Old rendered wall

Sometimes it's difficult to articulate why you take a photograph. This shot of layers of old render with moss or lichen on the side of a house in Ross on Wye is a case in point. If pushed I'd say the appeal was in the combination of colours and the textures. Such images sometimes have a face or or some other vaguely figurative element. That isn't the case here.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

43 Portland Street, Cheltenham

My first thought on seeing 43 Portland Street, Cheltenham was "Why would you do such a thing?" Here we have a pleasant enough stone-faced villa in the classical style, dating from around 1830 or 1840, with a plain pediment above a three-bay front, four full-height Ionic pilasters, a central entrance and ground floor rustication. On to this carefully composed building someone, probably in the C19, added rendered wings that in no way complement the original building and succeed in making it look like it is being squashed from both sides. The perpetrator of this crime didn't even make it completely symmetrical - spot the first floor drip-mould on the left wing that is missing from the right wing. Amazing!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5