A couple of days ago I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the medieval galleries. Many years ago I photographed some of the objects in the collection for a wide-screen audio visual programme at the English Romanesque Art 1066-1200 exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 1984. This included the mitre which is thought to have belonged to Thomas Becket. Being allowed to handle that was a real thrill. The programme mainly depicted the architecture of the period, and I spent many days photographing some of the best Romanesque buildings in the country, including Durham cathedral where we were given a key and told “This key opens any door in the building – make yourselves at home”. Read more…

The lobby of the Lloyds TSB Bank at 222 Strand, London is a wonderful display of art nouveau tiling by Doulton painted by J H McLennan. Formerly a restaurant and built originally as the Palsgrove Hotel, this is the work of the architect G Cuthbert, and dates from 1883. Read more…

Last weekend I completed my walk along the Regent’s Canal starting at the Islington Tunnel and going to where it meets the Thames at the Limehouse Basin. Read more…

No one knows when the ‘Obby ‘Oss festival, which takes place on the 1st of May (or the 2nd if the 1st is on a Sunday) every year in Padstow, Cornwall, started. The earliest written reference to it is in about 1800, but it’s likely that the festival dates back to much earlier times and is probably related to Celtic Spring rituals.

The celebrations start at midnight the night before when the Night Song is sung to the landlord of the Golden Lion Inn. The next morning, with the town decorated with branches of green leaves, bluebells and cowslips, the children’s parade, with smaller sized, colt ‘Osses, starts at about 8.00am. The Day Song is accompanied by drums and accordions.

Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is a come unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May. Read more…

Earlier this week I drove up to the very north of Cornwall to photograph and make 360° panoramas of the churches at Morwenstow and Kilkhampton. They have some of the earliest features still to be seen on any Cornish church, both having Norman arches to the south door. In the case of Morwenstow a second Norman arch (reused from another church) was added when the porch was built, probably in the 15th century. Three bays of the north aisle also have Norman arches with zig-zag moulding.

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A second graffiti by Loretto has just appeared in Clapham – on Landor Road, just round the corner from Clapham North tube. This one depicts a man and woman sitting at a table, but the woman’s head has turned into a TV screen menu which the man is selecting from using a remote control. I love the cat sitting under the man’s chair.

Click on the image to see it larger (and to see a close-up).

A new Banksy-like graffiti has appeared just off Clapham High Street. The work is the creation of graffiti artist Loretto and depicts the evolution of man from the apes to the job centre – a great commentary on the current political situation.

Two days ago I went to Polzeath to take some panoramic photos. My main objective was to create a wide image to make into a large print (I still haven’t processed all of the photos yet and only done a couple of test stitches) but while I was there I made a 360° panorama for my website.

Very stupidly I totally forgot to shoot one section of the panorama, but I managed to repair this by using two of the photos I’d taken for one of the print shots. If you know where to look you can just see where the patch is, but I’m still quite pleased with the result. In my defence, I was in a position on the edge of a 10 metre drop where I couldn’t walk round the tripod as I panned the camera, but even so it was a silly mistake and I was lucky to be able to salvage the image.

Yesterday I went for a walk with a friend along the towpath of the Regent’s Canal from Paddington Basin to the start of the Islington tunnel. Here’s a few of the photos I took on the way. Read more…

I’ve just added some new panoramas of Brixton to my website. These include two of Windrush Square, two in Market Row (one of Brixton’s covered markets) and one on the corner of Electric Avenue and Atlantic Road. These add to the older ones I made a couple of years ago of the Brixton Windmill and the walled garden in Brockwell Park, which I’ve remade to a higher resolution.

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