Warwick is a favourite place of mine as it has many hidden delights.  The tourists flock to thee castle and will generally give the town a miss.  Don’t get me wrong the castle is well worth a visit and if you are going there you need to give up the whole day for the experience.  The town has a number of germs and one is the hospital. 

View down the High Street

The hospital was founded in 1571 by the Earl of Leicester but the Chapel had been standing on the site since 1126.  It had a long and varied history before coming under the patronage of the Earl of Leicester in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1.  It was a place for old or injured solders to rest and recuperate. They were called the Brethren who were under the charge of a Master.  

The Guildhall and the topsy turvy walls

Today Lord Leycester’s Hospital is a place to visit and has an imposing presence on the main High Street into Warwick.  I have visited there before and this time took Sandy with me.  We visited the Chapel, the Guildhall and the Great Hall.  In the Great Hall there is a seat where King James 1st during a three day Banquet in 1617.  I took several overall pictures and the one of the outside of the Hospital made the BBC weather watchers.

The Great Hall with the King James Chair to the left
Details in the Chapel
The entrance to the Hospital
The Courtyard

I took along my Canon Camera 5D with a 24-105mm lens and it dealt well with low light conditions and the wide angles needed in the main hall. Well worth a visit and there is a lot of detail that I did not record as I went mainly for the overall pictures.

My Picture featured on Midlands Today

You may gather that I love nothing more than putting my camera and lenses in a backpack and then setting off along the local canal network.  When cycling along the canals, it is interesting to see cottages near to large flights of locks.  These Lockmasters’ Cottages are part of the waterways heritage when the canals were busy with traffic.  The canals were the major highways and people were employed to check that the boat traffic ran efficiently and smoothly.  Now these Cottages are part of the scenery and many are privately owned or used as holiday homes.  The architecture is interesting and they are positioned so they have a prominent view of the waterway.  I have selected a few of the cottages that I have photographed on my travels using my Canon D5 mk4 with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens.  Both are fine in a small photographic backpack for cycling.  When taking the photographs, I like the overall view and look to capture the “feel” whether it will be stillness shown by the reflections or activity with a boat going through the lock.  I put the Cottage in the frame and aim to tell a story through the picture.

Finally I have also include an older picture of the Lockmaster’s Cottage in Lowsenford that is owned by the Landmark Trust.  In 2015, five of Sir Antony Gormley statues were commissioned to celebrate 50 years of the Landmark Trust. This statue was placed near to the centre of England and was next to Lengthman’s Cottage, Lowsonford, Warwickshire. The other four were at four ends of the compass around the UK whilst this one was on the Stratford-upon-Avon canal. They were displayed for only 1 year and then returned to Sir Antony Gormley.

Stratford-upon-avon Canal

Bottom lock at Hatton near Warwick on Grand Union Canal

Long Exposure of the Cottage at Kingswood junction, Lapworth.

The pretty cottage at Preston Bagot on the Stratford canal

Stratford Canal

Stratford Canal

Lengthsman’s Cottage in 2015 with the Sir Antony Gormley statue.