River Avon and Abbey Mill, Tewkesbury

click photo to enlarge

One of the pleasures of photography is photographing the same subject in different ways. This requires a little imagination combined with the manipulation of the many variables available to the photographer. The camera, lens, focal length, aperture, shutter speed, time of day, season, weather and viewpoint are just a few of the things that can be changed to secure a contrasting photograph of a subject taken on a previous occasion.

Today's photograph of Abbey Mill in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, is quite different from my previous shots (in fact my first) of the subject taken in October of last year. On that occasion I managed to get photographs under a threatening sky, and again when the weather appeared much calmer. My recent shots, of which this is the best, were taken on a pleasantly warm, bright afternoon in May. There was an absence of drama in the sky so I gained a little by positioning myself downstream of the weir and used the froth-filled water of the River Avon (known here, for obvious reasons, as the Mill Avon) as the foreground against which I positioned the mill and the distant crossing tower of Tewkesbury Abbey. One of the purposes of photography is to describe a scene; to tell the viewer about the subject. When I took my earlier shots I was aware that I hadn't shown the mill's position by a weir - in that photograph it couldn't be discerned below the footbridge. So, my aim in this shot was to complement the previous images and give the viewer a fuller picture of this fascinating old building and its context.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Abbey Mill, Tewkesbury

click photo to enlarge

We recently stayed for a few days near Ledbury, Herefordshire, and during our time in the area took a short trip to Tewkesbury. We've visited the town a couple of times before to see the abbey, and we viewed it again, but on this occasion we also had a walk by the river. Tewkesbury stands at the confluence of the River Avon and the River Severn, and as well as being known for its fine medieval abbey and its delightful buildings of all periods, especially the black and white half-timbered Tudor houses and pubs, it is recognized as a place that is prone to flooding. Mention the town today and many will recall a famous photograph from 2007 which shows the abbey seeming to stand on an island surrounded by water.

Autumn weather has started to make its presence felt in the the UK in the form of stronger winds, lower temperatures and rain, and on our visit to Tewkesbury it looked like we might get a little precipitation. Fortunately the dark clouds passed and the sun made an appearance. But not before I'd taken a photograph under those clouds of a building with which I wasn't familiar - Abbey Mill on the River Avon.

This water mill is an attractive and complex three-storey building with an attic level. It has three mill-races to undershot wheels and a weir alongside. A bridge connects the two banks of the river, running under part of the mill buildings (small photograph). Abbey Mill was erected in 1793 and has nineteenth and twentieth century additions. It is built mainly of brick and weatherboarding with cast iron columns, some with spreader plates. Flour was milled here until 1933 but now the building comprises a number of desirable apartments.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On