Worcester Guildhall and Queen Anne

Pevsner describes the Guildhall at Worcester (1721-4) as "splendid as any of the C18 in England". It is a large, imposing building of brick with stone details and may be by the architect Thomas White. Much of the fine detailing is on the upper part of the main facade. Here we see statues of Peace, Justice and Plenty above the large segmental pediment. This is filled with trophies of war that are painted and gilded. Below, framed by giant Corinthian pilasters is a niche with a statue of Queen Anne (formerly free standing). below is a broken-backed triangular pediment, above the main entrance, that features the city's coat of arms. The windows have segmental tops with keystone heads and aprons below. Statues of Queen Anne are not too common in Britain despite a style of architecture being named after her.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Two Hereford views revisited

There are photographers who, on principle, take a picture of a view or other subject once only. More common are those who revisit locations looking to get a better shot. Time of day, time of year, type of weather and other factors make such an undertaking quite rewarding. I'm firmly of the second camp. Here are two views in Hereford that I have posted once and photographed several times. The first shows a statue of Edward Elgar (with bicycle) looking at the cathedral. The second image features an interesting house called "The Fosse". Both take advantage of autumn leaves.

 photos © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Queen Victoria and cranes

The cranes in my photograph of the statue of Queen Victoria are, to use a phrase of the computer age, "a feature not a bug". That is to say, I deliberately included them and they were not unavoidable. Why include them? Because the centre of Birmingham was something of a building site when we visited the city, and this photograph reminds me of that fact. Appropriately enough this statue can be found in Victoria Square overlooking buildings old, new and still emerging. It dates from 1901 and is the work of Thomas Brock. Or rather it doesn't and is - sort of! The statue was originally of white marble and was recast in bronze in 1951 by William Bloye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Art personified

The fashion for personification seems to have died out. From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries it was not uncommon to see statues that represented, for example, Music (often with a lyre), Justice (blindfolded with sword and scales), Industry, Time, and much else. Today's photograph shows a statue of Art personified (with hammer and nails (!) hidden by the flowers). She is at one side of a Cecil monument in St Martin's church, Stamford: Victory (with a gilt Pallas Athene) is at the other. I've never seen this tomb with flowers nearby and a shot contrasting their soft colour with the almost monochrome marble suggested itself. Here is the whole of the tomb.

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