Hitchin Lavender Farm

The lavender is just about over but the sunflower field is in full bloom. I spent most of the time on our sunset visit to Hitchin Lavender in the sunflower field where the challenge was to find a good arrangement. As darkness came, the sunflowers glowed and make great monochrome subjects while the lavender fields turned a blueish purple - last image shot at iso6400.

 

Tom Denny Stained Glass Hereford Cathedral

I was very taken with these stained glass windows celebrating the life of John Traherne,  an English poet, clergyman, theologian and religious writer born in c.1636. The windows are by Tom Denny, an artist who has produced windows for several other cathedrals including Durham and Leicester. His windows are noted for the distinctive way in which light and colour move across the surface. He achieves this effect by acid etching and silver staining each small piece of glass. The reflections in the last two images from Hereford recalled stained glass to me.

Abbey Dore, Herefordshire

Abbey Dore is the only former Cistercian Abbey still used for worship as a parish church though much of the Abbey has been demolished. Founded in 1147, used by Cistercian Monks in the 13th and14th century, it is a very impressive structure with lots of interesting features and preserved stone carvings. Enjoyed the challenge of a 280 degree panorama and some moody monochrome conversions.

Croft Castle, Herefordshire

A building has been on the site from the 11th century and it has from this time been the home of the Croft family. The present building originated as a castle in the 14th century and has been much altered since.It now consists of a stone quadrangular manor house with a small castellated round tower at each corner and a small square tower flanking the north side. The castle is under the care of the National Trust and members of the Croft family still 

live there. The chapel dates from the 13th Century

Notes to Myself!! The first image is taken with the wide end of the 10-24mm lens on FujiXT-10 and the second, a panorama of 7 vertical shots, so has a lot more pixels though should have used the wider end of the lens to keep more sky.

Berrington Hall, Herefordshire

In the morning, we visited Berrington Hall, a National Trust Property near Leominster. It is a neoclassical country house building which was designed by Henry Holland in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley. Berrington has been in the care of the National Trust since 1957 and is, along with its gardens, open to the public. the grounds are Capability Brown's last landscape design with  ha-ha wall  a lake and island.

Symonds Yat Rock Views and Birds

After visiting some friends near Monmouth in the morning, we explored Symonds Yat Rock area in the afternoon. The weather turned showery rather than continuous rain but more cloud than sun on the rock itself though the views under clearing skies were great. Took a lot of the birds feeding on sunflower seeds in the bole of an oak tree - the light was not great so high ISO and less than ideal shutterspeed.