Nave, Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral is, arguably, the UK's best, most overlooked, cathedral. Its eastern location, relatively remote from the main centres of population militate against it, as does its location in a city off the tourists' itineraries. But, at every turn, the building offers delights and treasures. It is a former monastery that, after successive rebuildings achieved, by 1238, essentially the structure that we see today. The nave is a fine piece of Norman construction. The bowl of the font dates from the C13 and was recovered in 1820 from a canon's nearby garden. After being combined with a purpose-made stem it became a permanent feature of the cathedral.

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

Inanimate faces

It's said that people's ability to notice faces, even where a whole person cannot be seen, harks back to man's prehistory when this skill helped an individual to stay alive. Today that skill exists in us still and it has transferred to inanimate objects - we can see faces in wallpaper patterns, clouds, domestic appliances, the fronts of cars and even in buildings. The gable end of the building called Peterscourt in Peterborough has a "face" that I cannot help looking at each time I walk by. Look at my photograph and you'll see the the small windows as two eyes, a chimney flue nose and even part of a further small window as one of the nostrils. The open porch and doorway, of course, form the gaping mouth.

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