Emperor dragonfly

Until recently I had never seen an emperor dragonfly (Anax imperitor). This is surprising since the British Dragonfly Society describes the species as "Widespread in southern England and southern Wales; increasing its range northwards." In other words common where I have lived for the past three years. However, I know I haven't seen one because it is so big and boldly coloured that I am sure I would have remembered it. The emperor dragonfly belongs to the group known as "hawkers", and I am familiar with the common hawker, a species that we saw annually when we lived in north-west England. The specimen above was flying between some ornamental pools at the front of a country house and I got my image with a longish focal length lens that I had been using for architectural shots.

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

View from the coffee shop window

This photograph gets its pixellated effect from translucent plastic that has been fixed to the window to mimic frosted glass. At the bottom it lets very little of the outside world through and the decreasing size of the "pixels" as you go up the window allows you to see more and more. We often sit at this window in one of the local coffee shops and I take the occasional photograph through it, fascinated by the effects it produces.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Thomas Blake Memorial Garden, Ross on Wye

The Thomas Blake Memorial Garden in Ross on Wye stretches down the hillside from Wye Street to The Ropewalk. It is not a large garden, but a winding path with benches invite the visitor to stop and view the planting. Robert Blake was a prominent benefactor of the town. Among other things he was involved in the provision of running water, provided Reading Rooms and a Free Library, ensured The Prospect belonged to the town for all time and was President of the Ross and Archenfield Benefit Building Society. The garden is maintained by volunteers. When we passed recently we stopped to admire this area of dense planting that was full of flowers.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Knife Angel

The Knife Angel is a sculpture by Clive Knowles made of over 100,000 blades confiscated by the police. Its purpose is to publicise the dangers of knife crime in the community, and to act as a memorial to those who have lost their life, or in other ways have been affected by, knife crime. The Knife Angel is being hosted in different locations across the country. We saw it near the west door in the cathedral close at Hereford.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Church House, Ledbury

One of my favourite photographs of Church Lane, the most picturesque street in Ledbury, is this one taken from the opposite end to that most favoured by photographers. On a recent visit I tried to take a photograph of the imposing timber-framed house that features prominently in that shot. It is called Church House and may well have acquired its name because it housed clergy or due to its proximity to St Michael & All Angels. It was built c.1600 and features close studding rather than the cheaper square studding more favoured in this part of western England.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Cathedral crossing

Most medieval cathedrals in Britain have a ground plan that is essentially a Latin cross. There are additions to this basic shape in the form of cloisters, chapter house etc, but in essence the footprint of the building is a Latin cross with the shorter head (the chancel) at the east, the longer nave at the west, and the north and south transepts making the two "arms". The point where the transepts meet is called the crossing and above this point (usually) is the cathedral's biggest tower - the crossing tower. Such is the plan at Hereford. Today's photograph shows the view from the north transept looking across the crossing to the south transept.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Meadow, trees, cloud

Sometimes it is the simplicity of what a day can offer is all that is required for a photograph. Featureless blue or grey skies are my least favourite "simple" element. But when an empty blue sky is broken by just one or two passing clouds that is enough to combine those elements with one or two others to make a photograph. As we toiled up a footpath through a hillside meadow the cloud over the nearby wood, combined with the grasses around us was enough for me to want to record the moment.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Ghost advertisement?

On a recent visit to Monmouth I noticed this "ghost advertisement", the residue of an old advert of, perhaps, Edwardian or Victorian origin, that had been uncovered by a later workman and kept for its historical interest. It reads: "Support Home Industries, J. Hillman Milliners, Extra Quality Silk Hats, Unequalled for Hard Wear, Always in Stock". The time when people required a silk hat at all, never mind one that is hard wearing, is long past, so I presumed the advert was quite old. An internet search, however, revealed something different. Apparently it dates from 2004 when BBC TV was filming a "Doctor Who" episode, "The Unquiet Dead" in the town and presumably needed to make the location fit the year 1869 in which the story was set. Not a real ghost advertisement and not old at all!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Industrial units and petri dishes

When I looked over the fence at these industrial units in Ross on Wye what caught my eye was the lines on every surface - on the walls, on the ground and even in the sky. On the ground I liked the way the parking bay lines ran the opposite way to the lines on the near metal walls. When I looked closer I realized the aircraft vapour trails paralleled the lines on the distant unit. Then I counted the vapour trails and lamented that the number of such trails seemed to be increasing daily, a sign that more and more people were putting their own self-interest and desire for a foreign holiday above the world's wider interest and I imagined each aircraft that passed over as a flying petri dish.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Socially distanced seating, Hereford Cathedral

The Covid19 pandemic has made us all very aware of the importance of social distancing. Recently we came upon an example of social distancing that made me stop and stare. The nave seating of Hereford Cathedral had been arranged with this in mind and, after decades of seeing naves with tightly packed seating separated only by necessary aisles, it looked decidedly odd. Adding to the oddness is the choice of inexpensive moulded plastic seating. Presumably this was chosen for ease of cleaning.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300