-
Leave those plastic bags behind and instead take a cheeky Peak District Sheep or Highland Cow out shopping with you! These 100% Cotton Premium Tote Bags are printed with either my 'Peak-a-Boo' image of a sheep peeping around the sunlit rocks or my 'Heather' image of a Highland Cow resting on the moors. They're guaranteed to make you smile on even the most humdrum shopping trip. These are not flimsy, thin bags, they're printed on thick 10oz cotton, making them hardwearing and long-lasting. They close with a zip along the top for added security, and they're fully machine-washable (cool temperature, please do not tumble dry, the animals don't like the spinning). At 35cm wide and 41cm high, you can fit plenty of shopping, books and cheese inside. Sorry, UK shipping only. Please note that all my orders are processed through a small, rural Post Office to help keep them open and profitable, so please allow 7-10 days for despatch and delivery. Thank you.
-
I'm not ashamed to say that I did a little involuntary squeak when I wandered around a bend and saw this sight in front of me. A curving lane, that wonderful combination of mist and light that creates proper sunbeams, and a mighty fine gate reflected in perfect shadow. The magic lasted for a minute at most, but I felt incredibly privileged to have seen it and captured it to share.
-
Mam Tor, literally meaning Mother Hill, is an iconic Peak District hill, relatively accessible and easy to climb from the village of Castleton, but offering magnificent views from its summit, taking in the whole of the Hope Valley on one side and the whole of the Edale Valley on the other. More than just a pretty peak, it is a place of ancient civilisation, with evidence of occupation from around 1200 BC, the site of one of the earliest hill forts in Britain and also one of the largest, covering an area of around 16 acres.
-
Deep in the woods as autumn closes in, amid the tangle of branches and bracken and briar, you walk into a world where fairytale and reality blur. Padley Gorge is a Thin Place. I always fall under the spell of the ancient trees and stay out far too long in the quiet and shadows.
-
Autumn is a season that really makes you use all your senses. Walking along this beautiful path through Wyming Brook, your eyes catch first the flashes of gold amongst the green where the sun has lingered longest in the trees, then you hear and feel the crunch and swoosh as you tread through the leaves, before you inhale the scent of musty sweetness that hangs in the air.
-
Wyming Brook is a magical place in which to wander, with waterfalls cascading through a wooded glade, crashing over rocks and sweeping under a succession of pretty wooden footbridges. Once a private medieval hunting forest for the region’s nobility, it is now a nature reserve, protected as a safe haven for a wide variety of wildlife. Keep your eyes and ears open here, and look out for crossbills, dippers, redstarts, pied flycatchers and wood warblers, as well as lutestring and northern spinach moths.
-
I hope you can look at this photograph and almost hear the wind whistling through the tall grasses?! Higger Tor is a wild, windswept peak, and it looks at its most dramatic under scudding storm clouds in the late autumn light. I know Wuthering Heights wasn't quite set in this part of the country, but I feel sure Emily Bronte would have loved the inspiration here.
-
This is one of my very favourite spots in the Peak District, a narrow lane that links the villages of Hathersage, Grindleford and Eyam. Flanked by old stone walls, and in parts way too narrow for two vehicles to pass, it's a quiet escape from the (relative) rush and bustle of life down in the valley. These tall, straight beech trees form an honour guard to welcome you as you enter, and I always breathe a little sigh of relief when I see them.
-
Officially called Whim Wood, this small wood lies beneath Over Owler Tor. When my son was small we spent a lot of time exploring here, and on one memorable day we watched an enormous barn owl gliding like a silent ghost through the spaces, after which it became the Owl Wood to us. It's always a special place, but walking into the trees on this winter morning was like entering a fairytale world of soft light, deep colours and an indefinable magic. The sunshine flickered and flashed through the mist to fall in little pools on the bracken and briar, and the only sounds were the dry leaves rattling and the stream whispering.
-
I have a real affection for Fly Agaric fungi. They're little worlds of contrasts: bright and cheerful, yet at the same time deadly poisonous; rooted in the damp woods, yet at the same time otherworldly and magical. This beauty was perfect and shining, a shock of red in the dewy grass under the silver birch trees in Bolehill. As I laid down to take the shot and try to capture this transient life, a tiny fly flew up and into the sunshine ... or did I disturb a fairy?!
-
There's no denying that I love the long, warm days of summer, and the bright blaze of autumn in its full glory, but these teetering days in between have a beauty and perfection all of their own, the slow slide from one season to the next. The light is soft, the air weighted with mists, and the greens in the trees are scattered with flecks of gold where the sun has lingered longest. On the peaceful River Lathkill, all was calm and quiet, save for the low bubble of the water and the occasional splash of the swan's wings.
-
Don't adjust your set, it's the gate that's (very) wonky! Of all the wonky gates in all the world, this one is my favourite. It can be a little hard to push open, and blimey you've got to run through it quickly unless you want to lose half a leg when it crashes shut behind you, but I love that you reach it through the towering trees on this path beneath Stanage Edge, and that it leads out into the bright autumn fields above the Hope Valley.
-
I don't think I have ever loved my home village of Hathersage more than on this midwinter morning. The curves and edges of the hills sparkled with bright snow, the mists curled lazily below, clearing and regrouping to reveal tiny new scenes each time, and the church stood half-hidden in trees that seemed crafted from diamonds. The gate which once announced the entrance to the village has now given up its duties, but looked perfectly in place resting on part of an old stone wall and shouting its name to the sky. I could happily have stayed all day in this spot, listening to the bells ringing out every quarter hour through the Hope Valley.
-
Every grand old tree can tell so many tales of centuries - the walls built, the storms weathered, the people who have sought shade and solace beneath their boughs - but this beauty is truly a magical storyteller.Spring is in full force, the daffodils bloom by the wall and each twig is tipped with a bud about to burst into green, but for now she is still flaunting the filigree beauty of her bare branches, each knot and bump and whorl in her bark, and her stories are at their loudest, for anyone who stands still and long enough to listen.
-
Dandelions must be the most underrated of flowers, maligned as a 'weed' and cut or poisoned away from verges and fields and gardens without a thought. Yet at each stage of their life cycle they are perfect, symmetrical wonders, with the most beautiful structure and form. They also provide vital early food for butterflies and bees, and bring us the first much-needed shots of bright colour after the dark of winter.These dandelion seed heads were lit by the setting sun as I passed them, each one a tiny ball of light, the whole field transformed into a mass of caught gold. Nature throws us so many jewels of immense beauty if we only stop to see, notice and appreciate them.
-
A Quiet Light: Little Moments of Beauty in the Peak District National Park Photographs & Words by Peaklass At long last, after many years in the making and planning, I am absolutely delighted to be able to offer my book of Peak District photographs and words. It is a 152-page celebration of the small glimpses of countryside life that hold such immense beauty. From the first light of spring sunshine rising over the hills, to the swirling mists that weave through the valleys on late summer mornings. From the soft, damp stillness of autumn lanes, to the impossible silence of snow falling in the ancient woodlands. Presented seasonally, each photograph is accompanied by my words about the scene, place or image. I have been dreaming of this book for such a long time, and it's most probably the only one I'll ever make, so I haven't scrimped on quality! It's a premium, hardback volume, A4 in size, printed in the UK on weighty 170gsm silk paper, FSC-certified and carbon-balanced by the World Land Trust. Would you like your book signed? If so, please just include a note to this effect when placing your order. There's no extra charge. Delivery: Sorry, UK shipping only. Please note, delivery is by Royal Mail Tracked 48 via a small, rural, overworked Post Office. Please allow at least 7-10 days for despatch, processing and delivery. Thank you! ISBN 978-1-3999-9193-3
