Turning the corner

Go through any large, British city and you will see Victorian buildings built around a corner i.e. with two main elevations that face two streets. Look carefully at them and you will see innovative ways to treat the corner of the building. One of the favourite methods is with a cylindrical, or part cylindical structure, often topped with a short spire, cupola, dome etc. I was reminded of this when we came across this block of flats, Olympia Apartments, in Weymouth, Dorset. Here the cylindrical feature works well visually: but what about practically? Rounded rooms can be restrictive in terms of furniture placement. It made me wonder whether there is a price to be paid for this particular solution to turning the corner.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Bridport harbour

Bridport in Dorset is a small market town two miles inland from a small harbour. This is often, unsurprisingly, called Bridport Harbour, but it also goes by the name West Bay. The harbour has the usual collection of pleasure craft and a small number of inshore fishing boats. It is something of a tourist destination and its desirability as a place to live is attested by the housing built on West Cliff, the 1885 terrace called Pier Terrace, and Quay West, two blocks of modern flats seen on the far side of the harbour in the photograph above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Bikes and flats

Long ago when I was a student we rented the upstairs floor of a two-storey late Victorian house. We cycled a lot at the time, and there was no ground floor accommodation for our bikes, so I had to carry them up the stairs to where we parked them on the landing. It wasn't the easiest manouevre but it had to be done, so I did it. As we were walking around the canal and marina in Gloucester recently I looked at these nicely lit flats and spotted a couple of balconies with bikes. They were on the first and third floors, I think, and must have needed regular lifting. But, as I thought about it, I pondered two developments that might make the task easier today - electric lifts and lighter-weight cycles.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Marina reflections, Worcester

A relatively calm and sunny day found us walking through the cathedral city of Worcester near the Diglis Marina and the canal. I've photographed there before, trying to make something of the narrow boats, refurbished warehouses and the new flats that are meant to echo and complement the old buildings.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Gainsborough Studios

Shoreditch Park, Hackney, is a London park near the Regent's Canal, which hereabouts is the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney. I imagine that many people using the park wonder why the word "Gainsborough" is spread along the top of a block of flats, and what the rusted metal sculptures in the park signify. The fact is that the block of flats incorporated parts of what was once Gainsborough Studios, a British film studio that produced movies from 1924 to 1951. The studio buildings were not purpose-built: prior to their use for films they were a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway. Alfred Hitchcock did his first work in movies at Gainsborough Studios. That large circular sculpture is, I imagine, based on a film reel.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Reflected flats

I've long thought that photography helps you to see better. Not just in the way that you notice more, or how the mundane becomes more interesting, but also in the way that it can cause you to revise your perception. An example of the latter is exemplified by the photograph above. In taking this shot of new warehouse-style flats at Gloucester Quays I thought I was photographing a pair of mirrored buildings and their reflection. In fact, the buildings aren't perfectly mirrored - there are minor but significant details that prevent them being alike. And once you find one such difference you look for more. And then wonder why the architect did it that way.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100