Reflections on the River Avon

The meaning of the word "reflections" includes "thinking about" and "mirroring". I employed both those meanings when I sat down to process this photograph of the reflections in the River Avon of the Borough Flour Mill, Tewkesbury. I reflected that the name "Avon" is one of the most common river names in the British Isles, is an ancient word meaning "river", and hence the River Avon is "River River". I also noted that the surface of the water reflecting the windows and brickwork had been beautifully disturbed by passing mallards making it worthy of a semi-abstract photograph.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Dutton Surf amphibious car

If you were a photographer walking alongside the River Avon in Tewkesbury, or perhaps a duck swimming along that water course, what is one of the least likely things you would expect to come across? Somewhere in your list of improbables may be a bright yellow Dutton Surf amphibious car. And yet that's precisely what I saw chugging along, scattering mallards as it made its way upstream.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Narrow boat on River Avon, Tewkesbury

The original narrow boats were commercial boats carrying heavy goods designed for Britain's eighteenth century canal system. To fit the narrow locks they had to be less than 7 feet 2 inches in width. Today's narrow boats are purpose-built leisure craft that copy the form of the commercial boats and are usually 6 feet 10 inches in width. Owners of modern boats often paint them in the style that was popular on the original narrow boats, with large names, flowers, wreaths, borders and other decorative details. Red and green are predominant as the background colours. The "Chedoona" with, presumably, Bob and Mary aboard, is seen pulling into a berth on the River Avon at Tewkesbury.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Disturbed reflection, Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury's Borough Flour Mills, also known as Healings Flour Mill and Warehouses, stands derelict by the River Avon. The buildings date from 1865 but an earlier mill in the seventeenth century stood at this location, and it is certainly possible that the two mills recorded in Tewkesbury's entry in the Domesday Book (1086) may have been situated here. So, perhaps other people have stood where I stood the other day and enjoyed watching the reflected image of the mill being disturbed by the passage of a drake mallard.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The cold light of (almost) winter

 

A necessary visit to Tewkesbury found us, in the early evening, on the bridge over the canalized River Avon looking towards the dark, derelict bulk of the Borough Flour Mill. The cold colours of the sky and its reflection caught my eye, and as I studied the composition in my viewfinder I noticed the pleasing contrast of the leafless branches. In the bright light and colours of daytime in spring and summer this view has only a little to commend it. But in these almost monochrome conditions of late November the silhouettes of the same view are much more appealing.

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

River Avon and Pulteney Bridge, Bath

These days I'm very much an "incidental" photographer. What do I mean by that? Well, the OED defines it nicely, thus - "Occurring or liable to occur in fortuitous or subordinate conjunction with something else of which it forms no essential part; casual" In other words photography is secondary to the main purpose at the time. A visit to Bath involved us looking at some of the architecture that we last saw about forty five years ago. It also involved regular showers of rain and dark skies alongside sun, the latter being something that I particularly like in my images, and which prompted this shot of the River Avon and Pulteney Bridge.

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

River Avon, Tewkesbury

The subject of today's photograph is one that I have returned to on several occasions over the years. Here, here, and here are just three shots that illustrate my previous attempts to get the best from the riverside scene. For this one the cow parsley provided a different foreground, the narrow boats an interesting middleground, and the Abbey Mill the usual background. However, the sky didn't co-operate quite so well as it might have done.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

River Avon at Tewkesbury

There are several River Avons in Britain. This isn't surprising when you know that "avon" is Celtic for "river". Appending the word "River" is a relatively recent construction so in the past the name would not be the tautology that it is today. The Welsh "Afon" has the same meaning. The River Avon that flows through Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is well-known as the Avon that flows through Stratford in Warwickshire, the birthplace of Shakespeare. At Tewkesbury is its confluence with the River Severn, and in this area it is a place of leisure boating. My photograph shows the final navigable stretch before the weir at the water mill. In the distance Tewkesbury Abbey can be seen. I liked the effect that sepia toning added to my black and white view.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M1

Reflected houses, Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury is a town particularly rich in old, timber-framed buildings. These are mainly to be found clustered around the original heart of the settlement that stretches from the banks of the River Avon to Church Street, the High Street and Oldbury Road. This row, on St Mary's road, next to the Avon by the water mill, must date from the late C15 to the early C16. They make a picturesque group with their reflection in the still water below.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M1

Fishermen, Tewkesbury

One of the pleasures of photography in winter is the low sun presenting more opportunities for silhouettes, one of the recurring themes in the images I take and make. The phrase "take and make" is particularly appropriate with photography involving silhouettes because I often undertake some post-processing to emphasise the effect. I've done that in this instance and I've also converted the shot to black and white to remove the distraction of points of bright colour on the boats.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M1

Watery willow tree

The semi-abstract reflections that objects make in water has always fascinated me. That's partly because it's not until you have the photograph that you know precisely how the image will look. This shot was taken on the River Avon near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, last December before the willows had lost all their leaves. The swirling patterns that the water imparts to the reflected trees reminds me of some of the brushwork in Van Gogh's later paintings.

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