Even as a child time seems to speed up as we near the end of summer; how much more so for us now as adults! It seems no time since I was writing about July; now it is almost September.
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The River Ure skirts the ancient city of Ripon on its eastern side. In the 1770s a canal was built, engineered by William Jessop, to link the river with the city centre. As canals go it was on the short side, just 2.3 miles long and with three locks.
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Every night of the year a horn is blown at the four corners of the obelisk in Ripon’s Market Place to set the ‘watch’. This ceremony has taken place for the last 1,100 years, without fail.
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Summer has been in rather short supply this year, although August has given us some nice days. On the whole, however, it has continued July’s pattern of unseasonably cool and damp weather, again due to that stubbornly stuck jet stream.
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Photography, like all arts, is a subjective business. We all have our favourites. At times though it seems it’s almost as hard to judge other people’s work as it is our own. Nevertheless, we often do just that.
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How good are you at self-criticism when it comes to photography? Are you ruthless about discarding less successful shots? And can you easily decide which of several is your best?
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The water gardens at Studley Royal are a striking example of the elegance of Georgian garden design. Here, in the style that was popular at the time, it is not flowers that steal the show, but water features and statuary. But what extensive water features these are!
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How many windows is too many? That was the question facing many seventeenth century property owners. In 1696 a window tax was introduced in England and Wales. The more windows a building had, the more its owner had to pay.
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A huge pregnant woman, her body half cutaway to reveal her inner anatomy, strides across the grass. The distinctive curves of one of Henry Moore’s Seated Figures reclines near a lake. A delicate glass spire towers above the trees.
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Everyone needs food to survive, but some of us are fortunate enough to be able to appreciate not just as a necessity of life but also one of its pleasures. And when food becomes not only delicious to eat but also beautiful to look at, it is truly a special treat.
