Oast House

Driving through the beautiful Herefordshire countryside you can't help but notice these oast houses or hop kilns snuggled in fields along the route. Fascinating pieces of architecture and design; very photogenic.

With the introduction of hops to England in the 16th century came the advent of Oast Houses which are buildings designed for drying the green hops after they've been picked. They are circular buildings with conical roofs in which the hops are spread out about 12 inches deep. Underneath a furnace is lit of wood or charcoal, to gently dry them, after which they are put into jute sacks and taken to market for brewers to buy.

Another trip to the Eye Vets this morning with Tilly. Soooo many other dogs to bark at inside the clinic aaargh!!!! This was just to make sure everything was still trundling on after her operation. She's now got crystals forming in one eye so yet more drops and tlc but still a much better scenario than we had before ... so all good. No other dogs were maimed or disfigured either so result!!

The shot before it was run thro' Nik...hmmm......not sure now. My criticism would be that there is a definite halo effect found the trees which I don't understand as the filter was applied evenly. Hay-ho.