The Gate Tower......

This is the Gate Tower on the Monnow Bridge in Monmouth Wales.
 Construction is believed to have begun in the year 1272 and the material used was old red sandstone.
 The bridge is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge.
 Over the years the tower has served as a gaol... a munitions store....a lodge and of course a toll gate.
 The tower and it's bridge is a scheduled monument and a grade 1 listed building.  

St Oswald's Priory.....

This is a section of Saint Oswald's Priory in Gloucester.
It is just a few minutes walk from the Cathedral and was founded by Lady Aethelflaed of Mercia who was the daughter of Alfred the Great.

The priory was constructed from recycled Roman stones that can be clearly seen in this image although Royalist cannon fire during the civil war caused a lot of destruction....

An Open Dungeon Door......

An open Dungeon door....

An open mind...

Freedom..

Witches or Standing Stones..?

Are they witches frozen in stone?
 Do they come alive at midnight one night a year and dance across the moor ?

 Not these stones.

 These are a modern stone circle- an art installation of standing stone sculptures at Lydney Harbour on the river Severn estuary.
 The standing stones were created by local sculptor David Yeates.
 If you walk around the stones you will see compass directions appear as the letters on the rocks become aligned. The compass directions indicate the direction in which you are looking.... 

Kynaston's Cave....

In the 16th century a highwayman known as 'Wild Humphrey' Kynaston was outlawed for the murder of a man at Long Stratton in Shropshire. He is reputed to have lived in this cave. 
Unusually he was pardoned in 1516 and he later died peacefully in 1534.

 The cave was lived in by various people until at least the 18th century when apparently a family of nine was raised in what must have been (even for those times) very primitive conditions.

 These days the cave is a home for bats which love the deep crevices in amongst the rocks. The cave can be seen at the Nesscliffe Country Park.

Forest Soil....

                               "There are
                           more lifeforms
                            in a handful of
                                forest soil
                            than there are
                             people on the 
                                    planet"

  -Peter Wohlleben

Goodrich Castle

Standing in open countryside above the river Wye Goodrich Castle has to be one of the very finest and best preserved of all English medieval castles.
 This image is of just one small section of the castle but it shows how it seems to be growing out of the rock on which it has been built.

The castle is set near the Anglo/Welsh border but despite this it has led a mainly peaceful existence.

It's  ruined state is as a result of just one violent episode during the civil war of the 17th century.

The Reading Seat.....

A mysterious reading seat carved with images of male and female garden spirits.....
A quiet place to sit and read or just to sit within in peace and tranquility.

The Reading Seat is almost like a wooden 'Temple of the Garden Spirits' and can accommodate up to ten people sitting inside the structure...

This Reading Seat was photographed in Herefordshire in the UK....

Photographic Roots.....

Latest News .....

As from late October 2019  after a break of more than six years I will start to post more monochrome images on a regular basis again...

Please drop by and check out my latest B&W captures ......