winter wheat and sheep-cropped pastures. Russet and yellow tints marked the hedgerow trees and small copses as the green leaves took on their final colours of the year. And above it all was the blue ribbon of the distant Malvern Hills, about fifteen miles away as the crow (or local raven) flies.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Peace in the woods

As I scanned the woods below me from a spot half way up the Malvern Hills near West Malvern I spotted the icongruous and unfortunate work of a graffitist on a small building at the edge of a clearing, a written intrusion into a peaceful scene.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Rolling Herefordshire

This view of the fertile, rolling Herefordshire countryside was taken on the Malvern Hills from near the Iron Age hill fort known as British Camp. It shows the scenery to the west of the summit, an agricultural mixture of arable, pasture, orchards and managed woodland. The western border of the county, in the region of the Black Mountains, can be seen on the distant horizon, along with some of the easternmost peaks of Wales. The Malvern Hills form the eastern border of Herefordshire and, generally speaking, the edges of the county are marked by higher ground.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Silhouettes: Take 2

This photograph was taken from the same spot as that posted yesterday. But whereas the focal length of that image was 74mm (35mm equiv.) this was about 400mm (35mm equiv.). The strong silhouette of my wife on the bench against the lower, distant background forms the entirety of the composition and the interest comes from the form and details of that bold shape. Once again I can look back and see other photographs where I have used the same device. This example, featuring a bait digger's bike, was taken in 2006.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Silhouettes and compositions

I saw the line of the wet path before the bench and once I'd seen the bench I imagined someone sitting on it and a composition that involved the path leading to the silhouetted figure. My wife obliged as the figure and the rest fell into place. The basis of this composition is one that I have used several times, as for instance, in this example.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

January silhouettes

The promise of sun found us hauling ourselves up Worcestershire Beacon in the Malvern Hills. As is often the case, the forecast was more optimistic than the reality which included a fair amount of cloud and a sprinkling of rain. However, a low winter sun offers the prospect of silhouettes and my wife was a helpful subject in this regard. Here is the first of three silhouettes, in this instance also incorporating the triangulation pillar at the summit.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2