Private banking; public access

We have become accustomed to bad banks being bailed out by taxpayers, most of whom are relatively, or absolutely, poor.  How refreshing, therefore to see banking wealth bring the benefit of access to the many not the few, as at Stourhead, south west England, given over to the care of the National Trust.







Something of Blenheim....

Something of Stowe...

Particularly splendid in autumn colours.

Nature imitated and tamed.

Oxford graduation

A gradus ad Parnassum for taking pictures of steps.

Step up for a narrow glimpse of college life

A peep into the Master's cellar

Shadows of their former selves

Use one of the handrails; preferably the real one

Steps cobbled together

Urban cyclo-cross in Mansfield

Dappled brutalism

Step inside

Brutal exterior

Untitled (railings, steps, shadows)

Chance of a Freudian slip

Steps with strange boils

Bottom flat

Scrape and enter

Wearing thin

Germany - urban textures

Districts within German cities can have their own personality. You will find areas of quiet, cobbled streets and squares that are as leafy, as funky, as filled with cool bars, cosy or vibrant eating places and independent creative workshops and stores as anywhere else in Europe.  

But on this trip (to the Rhineland) I was looking for a set of shots that convey a colder, cleaner, sharper, edgier side of urban Germany.   Line, tone or texture.  (Click on any image to enlarge it). 

côtes normandes

In all weathers and at every time of day and night the Normandy shoreline is an artist's palette of ever-changing light.