Spoken in his own words “I’ve always thought that I prefer the title of ‘painter’ rather than ‘artist’. Perhaps this is because any artistry that is involved exists purely in the eye of the beholder! On the same theme, I was once asked many years ago why I painted. I remember being a little ‘thrown’ by this, especially as the person asking the question was examining a painting of mine rather too closely at the time! I can’t remember my exact reply, but I think it was along these lines…’painting is one of the few things that makes any sense to me’. I feel this holds true for me today. Andrew’s approach is influenced mainly by the most recent followers of the East Anglian School of Artists, and in common with this group, the initial work for his paintings is completed on location. He has found inspiration for his interest in light and atmosphere in landscape in France, Italy, East Anglia and even Egypt. His work can be seen in many prominent galleries countrywide and has been purchased for public, private and royal collections, both at home and overseas, including the House of Lords’ art collection”
Arguably the great work of our community healthcare providers has never been at the forefront of our thoughts as much as this year. The tireless effort, the patience of a saint, the ability to smile even when you’re under pressure and the passion to provide outstanding community healthcare.
I’m really proud to be able to shoot images depicting the hard work & tireless effort of the community healthcare teams at ECCH in Suffolk, during the Pandemic. A credit to UK community healthcare.
I recently had the privilege of returning to St Helena Hospice in Essex, tasked with the brief of capturing imagery of the staff in their Covid Safe working environment.As you would imagine, since my last visit the world is sadly a very different place.
It’s testament to the passion, commitment and selfless nature of the staff at the hospice that they have adapted and continue to offer incredible personal care to those who need it.
From the Portrait Series… Meet Ivan – a Norfolk Farmer, near Great Yarmouth
Spoken in his own words in 2019.
“This is Belton Black Mill. I’ve had it since around 1994 when I purchased it. It was renovated by Norfolk Windmills Trust, but sadly it got vandalised, so the doors and windows were removed and instead metal sheets covered the entrances. Occasionally you can see Barn Owls near the capping.
I’ve been farming in this area since I was a boy, this particular farm is a lovely one, you’ll notice the lack of telegraph poles to spoil the landscape.
We supply a lot of hay, straw and the like as well as various other farming activities. It’s all I’ve ever known and although it’s a tough life, it’s also a good one.”
Adding to the portraiture theme, here is another portrait from 2019 and my ongoing project (if you know of anyone within Waveney that would make provide an interesting social history of the area, please get in touch!)
Hugh Crossley of the Somerleyton Estate
“Somerleyton is a charming run of land between the Waveney river valley to the west and the North Sea to the east, the green lung and ‘nature sink’ for Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. My family followed the path of many northern industrialists down the East Coast in search of the healthier climes and appeal of then booming seaside resorts such as Great Yarmouth. The Crossleys had made their fortune as entrepreneurs of the industrial revolution, taking a small family company and turning it into a global brand – as the slogan went ‘you can’t get better than a Crossleys carpet’ If they were intent of spending their newly won fortune, they found the ideal candidate in Somerleyton Hall, a fabulously extravagant example of Jaco-Victorian architecture – a fine seventeenth century Jacobean manor house, bejewelled with towers and extensive new gardens in the mid nineteenth century by John Thomas, favourite sculptor of Prince Albert and William Andrews Nesfield, the celebrated Victorian garden designer. I took over the management of the estate in 2005 and have focused on regenerative farming practices and restoring natural habitats as well as strengthening our tourism business at Fritton Lake. The Welsh black cattle seen here are a nod to my mother and our Welsh heritage but were bought in to replace our commercial herd. They do well on extensive naturalistic grazing systems and live as a herd outside all year around allowing them to fulfil their own natural processes, such as wallowing and self-medicating as well providing apex environmental services to the wider environment through their dung. The virtuous circle of high welfare livestock, living natural outdoor lives, the crucial environmental services they yield living this way and the obvious benefit to us having healthy pasture fed meat to eat is under exploited and deserves to be at the forefront of Government, farmer and consumers’ minds if we are to restore the natural balance that agriculture especially since the 1970’s has, unwittingly or not, done so much to harm. At Somerleyton we are committed to show casing that profitable farming can co-exist with nature restoration in the hope the other join, for if we farmers don’t work collaboratively on a landscape scale, all is lost. After the war it was justifiably our duty to never go hungry again, now it is our profound moral duty, without incentive or handouts, to restore nature to levels of super abundance for future generations of all species, not just our own”
Portrait of Howard Constantine Ranger for the Broads Authority. Spoken in his own words in 2019. “My Family are from Bury in Manchester, and we came down here as a Family for my Fathers job in 1982, so here is where I finished school. I then did some travelling, spending a year in New Zealand, but returning home I had no idea of careers. After many years working in Sheffield, I began to realise how important environmental protection was to me, so I undertook a course in environmental science at the UEA. In the process of this course I would regularly meet rangers who worked on the Broads. The Broads Authority had two teams of rangers, countryside who dealt with the land, and navigation who dealt with the water. I spent six enjoyable months with the countryside rangers, which also included working closely with the navigation team doing a guided boat trip from Ranworth Broad. Spending a year in Tasmania during my gap year in university, I got involved with projects there, and in a Government run project trapping Tasmanian Devils to enable them to do health checks, as they suffer from Devil Facial Tumour Disease, a form of facial cancer. This helped make me realise that I wanted to be doing a hands-on job. I returned and made diligent efforts to get into working as a ranger. Working in the tolls office, I also volunteered, regularly carrying out tasks such as footpath maintenance and the like. Eventually I secured a position with the ranger team on the River Yare and the following year I was lucky enough to join the Breydon team. Working with the public as they travel across Breydon is always interesting, many people aren’t aware of bridge heights, tidal flows and the like and it’s a pleasure to be able to advise and be their point of contact. The seasons are terrific around here – we maintain the biodiversity of the area, working with and helping land owners, enabling this terrific area to work for all parties”
A portrait of Mark Smart Site Manager RSPB, Halvergate Marshes Photographed in 2019 on Halvergate Marshes and spoken in his own words.
“Effectively the RSPB reserve is around 600 hectares, it’s wet grassland and sits within a stunning landscape that is around 3500 hectares in size.We’re a relatively small chunk of land within a much larger landscape.The main reason the reserve is here, is for wintering waterfowl and also breeding waders. On a good year we can get 110,000 wintering waterfowl, which includes lapwing, golden plover and pink footed geese.
e are internationally important, in fact we are in the top five of the most important estuaries of the UK, which most people don’t expect within the Norfolk Broads National Park.We are doing a lot science here, trying to understand how we can get these birds back into the wider landscape. We work with numerous landowners, wetting the areas but still enabling commercial activities to take place.
It’s important to keep that balance.My Background, before joining the RSPB was farming. I spent over 10 years fixing and driving tractors, but I had also been heavily involved with conservation, volunteering with local conservation groups, that was my passion. When redundancy came along, it was a chance to do something new and work in the industry I was passionate about. If I were to leave a legacy, it would be that I would want to see a lot more areas containing a few pairs of breeding waders”#norfolk#norwich#broadsnationalpark#rspb#birds#sitemanagement#conservation#farming#greatyarmouth#portrait
Already two weeks has passed since the opening of “Always Walking Alongside” at the fabulous Coal Drops Yard in #kingscross with Age UK Camden who managed to find such a fabulous venue to display my photographic work, from my time working with them during May – in the depth of the Pandemic.
RT @RestoTrust: Please share - these are Kickstart Scheme jobs for people who are under 25 and on Universal Credit. Based in Norfolk, but m… 2 days ago
