Hartpury tithe barn

The original purpose of the tithe barn was to hold the produce paid by farmers to the local church. One tenth of a farm's production was paid to the priest and went towards his and the wider church's upkeep. A number of tithe barns still remain in Britain, and many more are remembered in street names. The fourteenth century tithe barn, built by the Abbey of Gloucester at Hartpury, is one of the largest in the country, measuring 161 feet by 36 feet. It is made of stone and may have originally had a thatched roof. The present roof is tiled. In the eighteenth the large main door was supplemented by five smaller doors. Further adaptations - inside dividing walls and adjoining walled yards to manage cattle - were added in the nineteenth century. Interestingly, on one end of the roof is a Welsh dragon finial (facing towards England) and on the other is an English lion (facing towards Wales).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Seasonal yarn bombing

The knitters of Ross on Wye have been busy for the past few years undertaking seasonal "yarn bombing" of the centre of the town. Bollards, signs, post boxes and many other surfaces have been decorated with seasonally apt individual and group pieces. Here are a few examples of the current Spring/Easter display.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

 

A languishing K6 telephone box

Any list of British icons will invariably include the policeman, the black taxi, a guardsman in ceremonial uniform, Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Stonehenge, a red double-decker bus and a red telephone box. Following the rise of the mobile phone (cell phone) the phone box has become a much less common sight on our streets. In fact, following the privatisation of the phone service, British Telecom made a concerted effort to get rid of these unprofitable public telephone boxes. This included selling them for a nominal price (with the phone removed) to any local councils who wanted to keep one. Many did so, rightly seeing them as heritage assets. Often they were re-purposed as, for example, free lending libraries, locations for public notices or sites for community defibrillators. They were regularly painted in "post office red" and became a valuable and attractive resource. But, some councils, after an initial burst of enthusiasm, let them languish, their bright red turning a drab pink and the site of vandalism and graffiti. The example above, a K6, appears to have suffered this fate.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Feathers Hotel, Ledbury

The oldest parts of the timber-framed Feathers Hotel, Ledbury, date from c.1560-70. This comprises the first three floors of the leftmost part of the building. The fourth floor of this section, with the five small gables, is an addition of the early 1600s. So too is all of the rightmost part, from the coffee shop sign. The hotel is close-studded throughout with none of the box-framing that is a characteristic of Herefordshire and adjacent counties. The building is quite deep with timber-framed extensions accessed from within the building, and through carriage arches. It must always have been the town's premier hotel and it remains so today.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

St Katherine's Terrace, Ledbury

How do you give the front of your modest house a visual "lift"? Answer: paint it a bright or strong colour. How do you give it a further lift? Answer: find a way to to get your neighbours to do the same. The truth of this can be seen at St Katherine's Terrace in Ledbury, and at many other locations across the country. If you don't believe me, just imagine the doors in the photograph were painted white!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The fox in the wall

When I first saw this fox's head peering out of the hole in this stone wall I was startled. Was it real or was it a toy? Closer inspection showed it to be real but long dead since it was stuffed and mounted on a wooden shield. Clearly it was someone's trophy and had presumably "decorated" someone's wall before it found this resting place. I imagine it was someone's idea of a joke to place it in the wall. If so, it was in poor taste.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Monnow Bridge gatehouse, Monmouth

Over the years I've taken several photographs of the Monnow bridge gatehouse in Monmouth. It is one of ony two remaining medieval fortified bridges in Britain and has been the subject of artists down the centuries. On a recent visit, as we passed over the bridge, I took this quick snap, prompted by the cloud of feral pigeons swirling around the roof of the gatehouse. There are usually pigeons to be seen on the building and I'm sure many use it as a nest site. They contributed something vital and transient to this view of the bridge and prompted me to ignore the view I usually choose (see here and here).

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

Street musicians

In recent weeks we've had a few days and spells of spring-like weather that has brought out the street musicians.  The most common performers have been singer/guitarists and singers with backing tracks. However, the most proficient and enjoyable that we've seen are a solo accordionist and this duo featuring saxophone and guitar (a Gretsch hollow body).

 

They were playing jazz and jazz-inflected "standards" and were a pleasant accompaniment to our coffee as we sat under the Market House in Ross on Wye.

 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Coal hole covers

In the older streets of Britain's towns and cities you can still find coal hole covers in the pavements next to rows of houses. These comprise a pair of rectangular metal flaps that, when opened, gave access to a coal cellar beneath the adjacent property. Deliveries of coal for fires would be poured through the coal hole and thence into the internal house cellar, when stores needed replenishing. The surface of the coal hole covers, because they formed part of the surface of the pavement, have embossed patterns to offer grip to pedestrians.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Christmas Rose in April

The Christmas Rose, Latin name Helleborus niger, also known as the hellebore, is currently in full flower in our garden on April 1. In my experience this flower has never really deserved its Christmas appellation, usually flowering in January, February and/or March.

I certainly don't recall it in bloom as late as April. It's probable that its shady location has delayed its flowering. Whatever the reason, it is putting on a good show in a spot where later flowering perennials usually appear. These straightforward photographs show the characteristics of the plant, but don't make a photograph to compare with this shot I took indoors of a hellebore from which I cut the flowers.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2