Faded elelgance, Wisbech

There's an attraction in faded elegance. Perhaps it's glimpsing and still enjoying something of what was in what is.This late Georgian (early 1800s) building in Hill Street, Wisbech, must have been a town house for a well-to-do family. It is tastefully composed, well-proportioned, and uses brick and stone dressing in a minimalist sort of way. In fact, theses features contribute most to the success of the facade. More money and more decoration was, quite appropriately, given to the entrance with its Doric columns and Greek key pattern. Gentle subsidence and desultory maintenance have left it looking somewhat neglected, but its style still manages to shine through.

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

North Brink, Wisbech

In "The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire", the architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, describes the row of buildings on the street known as North Brink (above) as "one of the most perfect Georgian streets of England". He might have added, "and one of the least well known". The buildings are not entirely Georgian - a few from the Victorian period are there too - and they don't have the variety within uniformity that can be seen in, say, Bath or Stamford. And that may be where the pleasure of this street lies, in the marked difference between each building and its neighbour. For the photographer there are only two ways to photograph the whole street - from one end or the other, and I prefer the classic view from the bridge with the River Nene on the left of the composition.

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

Coleus plants

This photograph was taken in the cold frames of the gardens of Peckover House in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. This large, Georgian town house is in the care of the National Trust. As I took my photograph I wondered why the gardeners were cultivating so many different varieties of the plant. Were they breeding new types? Were they for a colour themed display of this single type of plant? Whatever the reason, when viewed through my wide angle lens, as I leaned over the open cold frame, they made a splendid composition of circles and colours.

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