Skipwith Lowland Heath

On the value of having somewhere local to play with the camera

Skipwith Common has been my photographic playground for years. A few miles up the road it is actually a nationally significant site - one of the largest and one of the very few remaining areas of ancient wet lowland heath in the north of England. Sitting on glacial sands formed as the ice retreated the land was so poor it was never ploughed and was left as common ground until it was finally enclosed in 1903 - one of the last areas of common land in England to be enclosed. It is rare - we have lost 80-85% of the lowland heath we had in 1800. It gained SSSI status in 1958 and is now an NNR managed by the Escrick Park Estate in partnership with Natural England. It’s a wonderful place to walk.

For me it has also been a wonderful place to visit with the camera at a moment’s notice - either to play, to practice or to test out gear. I must have tested more new gear there than I care to admit. Everyone should have somewhere similar.

These two images however were not gear testing - they were made within a month of each other and were made as I started to get interested in a number of similar locations in the Vale of York and the local area. The first was made during a very windy week when the UK was battered by three named storms in just a few days. I needed to get out at the time for a break but was not in the mood to travel far and so a trip to my local playground was exactly what was needed. The scene is classic wetland heath.

The second is typical of what you can see as you wander about the heath - a constant cycle of recycled trees and grasses kept clear by grazing animals.