At the Edge of Empire
A couple of months ago, Nate and I left our house in Pawling for the last time and set off into the unknown. Our plan was to find a simpler, quieter life in Northern England. For now, we've settled near Carlisle, and with two National Parks (Lake District and Northumberland) plus the Northern Pennines - an Area of outstanding Natural Beauty - on my doorstep, I have easy access to some of the most amazing landscapes in Northern England. I definitely foresee a lot of exploration in my future. What I didn't anticipate, though, was beginning my photographic journey along Hadrian's Wall - it’s spectacular! The nearest section to my new home heads west from Carlisle into Northumberland, it snakes along the cliffs and crags of the Whin Sill and dares you not to stop every few hundred yards to grab your camera. This blog chronicles a few first impressions of this amazing area.
Hadrian’s Wall is almost 2000 years old and was built by the Romans to guard the wild north western frontier of their Empire. It stretches about 73 miles from coast to coast - Wallsend in the east to Bowness on Solway in the west. The wall itself was built of stone with large ditches on either side, soldiers guarding the wall were garrisoned in a network of forts, milecastles and turrets, truly the edge of a vast Empire. Standing on the escarpment with big views and even bigger skies to the north, those soldiers must truly have imagined themselves to be at the edge of the world.
At the time of writing, I've been in the area for a couple of weeks but I'm already excited about the prospects for the next twelve months. The weather patterns here are fascinating, and I suspect they'll provide some fantastic conditions for my camera.
Essentially the prevailing weather comes from the Atlantic, driving inland across the mudflats of the Solway Plain towards Carlisle then beyond. It’s funneled inland either into the flatter borderlands or forced upwards as it hits the escarpment of the Northern Pennines. The results are lots of rain, lots of wind, expressive skies, mists and such changeability that it’s possible to experience 4 seasons in a single afternoon - I just have to learn how to respond after becoming used to the more predictable “blue sky for days” weather in the Northeast USA
Atlantic weather meets Pennine light. A break in the clouds shortly after sunrise near Cawfield
The two images below were taken within 10 minutes of each other near Walltown Crags. I’d set out in bright sunshine an hour earlier with a plan to hike east for a while then turn back, head west and watch the sunset develop as I headed back to the car. The weather though had plans of its own and although I missed the best part of the rainbow whilst fumbling to get my camera out of my backpack, I do think these two images illustrate well the drama that this landscape is capable of producing.
The thing about exploring new locations is uncertainty, as much as I can pore over a map, or my predictive photo apps until you actually get to a location, you have no idea how things are going to work out.
This was the case on this particular morning. My plan was to park at Cawfields, then walk east into the sunrise along the Wall, what I hadn’t realised was that there would be a steady climb and my foreground would be in persistent shadow. Extremely frustrating when the sky looked as good as this! A little bit of light on the land in front of me and I think the image would have been absolutely perfect, instead of almost perfect.
Walking into the light
A couple of mornings later and more frustration. This time I’d decided to explore eastwards from Steel Rigg and was excited to check out the crags and the lough beyond. Sunrise had been forecast to be spectacular but as I drove to the car park I could see that the clouds had cleared out a lot quicker than expected. No worries, I knew it would be a good walk and the perfect opportunity to explore another new section. I was pretty excited to see the mist rolling south towards the wall, but unfortunately it was quite dense and impenetrable once it spread over the wall blotting out the sun. I’ve since read a bit more about weather patterns for the area and know now that this is a common occurrence. The massive mudflats of the Solway generate significant moisture which then creeps inland creating dense low-lying fog or sea-frets. I’ve just got to learn how to capitalise on this phenomena
Snaking towards the Lough
I’m going to finish with the first photo that I took when I pulled into the car park at Cawfields. Sunrise was an hour away but there was already some colour developing in the sky. It’s a 25 second exposure showing there was a good amount of air movement up in the clouds as well as a light breeze at my level. Cawfields is what remains of an old 20th century quarry where hard dolerite used for road surfacing was extracted. Unfortunately the workings partially destroyed a section of the wall in the process. How times and attitudes have changed for the better.
Its a pretty spot and I think the exposed rock face with the small lake in the foreground will become a favourite for future images.
So for now all that remains to say is thank you so much for reading my latest musings and that normal monthly device will resume once I’m able to complete the last phase of our transatlantic move!! As ever I would love your comments and am also happy to answer any questions or queries that you might have. Please note that my work is for sale and you can visit my shop to buy online, or if you prefer, just drop me a note.
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See you soon.