Sky, water and mud

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Today's photograph shows a view across the River Severn seen from near Lydney Harbour. The main subjects of the shot are sky, water and mud - the tide was out. It's fair to say that a couple of buildings and a riverside horizon also intrude, but not to a great extent. The sky make the shot and shooting into the sun gives the image a little more drama than was evident to the naked eye. I like this kind of photograph. Sometimes I prepare for them: other times I'm just grateful when I come upon them. This photograph is one of the latter.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Worcester's swans

A gathering of up to two hundred mute swans can be seen on the River Severn in Worcester between Worcester Bridge and the cathedral and this area has been designated a swan sanctuary where fishing is not allowed. Bags of specially prepared food are available for the birds in bags labelled The Swan Food Project (a local voluntary group). This is a necessity since the river at this location does not supply enough food for this number of swans. On the day of our visit black-headed gulls were helping to polish off the food thrown by visitors.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

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

Underneath the M50

The M50 is a short, two-lane (in each direction) motorway that stretches from its junction with the M5 to its junction with the A40 trunk road near Ross on Wye. Recently we had a short walk to look at a pair of former gravel pits, now a nature reserve, next to the River Severn where it passes under the M50. The road goes over the river on a steel bridge that is reached on each side by a viaduct on concrete supports.

Photographically speaking this man-made structure was considerably more interesting than the man-made reserve and so I took a few photographs of it. The out-of-camera shots looked as though they would convert well to black and white and I think they have.

 

This exercise made me realise that I didn't do many black and whites in 2021 so I've made a mental note to do so this year.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Severn estuary near Lydney Harbour

A visit to Lydney Harbour found us looking over the Severn Estuary trying to pick out landmarks. Berkeley nuclear power station (decommissioned in 1989) was one, as was the tower and nave of Berkeley church. High on the hill behind these was a tall, slim, pointed tower - the Tyndale monument. And in the far distance above the shining sands and sinous lines of water, the towers and decks of the two Severn crossing bridges could be seen, confusingly mingled from our viewpoint, with tall pylons that carry elecricity across the estuary. It was this cluster that I made a point of interest in my composition.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Swans and floods

The rainfall of October and November produced a few episodes of flooding of the rivers Wye and Severn. Thinking that the most recent flood would have subsided we went to Worcester for the day and found it otherwise. Water from the Severn blocked part of the car park that we used and when we set off to walk to the cathedral along the riverside path we soon found it was under water and impassable. The mute swans that congregate on the river seemed to pay the flood water no mind, and they simply extended their domain to the previously dry areas where people were happy to feed them.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100