I have seen photographs of this impressive planted yew tunnel before, but not had the chance to visit. Now, it is only a few miles from where we live. Aberglasney is an ancient stately home in Carmarchenshire, Wales, only recently renovated and opened to the public. 

Having only seen photographs of a place, the reality can always be  a little dissappointing. One imagines the scale to be greater, the context to be more evocative, and so on. This tunnel looks like a remnant, or maybe it never got extended. It runs for a few yards in front of the main door to the house, but is not long enough nor tall enough to be a grand entranceway; it is only just possible to walk upright through the arching branches.

The gardeners allowed the natural habit of yew branches to sweep down to the ground and re-root on one side, whilst tightly cropping and interweaving the outer branches to form a near impenetrable wall.

It was a fairly dull day in March - pretty ideal as there were no strong shadows to break up the forms.

I have included here a few treated images with some close-ups that may one day work themselves into prints or paintings....