Blog
The Larch Plantation at Lantys Tarn
Dec
Can you hear the story they are telling you?
Some random musings from a fine art photographer that cant sleep so is writting down his thoughts at 2:23am in the morning in an attempt to clear and calm his overactive mind.
Some places just call out to me, mostly I don’t know why, but I can normally hazard a guess. The Larch plantation near Lantys Tarn is one of those places. Taken at face value it is just another small forested area. But take a closer look and it starts to reveal some of its secrets.
The wind whispers thro the trees, which are planted in lines, like soldiers ready and waiting to be called to action or like a knights lance held pointing at the sky ready for the joust . The sunlight playfully chasing the shadows away plays tricks on the eyes. The rustle of birds and other animals playing high in the treetops add to the magic.
Sitting amongst the trees sheltering from the rain and wind sipping on a hot coffee I feel the tug of something pulling on the strings of my imagination. The whisper of the wind is distorted by the branches of the trees stood tall and proud around me, what was that? The wind eases and the steam from my coffee swirls upwards heading for the canopy high above me.
The bark on the Larch trees surrounding me is “crusty” cracked and crazed with texture and green mosses and lichens. If I let my imagination run wild, I could easily picture Fae or Druids dancing around fires and celebrating life and nature, I can also see wild camps with makeshift shelters made from fallen branches as temporary resting places for weary travellers with rabbit roasting on the split over their fires and tired horses tied to trees nibbling on the grass surrounding the trees.
Yes the Larch plantation was trying to tell me a story, tyring to wake up my imagination and show me the happiness shared by trees around the world when they see the joy and love people show them. Did they know their fate, were they sharing their stories with me to carry them into the world, is this why I felt so drawn to them and why I took this series of atmospheric photographs of them. I wonder if they made the choice to let go of their hold on the earth and let storm Arwen bring a graceful end to their lives rather than waiting for the cut of the chainsaw. Maybe I need to seek some counselling or just have an overactive imagination, who knows.
What I do know is that this magical, for me, larch plantation has now gone (or is in the process of being cleared) and the welcome embrace and shelter offered by these lovely trees will no longer be calling me when I head down from Red Tarn or after wandering around the Grisedale valley walk. I find this very sad and will miss them and the stories they conjured in my mind whist sitting under their protective canopy.
Take a peak at the set of 5 fine art photographs and indeed a photo composite I have made celebrating the majesty of a simple Larch plantation on the Patterdale Hall estate near Ullswater. If they whisper a story to you then you need to have copies of these fin art prints in your home or workspace so you can continue to listen to what they are trying to tell us even though their roots no longer hold them firmly to the earth. For each framed print sale or NFT sale I will donate a percentage of the profits to the estate to help them plant new trees in areas like this. Help me plant new on Patterdale Hall estate, maybe one day the new trees will tell someone else their story or help someone else clear their mind of confusion and ground themselves in nature.
