To Blea Tarn, with Side Pike 6 February The Langdale Pikes to the north-west, Wrynose Pass and Wetherlam to the south. Vistas from Side Pike: a focal point as we approached Blea Tarn and dropped down above Blea Moss. We reached the foot of Wrynose Pass, impassable under snow. Tyre tracks from a farm vehicle and a few footsteps told who had passed this way on the morning of 6 February 2018. And earlier pioneers? At the foot of the pass we looked for Vikings.
The past seems closer when there's snowfall. Snow muffles sound, softens the acoustic. The Wrynose Pass can be busy with traffic on a summer's day, but the pass was impassable and solitude prevailed. Snow inverts the look: masks the familiar, highlights what's hidden. A snow-white footpath snaked up to Lingmoor, a mystery path I'm puzzling over. A favourite image is Blea Moss threaded with water-tracks draining off Wrynose Fell and Lingmoor to feed into Blea Moss Beck. Meandering dark pattern and a dark sheep-fold against a foil of snow.
Once Fell Foot Farm was one of several working farms in Little Langdale. Abutting the farm is Ting Mound, the site of a Viking parliament where settlers gathered to talk over matters of farming and trade. Greenburn copper mine was active from 17th century and there must have been some interdependence between mining and farming communities. Today, the National Trust have a hydropower scheme at Greenburn.
Quirks of snowfall and the quality of light determine the photo-opportunities of the day. Cold winter light was subtle and evocative and we were glad to see the sun. Side Pike was compelling, in shifting perspective. From the foot of the Kirkstone Pass I looked up toward Tarnclose Crag, to Side Pike and beyond to Loft Crag and the Langdale Pikes. As we approached Fell Foot Farm a tree on Castle Howe was off-set by patterns of snow on the crag. For me, these are images to linger over- for the aesthetic and to puzzle out topography.
Once Fell Foot Farm was one of several working farms in Little Langdale. Abutting the farm is Ting Mound, the site of a Viking parliament where settlers gathered to talk over matters of farming and trade. Greenburn copper mine was active from 17th century and there must have been some interdependence between mining and farming communities. Today, the National Trust have a hydropower scheme at Greenburn.
Quirks of snowfall and the quality of light determine the photo-opportunities of the day. Cold winter light was subtle and evocative and we were glad to see the sun. Side Pike was compelling, in shifting perspective. From the foot of the Kirkstone Pass I looked up toward Tarnclose Crag, to Side Pike and beyond to Loft Crag and the Langdale Pikes. As we approached Fell Foot Farm a tree on Castle Howe was off-set by patterns of snow on the crag. For me, these are images to linger over- for the aesthetic and to puzzle out topography.
These sepia-like images have a faint warmth of colour from bracken spiking up through snow. And an icy-blue sky. I like the perspective on the final three images where all lines sweep downhill and converge at Fell Foot Farm, beyond the road sign.
Discovery comes with editing photographs. As we approached the foot of the Wrynose Pass I was attracted by that single tree against the skyline and snow picking out the contours of Castle Howe crag. Reviewing my cache of images, I sense unseen travellers on a journey through time. Tyre tracks and footprints head down toward Fell Foot Farm, through centuries a sanctuary and a shelter from the storm. And the Viking parliament was held on ground abutting the farmstead, Ting Mound white with snow. Everything converges on that focal point: tyre tracks and footprints, the flush of bracken, dark beck and stone walls. I'm composing one photograph and the camera wants to tell a different story. I want to go back and try again, turn on the sun, shift my position, bring out something different, catch the Viking debate, listen in.
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