Ruth's fiftieth

Ruth Heritage - great name - is a genuine local legend. It's hard to imagine that anyone in the arts scene around Preston hasn't heard of her. 

She is a good friend of the Minx (and, coincidentally, shared a house with one of my colleagues when she was at university).

Tonight was her fiftieth birthday party, and, happily, I was included in the invitations.

She lives in a row of enormous old - but slightly dilapidated - houses, just on the edge of a park. Although each house has a backyard, they also have a front garden across the road from the house.

These gardens are in various states of repair, from the well manicured to completely overrun. One had a beautiful old stone fountain, that clearly wasn't in use, but each had its own character and was in its own way intriguing. 

This one was perhaps the most bland but easiest to photograph.