‘Give me a land of boughs and leaf,

A land of trees that stand;

Where trees are fallen there is grief;

I love no leafless land...’

Housman.

A quick plug for the art and nature exhibition at the Hereford Cider Museum where I am exhibiting 9 Prints. There are also some fantastic art and ceramics being exhibited as part of the show which runs until the 30th Oct. The Museum is well worth a look if you have any interest in cidermaking/orchards, it also has a lovely tearoom and extensive range of cider for sale.

                          Somerset light,              Murky in the mist brooding

                      Sullen and damp,             winter's mantle

                              The shroud,             its invisible spell cast

                                   A shaw,              binding moors and levels

                    A solitary fastness,              a thick blanket

          Within which people move,              slow and sluggish

             Tarnished by the vapour,              seeping into their joints

                                 struggling,              the rising damp

              To meet the midday sun,             to penetrate the veil

                                A faint halo,            half-hovering over ditches

            Rivers,rhynes and runnels,            island

        Connected by thin Causeways,            thin slice of cattle-breeding land

                     Fuelling the flatness,            uneasy and unrepentant

              The ghosts of withy trees,            caught between water and mist

         Marsh-memory lingering still,            a quirkiness settling in

         The solemn grey pulse... out of which only the heron rises

                                                                                  copyright James Crowden

Frozen Orchard under glastonbury tor.

New pictures in the Winter section

Whenever I take take camera out to photograph England’s apple orchards I always have James Crowden’s Poetry in the back of my mind. The picture above was taken with the poem ‘Somerset Light- Autumn’ waltzing through it. see poem below.

Work has been so busy that I have found it hard to visit and photograph the spring blossom this year but here are a couple of images from a quick walk around one of Thatchers ciders orchards a couple of days ago. Many of the trees had gone over but below is one tree battling against other spring colour in late afternoon sunshine and holding it’s own beautifully.

Here is a poem for spring written by James Crowden,

Acres of blossom -

Row upon row of neat petals

Pulling them in.

                                  Orchards of Peace

                                  Identify the first bite -

                                  Sweet taste of another world.

Juice Flowing between narrow slats -

An orange waterfall

That must be tasted.

                                  Dark surrounds the vast barrels

                                  Like a secret veil -

                                  Months of doing its own thing.

Worth waiting for -

First glass, first sip

The Squeak of a tap

                                   Stamped into the new cider’s passport -

                                   Silent nod,

                                   Quiet murmur of approval

The road to Glastonbury Festival 2011.

The A37, the main route from Bristol to Glastonbury, one last chance to stock up for the weekend.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of filming the Cadbury Heath heritage group talking about the local areas history, particularly their experiences with apple orchards around Cadbury Heath and Kingswood. The area was covered in orchards right up till the 1950s and they told some lovely stories about their scrumping days.

Below is the link to the video that I made with South Glos Council.

I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRiyRIojkc

I'm very pleased to announce that I’ve been commissioned to shoot a year long documentary on Thatchers cider.

The Sandford based cider makers have given me and my cameras unlimited access to all areas of the cider making process including full access to it's Somerset based cider mill as well as all it's beautiful orchards in North Somerset.

I'm very excited about this project. I've been photographing the cider making business for many years, documenting the orchards during the changing seasons so it will be wonderful to capture the planting, apple blossom, and autumn harvests on film

I will also be filming in the company's historic 'oak vats hal as well as their new state of the art bottling plant.

I started shooting 2 weeks ago with the annual Wassailing Ceremony. This was a stunning event to capture, with all the colour of the Wassail queen and the green man dancing around the apple trees, welcoming in the new year and warding off the evil spirits"

Check out this site for updates.

A misty morning in late Febuary, a grubbed up orchard in Somerset.

All images copyright Neil Phillips Photography LTD. All rights reserved.