Monochrome photographs of the Central Pennines, New Forest and Dorset
I am a photographer from the Forest of Bowland in the county of Lancashire. I lived for 30 years in the New Forest, close to the Dorset border. This monochrome work originates from my wanderings in the Pennines, New Forest and Dorset.
The approach is informal, capturing images as they arise during long treks, largely in the early morning. Most photographs are accompanied by a short commentary.
The tabs below offer brief comments on landscape context for the three areas.
Current work - “A Photographer's Lancashire”
I am undertaking a project to illustrate the history and landscape of Lancashire. In medieval times, Lancashire was a lawless, poorly populated backwater of moss and moor. The development of domestic spinning and hand-loom weaving in the 17th/18th centuries supplemented agricultural income. Textile manufacture progressed to power looms and spinning in mills - the products of the Industrial Revolution. A labyrinth of railways, roads and canals supported the manufacturing. Cotton was king. There was an enormous increase in the population of Lancashire to work in the mills and in related industries such as coal mining and quarrying. Other manufacturing such as glass-making and ship-building also developed. Much of the textile industry has now gone. Mill towns were blighted.
Lancashire is a contrast of reclaimed mosses, high moors and the consequences of industrialisation. In 1974, the historical boundary of Lancashire (the County Palatine) was changed by bureaucrats - the conurbations of Liverpool and Manchester were removed, and the northern lands in Furness transferred to Cumbria. I have ignored these changes and encompass the county within both its historical and current boundaries.
Examples of photographs taken for this project are available by clicking this link. Hover over the images for titles and commentaries - the latter provide the historical or landscape context of each image.
- Central Pennines
- New Forest
- Dorset
The Pennines are a range of hills in the north of England extending from Derbyshire into Northumberland. They are separated from the Lake District in the west by the Eden Valley, and from the Cheviots in the north by the Tyne Gap, although the northerly extent is open to debate and some consider the Cheviots to be part of the Pennine range. An east/west gap accomodating the rivers Ribble and Aire divides the Pennines in the central region.
The Pennines are divided into regions (which may be National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty):
- South Pennines
- Yorkshire Dales (NP)
- Nidderdale (AONB)
- West Pennines
- Forest of Bowland (AONB)
- North Pennines (AONB)
- Peak District (NP)
The highlighted areas are in the belt of the Central Pennines. Geologically, the Central Pennines largely comprise millstone grit, shales and carboniferous limestone. The hills are generally rounded from glacial action, with rocky outcrops from more recent weathering. On the tops, heather and grasses predominate in the drier areas, with extensive peat deposits and blanket bog in the wet. Fine dales have been cut in the fells by glacial action and the rivers flowing from the watershed.
The uplands are inhabited by sheep, and occasionally cattle. The soils and climate will not support arable farming. A characteristic feature is dry-stone walling originating from early medieval periods around the settlements, Tudor and later period improved pasture on the rising ground, and rectangular 18th and 19th century walled enclosure on the higher unimproved grazing and grouse moors.
The New Forest is a former royal hunting area in the south of England. It was created in 1079 by William I (known as William the Conqueror) as a hunting area, principally of deer.
It is a unique area of historical, ecological and agricultural significance, and retains many of the rural practices conceded by the Crown in historical times to local people. Principal of these is the pasturing of ponies, cattle, pigs and donkeys in the open Forest by local inhabitants known as commoners. The New Forest has also been an important source of timber for the Crown.
The New Forest is a beautiful area, but it is not natural in the sense of untouched by man. The Forest has been moulded by the fads of monarchs since William, and the changing priorities of the Crown over the last 900 years: deer; timber for naval shipbuilding; commercial timber production; recreation.
“Forest” in a medieval sense was a legally defined area - subject to special laws - where the “beasts of the chase” (deer & wild pig) and their food were protected for the pleasure of the monarch. It was not necessarily a wooded area in the modern meaning - nearly half the New Forest is open heath, grassland and bog.
The laws enacted to preserve the deer for the royal pleasure were the Forest Laws. The odious penalties of Forest Law for interference with the king's deer and its food (browse) became less severe over the centuries, but remnants of the legal structure that policed the area for the Crown are still present in the New Forest as the Verderers' Court.
The ponies, cattle and pigs turned out into the open forest are owned by the commoners, and are there by the Rights whose foundations extend back 900 years to William's time.
The commoner has also shaped the Forest. The open forest is dominated by the activities of his stock, and by the deer. These herbivores have been called the “architects of the Forest”. The flora is defined by what they will, or will not eat. Above their heads is the hand of man - the Inclosures (fenced woodland) - either still enclosed to keep stock out to prevent damage to timber, or mature plantations “thrown open” for the commoners' animals to enter.
Dorset is one of the most beautiful counties in England. It has an outstanding coastline and an interior with notable archaeological features, hidden villages and wonderful vistas. It is a rural county with few large towns.
The Jurassic Coast spans 180 million years of geological history and is a World Heritage Site - the only such designated coast in England. It is known as the Dorset roller-coaster - a succession of rolling cliff-top climbs.
The Isle of Portland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is internationally renowned for its geology, and as a vantage point for migrating bird species around the observatory close to the Bill. The quarries are Portland and Purbeck Beds and yield beautiful stone that is widely used in our historical and modern national monuments and buildings in London. The Dorset work on this site principally highlights the coast and the quarrying activities.