'Great things are done when men and mountains meet'.
William Blake
I set off from the door of my house in Windermere a little after 8 on October 1st carrying a vague idea of where I was going and a weight of apprehension. Fog clung to the town, adding to the sense of mystery as I made my way north and westwards. My curious month had begun.
I avoided the modern, built-up environment as much as possible, only skirting towns and villages when necessary. However, I was keen for my images to to include elements of mans influence on the landscape such as walls, ancient landmarks and mining remains. They have played an important role in forming the regions identity and could not be ignored. Besides, they made for excellent subject matter.
Previous Octobers have given long spells of settled weather and wonderful light and I was hoping for this trend to continue. However, I was hit by storm after storm rolling off the Atlantic which certainly made both the walking and picture-making difficult. Looking back through my brief outline of each days weather I experienced a total of 17 days of rain and only 6 days of decent sunshine. October 4th stays etched on my memory as one of the most difficult days. After enduring seventy mile an hour winds throughout the night I was finally forced to pack up my gear at 7 a.m. when water off the fells started coursing through my tent. From my campsite near Haweswater I had to go up and over High Street into Patterdale into the teeth of the gale with poor visibility and sleet driving into my face.
During the month I managed to cover a total mileage just shy of 245 miles, averaging about 8 miles a day - hardly a mammoth distance, but then distance was never an important factor in the project. It was always my intention to enjoy the trek, take time to look at the landscape and take great photographs.
FOOTPRINT took me on an arbitrary meander to all four corners of the Cumbrian fells. Haweswater, back of Blencathra, Wast Water and Whitbarrow Scar were the outermost reaches on the compass points. In between these the red route traced on the map criss-crosses the valleys and fells with a distinct lack of directness. I found that where I walked to each day was largely governed by where I intended camping in the evening; with the weather being so poor I had to search on the map for locations that would offer best shelter.
In spite of the weather I believe that my skills as both a photographer and a trekker served me well. I managed to stick to my target of two images a day and am pleased with the images which, viewed as a collection, look wonderful.
But would I do it again? Its amazing how time has glossed over the bad bits in my memory and left me with a strong feeling that I had achieved something worthwhile and unique. Sure I would do it again.
