Bee on pyracantha

Like many gardeners I have a love-hate relationship with pyracantha. I love its evergreen presence, snow-like covering of white flowers and plentiful orange berries that keep the birds happy. I hate its lethal, stiletto thorns. This year our pyracantha has been particularly well covered in flowers and each time we have walked past it has hummed with the sound of bees collecting the plant's pollen. This busy buzzer spent only a couple of seconds on each cluster of flowers. But, by chasing her around, I managed to get a couple of reasonably sharp shots.

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

A lunchtime interior

Last November we were sitting in a hotel having lunch when I looked up and suddenly appreciated the scene before me. It was one I'd seen before on quite a few occasions but this time it was different. As I reflected on what I was looking at I decided that it was because there were fewer people than usual, the view through the window was more visible, but more importantly, the soft, autumn sun was penetrating the room, enhancing the colours and making the scene resemble a genre painting i.e. a painting of everyday people undertaking everyday activities.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100     2019

Voluted bracket, The Prospect, Ross on Wye

In 1700 John Kyrle, a benefactor of Ross on Wye, gave to the town two stone gateways that opened on to The Prospect, a public, park-like space with a view over the town, the valley of the River Wye and beyond as far as the Welsh mountains. These are both in the classical style, the one near the church having large voluted brackets that support the gateposts. As we passed them the other day I noted that ivy had grown on to the brackets adding real foliage to the the carved acanthus leaf foliage in the volutes. I presumed that the dead ivy indicated someone's earlier attempt to prevent the ivy from damaging the stonework and reflected that another, more concerted effort, will be needed very shortly.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Houses in the evening sun

The word "photography" was invented by combining the Greek words for "light" and "drawing" and literally means "drawing with light". Remembering that helps photographers to recall the importance of light in the images that they make. Light can transform a scene and render the mundane memorable. In today's photograph the light of the low, evening sun has, I think, elevated the brickwork and solid forms of these mundane houses through colour and shadow.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Spot the dog

Another day with a cloudless blue sky caused me to look nearer and look lower in search of photographs as we walked in and around the town of Ross on Wye. Few subjects presented themselves until I saw this young couple walking their dog and entering the "tree tunnel" that we were in. The dog was off its leash and was too quick for me to get a shot of it silhouetted with the people. However, this photograph allows you to play "spot the dog" - it's visible in the shot and not too difficult to find if you follow the obvious clues.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Medieval reenactors

It seems there are precious few periods of history that don't attract reenactors. In the UK it is not unusual to see enthusiasts dressed as Roundheads and Cavaliers (The Sealed Knot), WW2 army and air force personnel, knights on horseback jousting or Roman soldiers. At Tewkesbury's annual medieval fayre soldiers, ladies, musicians and more, all in medieval attire can be seen. Some spend their nights in colourful pavilions to extend the experience to their sleeping arrangements. I imagine the coronavirus has put paid to this year's fayre so here is a shot from the 2018 event.On a very hot July day the chain mail must have weighed heavy.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10     2018

Martello Tower, Aldburgh

England's Martello Towers were built on the south and east coasts between the years 1804 and 1812. They were fortified buildings with guns and a small garrison designed as part of the country's defences against a Napoleonic invasion. The tower at Aldburgh, Suffolk was the last to be built. In plan view it is four intersecting circles (a quatrefoil), on each of which a large cannon was mounted. The structure required about a million bricks. Today this building is managed by the Landmark Trust and can be hired as a rather different holiday cottage.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Canon 5D2     2012

Goosander and mandarin duck families

Click to enlarge
A walk along the river near Ross on Wye produced today's charming scene. The subjects were relatively distant, on the far side of the river. However, I was carrying what I call my "bird watching camera" and so they were still within reach: in fact I didn't need to call on all its telephoto power to include all the disparate parts. The female goosander with her thirteen youngsters first caught our eye and I took a few shots of them lazing on the fallen tree. But then the mandarin mother with her eight young in tow conveniently swam into the scene greatly adding to the interest.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Hebe

Hebe was the Ancient Greek goddess of youth, a daughter of Zeus and the cup-bearer for the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus to whom she brought nectar and ambrosia. Hebe is also the name of a genus of plants native to New Zealand and a particular favourite of mine. The approximately one hundred species come in varying sizes, varying leaf shapes and colours, and varying flower colours. In their native land large leaved varieties favour coastal areas and small leaved species are usually found in mountainous areas. In the UK, therefore, leaf size has come to determine hardiness - small are hardy, large less so. This photograph shows a new arrival in our garden seen through a macro lens.

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

St Michael and All Angels, Brampton Abbotts

The name Brampton Abbots reveals two things about the small settlement near Ross on Wye. Firstly, it was noted for the broom that grew in the area, and secondly the church was owned by the abbots of Gloucester. In fact it was gifted to them by William I shortly after the conquest. It's likely that the nave and chancel that we see today, with it Norman rounded arches, dates from those years. The church is a lovely, modest building that has recently been sensitively restored. The wood shingle tower is supported by a timber structure within the west of the nave. Both roofs have been repaired with, it looks like, many of the original stone tiles. The fourteenth century south porch retains many of its original timbers, a tribute to the durability of oak when it is carefully used. The fine Victorian gate  seen in the photograph opens on to a field with a footpath through it, indicating that many of the congregation came to the building across the fields rather than from the nearer dwellings whose inhabitants would have entered through the lych gate.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2