Walls often get a bad press: they can divide, separate, segregate, exclude, banish, prohibit, hide, and lock away, in all the very worst ways.

But walls can also shelter and protect.  They can be beautifully crafted, decorative, characterful, symbolic.  They can tell stories about their locality, about history and prehistory.  They can be political, advertorial, or works of art in their own right

Here is a selection of walls to celebrate spring and the opportunities to be on the outside of walls after a winter of looking at their insides. We’re starting with some stunningly beautiful ones.

That trip to Seville gave some lovely quirky details:

Closer to home: under a railway bridge on the Hogsmill River near Kingston (left) and Eastbourne sea front (right).

Multi-media in Georgia (below left) and showing off in London’s Whitehall (below right).

Local materials: Surrey stone (pity they got the mortar too strong) and Surrey clay work - brick and tile hanging.

The Glencoe Creel House: constructed in local turf and heather (images © T Thompson).

Walls with messages:

Heritage Walls: much admired today but these structures hint at dark histories.

And here is a Romanian warning, of the consequences of an ill-spent life. It’s all in the detail.

Happy springtime.