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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I’ve just found out that I’ve had one of my photos accepted for the 2014 Ghostsigns Calendar. Very chuffed! Mind you, I only just made it in 12th place.

In case you’re wondering a chaudronnerie and a serrurerie is a boilermaker and a locksmith, selling new and used boilers, stills and piping.

About 100 yards north of Oxford Street in London lies one of the best examples of Victorian Gothic architecture you’ll ever see. It would be easy to miss this church, even though it has one of the highest spires of any church in London. If you don’t look up and see the spire when you stand outside, you could walk straight past. All Saints church is set back from Margaret Street in a small courtyard. Once inside, a world of beauty opens before you.

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ITV’s ‘Daybreak’ featured some of my photos of the church of St Magnus the Martyr this morning. They had a short item on the local London news section mentioning the 60th birthday of the National Churches Trust. They’ve created a new website – The UK’s Favourite Churches – to mark the occasion.  Boris Johnson has named St Magnus as his favourite church in London.

No payment of course, but at least I got an on-screen credit.

In the last few days I’ve added some new 360° panoramas of some Cornish Churches, namely Ladock, Crantock, Lanlivery and Luxulyan. They all had some amazing features: the altar painting at Ladock, the font, rood screen and wood carving at Crantock, the bellringers’ painted sign and ceiling bosses at Lanlivery and the font and memorials at Luxulyan.

You can see more photos of Cornish Churches at my Flickr pages.

This morning I went to see ‘Seduced by Art’, the first exhibition at the National Gallery to feature photography. What a disappointment! The majority of photography in the exhibition was of the Turner Prize variety – full of nothing but post-justification of a trivial concept. The comparisons between the photographs and paintings were trite and largely meaningless and showed a complete lack of knowledge of photography on the part of the curators. I find it hard to believe that the comments in the labels had any thought behind them whatsoever. My favourite referred to the photograph of the naked Man with Octopus Tattoo by Richard Learoyd (which has been used on the poster for the exhibition) which describes how the tentacle rising up the man’s back follows and reinforces the curve of his spine. It just doesn’t!

For a review that states it better than I ever could (and before you choose to part with the  £12 entrance fee), you should read what Brian Sewell thought of the exhibition.

I saw a beautiful exhibition of photos yesterday by a guy I was at college with in the 1970s – Michael Kenna. In the intervening years he’s become one of the world’s top landscape photographers. I’m amazed at the consistency of his style over all these years – simply stunning!

If you have a chance to see the exhibition it’s on for the next few weeks at Chris Beetles Fine Photographs in London, and finishes on January 2 2013.

As promised here are a few more of my photos from the ‘Thirties’ exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 1979. These are of Highpoint 1, designed by architect Berthold Lubetkin and engineered by Ove Arup in 1935. One of the best examples of the International Style, the building was admired by Le Corbusier when he visited London.