View from Raglan Castle

After a walk around Abergavenny we stopped off at Raglan Castle on our drive home. The afternoon was one of blue skies, fast moving white clouds, and a temperature somewhat lower than recently. The remains of the castle are quite substantial (see photographs below and here) and include a spiral staircase up to what must have been something approximating the highest point of the building As we stood looking north-west at the summits of The Blorenge, Sugar Loaf and The Skirrid we could see the patches of light and the clouds' shadows moving across the fields. I took my photograph more in hope than expectation of capturing this effect and I'm quite pleased with the result.

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

Llanthony Priory

In the narrow Vale of Ewyas, a fold in the Black Mountains, stands the ruins of Llanthony Priory. Its fairly remote location suggests to the casual observer that this is one of the many Cistercian foundations that can be seen across the British Isles. However, Llanthony was founded by two Augustinians around 1120 and was not completed until over a century later. It exhibits the style of architecture current when the Romanesque Norman was superseded by Gothic Early English. The delay in its construction was largely due to the depredations of the native Welsh following the demise of England's Henry I. During this period the monks fled to safer pastures across the River Severn where they built a cell, Llanthony Secunda, the remains of which can still be seen in Gloucester.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2