The Trough of Bowland is a valley and pass in the Forest of Bowland, an area of mainly heather moor in Lancashire that is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty* (AONB). In wider British terms and certainly in world terms it is not a very significant feature. However, when you are in this area of rolling upland it comes as something of a surprise to find the road winding its way up to the watershed by a stream, and then the same road falling away as it snakes down a valley on the other side of the summit.
We drove over it recently on a day when sun alternated with cloud and the flourishing bilberry leaves were glistening among the heather. This combination of blue sky, cloud, greenery and the sinuous road prompted me to pull over and take a photograph looking up the Trough. A conveniently coloured car - red - passed and added a point of dissonant colour and scale to the composition.
* Quite how heather moor can be described as "natural" I don't know. Were this landscape to be as nature intended there would be significantly less heather and bilberry, a lot more scrub, and underfoot would be significantly wetter. The whole area would be much more species friendly.
photograph and text © Tony Boughen
Photo Title: Trough of Bowland, Lancashire
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (36mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
