The Viking Way

I have taken this road trip off road for a while and I am now walking the Viking Way. No, that's not a euphemism for a silly walk, it's a long distance footpath (about 140 miles) which traverses Lincolnshire and Rutland. I am hoping to see a little more of the actual land rather than what is at the roadside. Here are some images from the first few miles near Grantham...

The Viking Way way-marker displays the most recognisable symbol of the Vikings, the horned helmet. Something the Vikings never actually wore. I guess it's an invention of Hollywood, the Victorians maybe, operatic costume designers, comic books etc. Myth becomes history!

The Viking Way is mainly farm tracks and cross country footpaths - time to buy some serious walking boots!

Oil dereks and solar panels in the same field. With energy production being more profitable and less hassle than food production farmers are really milking the land.

Red Kites were extinct in Lincolnshire until recently, I never saw one as a child. Everywhere you look now you see Buzzards, Kestrels, Sparrow Hawks, though, there seems to be fewer owls these days.

Making the most of non arable land. Part-time grazing and motocross track.

Julian's Bower

Julian's Bower, one of the few remaining turf mazes in Britain was first recorded in 1697 is sited at Alkborough in the furthest northwest corner of Lincolnshire. It overlooks the the reclaimed land of the River Humber. Maze patterns were adopted by the early church as a symbol of the of the Christian path to salvation. The pattern can also be found on the floor of the local church and on gravestones.

Happy New Year

Big Issue seller, Lincoln

Most people's NY resolutions are about themselves (keep fit, stop smoking etc.), which is a bit of a selfish way to start the year, particularly after all the self-indulgence of the holiday season. I thought I would make this years resolution something that benefits those less fortunate.

New Year resolution 2017 - be generous!

Cleethorpes revisited

I view seaside resorts with mixed emotions, I love the whole escapism bit but it also cuts against the grain. The job of the 'Fantasy World' is to fleece visitors of as much money as possible. In winter the lack of activity exposes the recumbent underbelly of the money making machine that is reliant warm weather and people's wish to escape from reality.

Christmas turkey

The appearance of the Cliff Farm turkey usually signifies that Christmas is around the corner (joke intended). Until this year the turkey on wheels has been an annual sighting at North Carlton, cheering people up on their way to work. In 2016 it has been conspicuous by its absence - perhaps it was finally culled!

Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead in Lincoln, what goes around, comes around. It's strange when customs that originate in Europe arguably as a pagan or Christian celebrations, return from the Americas almost unrecognisable. I like the way the Co-op organise travel not only to foreign parts but also from this life to the next.

 

After Stieglitz

Burton Hunter Trials Alfred Stieglitz’s The Steerage photograph from 1907 showed the separation of the classes aboard ship with higher class on the upper deck above the lower class on the lower deck, reflecting their positions in society. Only the wealthy own horses and the lower classes watch as they parade, jump, race and hunt. This image was intentionally shot with both Stieglitz and the painter Edouard Manet in mind. I guess there will always be rich and poor, even in Lincolnshire.

 

Bomber County

Being largely flat and out-of-the-way, Lincolnshire was an ideal place to build WW2 aerodromes, so many that it seems like every village had one, hence the moniker ‘Bomber County’.

This is where the Dambusters were based, and during the Cold War nuclear V bombers. The RAF still has a large presence here including, the Red Arrows, RAF College Cranwell and RAF Waddington AWACS base.Littered with aviation heritage sites and museums, Lincolnshire appears to be obsessed with it’s aviation history.

The UK's tallest war memorial is currently being built as part of the new International Bomber Command Centre. Heritage and nostalgia wraps us up in a mythologised past, where time appears to stand still. Local newspapers feature endless stories of aviation heritage.

You can take part in 1940s theme weekends. Shops sell inflatable Spitfires and display posters that recommend you “KEEP CALM and EAT SAUSAGES”. Ah yes, home of the famous Lincolnshire Sausage!

Landscapes

A particular kind of fiction

I've just completed a tour of Phil Cosker's "Landscapes - A particular kind of fiction". This work consists of six images, 10x8 feet, exhibited in six church yards, September 18th – October 24th 2016. (further details www.philcosker.com)

Artisit's statement:

"I made these photographs using glass plates exposed in a Thornton Pickard ‘Imperial’ half-plate bellows camera with a 47/8 120mm lens. The images were made between 1982 & 1984. I found the camera in a second-hand shop; there were dark slides but no film of any sort. By chance he discovered some unexposed boxes of Ilford Tri-colour plates in a cupboard in Hull School of Art & Design. After much experimentation I found I could use each plate separately and was able to control exposures to create these images."

"These very large images (magnificently printed by Rob Hodgson at Double Red) try to capture the volume and sense of space in the locations in which they were made. In some ways, though very different in content, they make reference to the beauty and mystery in Atget’s work (the pioneering French photographer 1857-1927). The acuity of the lens and the capture of the passage of time in a still frame offer a particular way of seeing. But of course what we see in these large photographs is not what is, or was there, but a fiction, an imagination of passing time and place. Beyond that – to me they are beautiful – I hope you agree."

Carousel selfie

A double selfie that took 50 years to create

Every year for as long as I can remember and before, a steam rally is held on the Lincolnshire Showground. This carousel is sited in almost the exact same spot, within yards of the one in the photograph of me that I am holding up, which was taken almost 50 years ago. This was taken during the time when I lived in the village of Jerusalem.