Woorgreens Lake, Forest of Dean

Woorgreens Lake and Marsh is a 22 acre (9 hectare) nature reserve in the Forest of Dean that is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the Forestry Commission with the assistance of a population of 10 Exmoor ponies and 6 English longhorn cattle. It was formerly the site of open cast coal mining that ceased in 1981. On the day of our visit the only water birds in evidence were some mallards, moorhens and about half a dozen goosanders. However, the sky was graced by an interesting formation of clouds that were reflected on the almost still surface of the lake.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

A Turner morning

When I got up and looked out of the bedroom window recently I saw before me a J. M. W. Turner morning. The landscape of pasture, hedgerow, trees, distant wooded hill and sky had been softened and made less distinct, not by brush on canvas, but by  fog. The colours too had merged into each other and the glow of the sun, still below the horizon, illuminated and warmed only the clouds. All else was dark and cold. I went out and walked fifty yards or so and took the only photograph from where I now live that has pleased me thus far.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Gloomy cathedrals

During the dark days of winter cathedrals become places of deep shadows. Only on the bright, cold, sunny days do the clear and stained glass windows admit sufficient light to illuminate the beauties of the mason's and sculptor's art so that it can be appreciated. However, most cathedrals do manage internal lighting at these times, and some use it better than others. Hereford Cathedral has a number of lights that show off arches and column capitals, and these pools of artificial light often compensate for what daylight isn't able to offer, as the photograph above shows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Ducking stool

The ducking stool was an instrument of punishment from medieval times until the early nineteenth century. It was administered to cantankerous women, dishonest tradespeople, those who brawled in public, and others guity of minor misdemeanours for which the stocks, the pillory and the cage were deemed unsuitable. Originally the guilty party was fastened in the stool and lofted on high, but later the person was chained in the stool or chair and dipped under water in a nearby river. Leominster's example dates from the eighteenth century and was last used in 1809 on one Jenny Pipes who was guilty of using foul and abusive language. This is thought to be the last example of ducking in England. Today this ducking stool rests in Leominster's ancient church.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Stretton Grandison church

The approach to the mainly fourteenth century church of St Lawrence at Stretton Grandison, Herefordshire, is charming. The narrow west tower and spire of the church are accompanied by a tall pine, a nineteenth century lych gate and a thatched, partly timber-framed cottage. The latter was probably built in the seventeenth century though its red sandstone wall is unlikely to be later than the early nineteenth century.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Industrial lighting

Industrial lighting? Well, not quite. Christmas lights  on an industrial estate in Ross on Wye courtesy of one of the businesses located there. Mercifully traditional green and red was chosen and we were spared the very unseasonal dark blue that has proliferated in recent years. My first sighting of these lights made me wonder whether a competition between companies for the "best" Christmas lights will spring up to match the rivalry between householders that can be seen at this time of year.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Nativity

In the period of Christmas a nativity scene seems more than appropriate. I came across this one by accident as I scanned the five lancets that make the east window of the Lady Chapel at Hereford Cathedral. The stained glass dates from 1851-2 and was installed by the firm of C. A. Gibbs to the designs of Nockalls Johnson Cottingham (1823-1854). It is a very mosaic-like approach to stained glass that draws heavily on medieval precedents in terms of figures, overall composition and colours. The glass works very well in its location and is an example that was, regrettably, ignored by some of the glass designers in recent years at the cathedral.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Tiny chocolate Santas

A family Christmas beckons so, from me and the chocolate Santas a Happy Christmas and an eclectic new year to everyone who stops by.

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

Almshouses lights, Ledbury

St Katherine' Hospital, Ledbury, was founded in 1231 and parts dating from the C13 and C14, including the chapel, survive. The almshouses that we see today are the joint work of Robert Smirke (1822-5, the south end and central tower) and William Chick (1866, the north end). They are in the Tudor style of stone with half-timbered gables and an iron veranda at the rear. Here they are seen with Christmas decorations and trees with lights. In the centre is the cenotaph and to the right the clock tower of the Barrett Browning Institute.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Library, Wells Cathedral

Dendrochronology dates the time of the cutting of the roof timbers of the library at Wells Cathedral at about 1450, so it is likely that the building was erected shortly afterwards. Like many such libraries had, and still have, a number of chained books that cannot be removed without being unlocked. This practice dates from the time when books were rare and expensive. One of the oldest volumes in the library is Pliny's "Natural History". It was printed in Venice in 1472 five years before Caxton printed the first book in England.

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