The Trough of Bowland

click photo to enlarge
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

The Lincolnshire Wolds

click photo to enlarge

England's "wolds" are to be found in Yorkshire (the Yorkshire Wolds), Lincolnshire (the Lincolnshire Wolds) and the Cotswolds (mainly Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but including parts of other adjacent counties). It seems that the word "wold" derives from "weald" - meaning woody country (as is the present Weald encompassing parts of of Hampshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex), but came to mean, in areas farther north, an area of open hilly country on mainly chalk and limestone, with some sandstone.

The Lincolnshire Wolds and the Yorkshire Wolds are a line of low hills that are bisected by the River Humber. In Lincolnshire the highest point is only 551 feet (168 metres) above sea-level, near Normanby-le-Wold. Glaciation produced rounded hills and smooth-sided, though sometimes quite steep, valleys. A few of these have rivers and streams, but many are dry. The settlement pattern is one of fairly regularly spaced market towns that serve small villages and farms where the principal activity is agriculture. Cereals and root crops are grown extensively, with valley sides and fields near to farms often supporting cattle and sheep. These sometimes include the local breeds - the Lincoln Longwool sheep and the Lincoln Red cattle.

The area has a long history. Round and long barrows can be found on the hills, and deserted medieval villages are not unusual. Most villages have a church that is of medieval foundation, though some were "improved" in the Victorian period. It's a good area for both walking and cycling, which is just what I've been doing for the past few days! Oh, and being a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) it presents good opportunities for the photographer, so here's a landscape, showing the greens and browns of early autumn, on the low hills near the village of Tetford.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 50mm (100mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On