March 13th – I know I featured this the other day, but it is a view that’s quite short-lived and one I love lots. Having been to a meeting in Birmingham in the afternoon, I came back to Shenstone as usual and hit there in a sort of pink, gentle golden hour. I was only about 15 minutes from sunset, and the pink cast was from a dying sun, but it flattered the dark sandstone of St John’s church tower beautifully, it’s gargoyles proud and prominent as ever.

Also worth noting in these shots are the rooftops, gables and chimneys of Shenstone, a wonderful array. How lovely that a village should grow around the hill in that remarkable way, with the remains of an early church, and a still functioning Victorian one immediately adjacent.

November 26th – A day spent shopping, eating and having fun in Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, two lovely places, left me exhausted. But oh, the architecture! Tewkesbury has lost none of it’s charm, and the abbey really is a fine thing indeed, much better than many cathedrals in my opinion. 

But the skylines? They belong to Cheltenham. I shot the chimneys, before they went up in smoke.

May 27th – I’m developing a casual interest in the architectural quirks of chimneys. It’s something I’m going to cover on my main blog at some point soon, but in looking for stuff to photograph while out on my bike for this project, I’m noticing more and more things about the world around me. This is not trivial, I’m absolutely serious.

There is something about a nice chimney that completes a house – a roof looks bare without one. This example, on the derelict and abandoned Pear Tree Cottage pub in Albutts Road, Brownhills West, was clearly built to do the business. If only a buyer could be found to breathe life into this lost pub once again.