Podcasts about english landscape

On this week's episode of Local Legends, Martin is joined by the much-acclaimed, multi-award winning author, folklorist and archaeological researcher Jeremy Harte, whose books, including Cloven Country: The Devil and the English Landscape and The Green Man, are beloved texts, yet barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Jeremy's work!As Jeremy explains, he almost fell into folklore research via a semi-accidental career in museums and the heritage industry. Since then however, from topics as diverse as geomancy and English toponymy, Medieval faerie belief and detailed studies into the country's holy wells, he has gone on to write some of the most important literature on folklore as written in the last half-century.While this chat is ostensibly focused on the history and folklore of Surrey, across the course of this interview topics discussed include what life is like for a local museum curator, the growth of 'the Devil' as a concept, Gawain and the Green Knight, haunted grandstands, debates about which came first, graveyard elms or the churches alongside them, and so much more.It's a fascinating, ranging conversation, and one which, of course, also delves into the character, stories, and strange status of Surrey in terms of its folklore and place in the national consciousness.An absolute corker of a chat, even if we say so ourselves, gather close around the campfire and listen in to one of the modern greats!And otherwise, we will be back on Monday with our brand new County Episode, where we will be digging into the history and folklore of Northumberland!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest for this episode is folklorist and author Jeremy Harte, who joined me to talk about his new book Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape. Jeremy has written extensively on local history, folklore and the supernatural and is the curator of the Bourne Hall Museum at Epson and Ewell as well as secretary of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society. In Cloven Country, he explores the background of those stories where the Devil played a part both in creating the English landscape, as well as his relationships with the people who populated it – which could range from being hoodwinked by cunning cobblers, to punishing wealthy merchants and landowners for their greed and avarice. In the interview I begin by talking with Jeremy about what inspired the idea for the book and then look at the history of the Devil's appearances in English folklore, and some of the themes and motifs that are most common there. We also talk about the relationship between this kind of folklore and peoples personal experience of the supernatural, and how the latter has become much more prevalent in modern times, to the extent that presence of the 'landscape devil' in recent storytelling is hard to discern. Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape is published by Reaktion Books - more details can be found at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/cloven-country and the book can be purchased from your local bookshop. You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee, go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!   The Some Other Sphere Theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.  

The history of the English garden reveals more than expected about the past and its people. This series explores the theme of gardens as places of work, rest, and leisure.     In this talk art historian Anne Lyles compares the works of Turner and Constable as painters of English landscapes. This talk was recorded live at Hampton Court Palace in 2015.  For more information on the history and stories of our palaces visit: www.hrp.org.uk/history-and-stories

Episode 12: Where is the Land in Landscape?   “Where is the Land in Landscape?” investigates the histories of landscape painting in the canon of Western Art and assesses a few contemporary works of art that counter European modes of thinking about land, territory, nature and the environment. In the first part of the episode we cover historical painters working in Dutch, French, British and American landscape traditions. In the second part we at contemporary art including Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick's paintings of place and space, the protest performance art piece Mirror Shield Project: Water Serpent Action at the Oceti Sakowin initiated by Cannupa Hanska Luger and Rory Wakemup, and Rebecca Belmore's Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to Their Mother.   Sources + further reading: Adams, Ann Jensen. “Competing Communities in the ‘Great Bog of Europe': Identity and Seventeenth-Century Dutch Landscape Painting.” In Mitchell (see below). Auricchio, Authors: Laura. “The Transformation of Landscape Painting in France.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lafr/hd_lafr.htm. Baetjer, Authors: Katharine. “Claude Lorrain (1604/5?–1682).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clau/hd_clau.htm. Belmore, Rebecca. Artist's website. https://www.rebeccabelmore.com/. Benally, Razelle. How to Build Mirror Shields for Standing Rock Water Protectors, 2016. https://vimeo.com/191394747. Cole, Thomas. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow. Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10497. Hanska, Cannupa. “MIRROR SHIELD PROJECT.” Accessed December 12, 2021. http://www.cannupahanska.com/mniwiconi. Harris, Beth and Steven Zucker. "Constable and the English Landscape." Smarthistory, August 9, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/constable-and-the-english-landscape/. Liedtke, Authors: Walter. “Landscape Painting in the Netherlands.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lpnd/hd_lpnd.htm. Mitchell, W. J. T. Landscape and Power.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Morris, Kate. Shifting Grounds: Landscape in Contemporary Native American Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019. Tate. “Landscape – Art Term.” Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/l/landscape. WalkingStick, “Kay. Artist's website. http://www.kaywalkingstick.com/.   Music Credits: Alfred Cellier (British) - The Pirates of Penzance (Overture) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DOyly_Carte_1957_-_The_Pirates_of_Penzance_01_-_Overture.ogg Hector Berlioz (French) - Symphonie Fantastique 2nd movement excerpt https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique_2nd_movement_excerpt.mp3 Patrick Gilmore (American) - When Johnny Comes Marching Home https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:When_Johnny_Comes_Marching_Home,_U.S._Military_Academy_Band.wav Standing Rock Water Protestors https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Call_to_block_Pipeline_CannonBall_,North_Dakota_SACRED_STONE_CAMP.webm   Credits: Season 2 of Unboxing the Canon is produced by Professor Linda Steer for her course “Introduction to the History of Western Art” in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University. Our sound designer, co-host and contributing researcher is Madeline Collins.  Brock University is located on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, many of whom continue to live and work here today. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement. Today this gathering place is home to many First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and acknowledging reminds us that our great standard of living is directly related to the resources and friendship of Indigenous people. Our logo was created by Cherie Michels. The theme song has been adapted from “Night in Venice” Kevin MacLeod and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0. Grants from the Humanities Research Institute and from Match of Minds at Brock University support the production of this podcast, which is produced as an open educational resource. Unboxing the Canon is archived in the Brock Digital Repository. Find it at https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/14929   You can also find Unboxing the Canon on any of the main podcast apps. Please subscribe and rate our podcast. You can also find us on Twitter @CanonUnboxing and Instagram @unboxingthecanon or you can write to unboxingthecanon@gmail.com 

Explore returns with Lionel Birnie travelling to the south coast of England to meet photographer and journalist Roff Smith, whose lockdown project was published in the New York Times as A Cyclist on the English Landscape.The series of self-portraits feature Roff cycling in and around his adopted home town, St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex. Roff is not used to staying in one place for long. Born in the US and having spent time working in Australia, his career as a photographer and writer for National Geographic has kept him almost permanently on the move – until the coronavirus crisis hit in spring 2020.While tethered to home, Roff started getting up before dawn to capture photographs of himself riding through the early morning light and found that each day gave him a different perspective on the familiar.To see more of Roff's work follow him on Instagram @roffsmith where he has published more of his self-portraits and his website The Art of the Ride.The Tour d'ÉcosseOn Thursday (June 3), Lionel and Simon Gill are setting off on the Tour d'Écosse, a 13-day, 1,300-kilometre ride from Gretna to Dingwall in Scotland, visiting each of the 42 Scottish football grounds on the way. Follow their adventures with nightly episodes of Explore and by following the (slow-moving) dot at thecyclingpodcast.comExplore by The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens and Science in Sport.Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout

Back in 2013, Basecamp's Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson published Remote (Office Not Required), a beautifully concise insight into how remote working had shaped their business. Seven years and one global pandemic later, remote working has become a lot more common. But are we making the most of the opportunities that remote working presents? In this edition of The GP Book Club, Ross G is joined by Gemma and Owen to share their thoughts. We discuss: a brief overview of the book's main points the advantages of remote work for businesses and employees how the way organisations communicate during the pandemic is shaping reactions to remote working. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. Remote: Office Not Required, is available on Amazon: amazon.co.uk/Remote-Required-David-Heinemeier-Hansson/dp/0091954673  In What I Learned This Week, Owen shared FiveThirtyEight's 2020 US presidential election poll tracker. You can find it online at: projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/  Gemma recommended the book The Making of the English Landscape, by WG Hoskins. It's available from Amazon at: amazon.co.uk/Making-English-Landscape-Classics-Library/dp/1908213108  Ross shared his observations on the romantic sounding 'winter halo', described on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22%C2%B0_halo  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Gemma Towersey @GemmaTowersey Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson

This week we're joined by anthropologist and author Mary-Ann Ochota to discover the history hiding in plain sight in the English landscape. These features include everything from burial mounds, hill forts and stone circles, to figures carved into chalk hills and the network of ancient paths that crisscross the country. Listen on to learn about the relics the Romans left behind, the legacy of the enclosures and how easy it is to ‘read' the landscape today. To order a signed copy of Mary-Ann's book, Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape, go to www.maryannochota.com/apps/webstore To discover more about how England has been shaped by different influences over time, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/voicesofengland

An Interview with George Miles about his Views of Matlock Bath photography project. George Miles is a photographer from the UK. His work examines how the land is used, viewed, and mediated; physically and through its representations. His pictures have been exhibited in the UK and the United States. He has published several photobooks. This project started after he began an informal correspondence with Stephen Shore, continuing under his guidance and mentorship over the next three years. This show revisits the larger body of work that was published as a book in 2014. Views of Matlock Bath channels visual traditions and tropes from both photography and painting. Championed for its picturesque qualities by the tastemakers of their times, including Byron and Ruskin, the valley bore witness to the consolidation of the English Landscape tradition, the birth of the Industrial Revolution, and of mass tourism. These interconnections and the relationship they bear upon how we view the landscape are explored through the sequencing of the photographs. Enchanted woods, car parks, picnic benches, and grand views; nature and the man-altered. The contention formed between these opposites presents a contemplative space in which to reflect upon how representations of Landscape since the Industrial Revolution have been complicit in our disconnection from it.

We are joined on the show by another of Andrew’s mates (he doesn’t have many so don’t worry) the very lovely Mr Stephen Segasby.  Steve was responsible in many ways for getting Andrew into Large Format Photography and even tried to explain the Scheimpflug Principle at their first LF meet up in North Norfolk, surprisingly they remained friends.  Steve is a thoughtful and deliberate image maker who uses metaphor and print series to convey feelings and emotions through the use of cameras and other print medium. As a founding member of the “Inside the Outside” collective he is passionate about the English Landscape, its mysteries, weirdness and history. Hope you enjoy the chat.   Links and references arising from the discussions;   Steve refrained from explaining the Sheimpflug principle but we all agreed there are some excellent YouTube resources to help us – like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wFjPVX6lrQ   Mr S has a 12x20 ULF camera made by another bearded, hat wearing photographer Richard Ritter http://www.lg4mat.net/   Kenro Izu is a LF photographer Steve mentions he uses a ULF Deardorff camera and makes platinum prints – check out is work and books here http://kenroizu.com/index.html   Another shout out to a previous bearded guest Graham Vasey – Steve and Graham are going fly fishing together (honestly). http://www.grahamvasey.com/   The work of influential landscape photographer Joe Cornish is mentioned. http://www.joecornishgallery.co.uk/   Andrew’s hero John Blakemore https://www.johnblakemore.co.uk/   and of course the Inside the Outside Collective where you can access loads of essays, series of work and hook up with all it’s members. https://www.inside-the-outside.com/   Al Brydon (Inside the Outside) has a book out of solargraphs https://www.jweditions.co.uk/images/solargraphs/   Stephen Segasby has a great website where you can view the series “A Process of Reclamation” that we discuss in the show, and much more https://www.stephensegasby.com/index   On twitter https://twitter.com/steveseg   Finally, there have been rumblings of discontentment regarding our theme music by Graeme Jago of the Sunny 16 Podcast. We shall run a pole in our Facebook group as to whether the music should be retained or retired. The poll will be closed when the correct result is reached. Should you wish to send spam/abuse to Graeme, please send it to sunny16podcast@gmail.com   LFPP links -   https://largeformatphotographypodcast.podbean.com/   ko-fi.com/largeformatphotographypodcast   You can join in the fun at our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2296599290564807/   Get Twitter updates for the show from Andrew – https://twitter.com/warboyssnapper   Or from Simon – https://twitter.com/simonfor   Email feedback, ideas and questions for the podcast largeformatphotographypodcast@gmail.com Podcast Hosts Social Media presence   Simon Forster www.classiclensespodcast.com www.simonforsterphotographic.co.uk https://stores.ebay.co.uk/itsfozzyphotography https://www.flickr.com/photos/125323761@N07/ https://www.facebook.com/SimonForsterPhotographic/ https://www.instagram.com/simonforsterphotographic/ https://twitter.com/SimonFor   Andrew Bartram https://anchor.fm/thelenslesspodcast https://andrewbartram.wordpress.com https://www.instagram.com/warboyssnapper https://www.imstagram.com/warboyssnapper_pinholes https://www.flickr.com/photos/warboyssnapper/ https://twitter.com/warboyssnapper

Samuel Palmer, in his Shoreham period in the 1820s and 30s, seized on the long tradition of classical pastoral landscapes, and wrested it into an English idiom. He effectively 'naturalised' a foreign import, bringing an idyll to life in a Kentish valley, with sheep, shepherds and cornfields under a harvest moon, and the village church nestling in the fold of the hills.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/english-landscape-samuel-palmer-and-the-pastoralGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Constable's Stour landscapes of the Regency period, during and just after the War with France, and his publication English Landscape Scenery, champion local and low-key rural England. John Clare's vernacular poetry in the same period celebrates the kind of rural scenery that escapes the notice of those for whom the paintings of Claude or Poussin are the ideal of landscape. Both Constable's and Clare's localism springs from a very powerful emotional connection with the idea of 'home'.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/english-landscape-constable-and-clareGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth- century vogue for the Picturesque and for forging an English landscaping tradition (with frameable landscape scenery and managed wildness) will be the starting point for discussion. Proponents of the Picturesque, preferring to explore British scenery rather than go on the European Grand Tour, explicitly cultivated notions of Englishness and stress the native elements in landscape scenery, such as castle or abbey ruins (real or folly) in grand gardens, not classical temples.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/english-landscape-the-picturesqueGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Helen Mark visits Tollesbury Wick on the Essex coast. Situated on the mouth of Tollesbury Fleet and the Blackwater estuary, a giant sea wall snakes around the coast protecting both village and ancient grazing marshland. Helen meets the Wildlife Trust warden who cares for 650 hectares of unspoilt 'humpy bumpy' marshland and gets a surprise when she finds out what those bumps actually are. She learns about the seafaring history of the place from a descendent of boat builders and discovers how it was the Dutch who shaped this English Landscape. Meanwhile, 'wild writer' James Canton and renowned sculptor, Roland Piche describe how Tollesbury Wick comes alive in art and literature. Tollesbury native Flavian Capes lives in the middle of this vast, salty landscape and discusses being at the mercy of the tides. Producer: Ruth Sanderson.

In 1955 the ground-breaking book ‘The Making of the English Landscape’ was published. The book was the work of William George Hoskins, a British local historian who founded the first University department of English Local History at the University of Leicester. Hoskins completely changed the way that people view the English countryside by showing how locations had changed over time to accommodate the agricultural, industrial and social developments of local communities. The Centre for English Local History is still an active research body with a unique ‘Leicester approach’ which considered local history in a national context.

In his second collaboration with landscape photographer Jason Orton, Ken Worpole – ‘for many years one of the shrewdest and sharpest observers of the English social landscape’ ('The Independent') – examines the shifting perspective of England’s landscape aesthetic in the latter half of the 20th century, away from the rural interior towards the more disrupted landscapes of East Anglia and the Thames estuary. Listen to Ken Worpole in conversation about 'The New English Landscape' (Field Station) and its implications for landscape architecture, topography and psychogeography with author Rachel Lichtenstein and chaired by Gareth Evans. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Constable, Gainsborough and Turner, the three towering figures of English landscape painting, have their artwork showcased in a new exhibition at the Royal Academy – Anne McElvoy is joined by art critic Lynn Nead and historian Andrew Wulf to review. Sir Ronald Harwood talks about adapting his play Quartet for the big screen. Advertising executives Robin Wight and Barry Delaney discuss the legacy of David Ogilvy. And the artist Katrina van Grouw gets under the skin of birds in a remarkable book of anatomical drawings.

Lucas began the plate for A summerland before 26 December 1829 when Constable requested four proofs of it (Beckett IV, p. 323). He based it on the first version of A ploughing scene in Suffolk (A summerland) 1814 . He made at least eight progress proof variations before the published state, of which this is the seventh. During the proofing the sky and the middle ground were reworked. In the list of contents for English Landscape this mezzotint was called A Summerland, Rainy Day; Ploughmen. – Noon. Heysen wrote: ‘I feel elated at the inclusion of … A Summerland’ (Heysen, 30 September 1948, NLA MS 5073/1/7182).

Constable viewed this scene at Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth Bay as expressive of his own feelings and personal associations. He connected the tempestuous weather with the death of Captain John Wordsworth, the poet’s brother and his friend Mary Fisher’s cousin, who drowned near this cove with all two hundred of his crew in 1805. C.R. Leslie’s wife saw the mezzotint at Constable’s home in Charlotte Street, London, and asked if she could have it. Constable sent it to her the following day suggesting that she should: apply to it the lines of Wordsworth – ‘that sea in anger/ and that dismal shoar’. I think of ‘Wordsworth’ for on that spot, perished his brother in the wreck of the Abergavenny (Beckett III, pp. 28–29). In the list of contents for English Landscape this mezzotint was called Weymouth Bay, Dorset. – Tempestuous Evening. Lucas had begun work on this plate by January 1830 – as an impression in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is dated ‘30 January 1830’ (Tate 1991, p. 349), – basing it on the large oil painting Weymouth Bay c.1819/1830 . He made at least five progress proof variations before the published state, of which this is the third. During the proofing, highlights on the waves and boat were added and the sky lightened above the cliff and on the left. This proof was printed before three gulls were added on the left. Heysen wrote: ‘The news of the two prints – … Weymouth Bay – excited me and you may be sure I shall await their arrival with impatience’ (Heysen, 1948?, NLA MS 5073/1/7190); and now for the Weymouth Bay which is an extremely fine & rich early proof – I like it immensely & am glad to have it. Looks as if its just come off the press – later on I must have a complete proof with its final … with the driving rain which completes the compos & so [relieves?] the large dark space to the left – and the big space of dark dividing the composition in two is somewhat relieved by the introduction of more forms & yet this would also – lessen the dramatic moment (ibid., 23 February 1948, NLA MS 5073/1/5594).

In the mezzotint, Spring, Constable and Lucas aimed to capture the dry quality of the paint of Constable’s oil sketch of this subject: Spring: East Bergholt Common c.1821 or 1829 (cat. 31). Constable wanted his print to ‘give some idea of one of those bright and animated days of the early year, when all nature bears so exhilarating an aspect’ (Beckett, Discourses, p. 14), and in the list of contents for English Landscape it was called Spring. East Bergholt Common, Hail Squalls. – Noon. In his text for the plate Constable referred to the range of colour of spring foliage and the importance of clouds in forecasting weather. He noted that: the clouds accumulate in very large and dense masses, and from their loftiness seem to move but slowly; immediately upon these large clouds appear numerous opaque patches, which, however, are only small clouds passing rapidly before them … These floating much nearer the earth, may perhaps fall in with a much stronger current of wind, which as well as their comparative lightness, causes them to move with greater rapidity (ibid., pp. 14–15). Lucas had probably begun work on this plate by September 1829 (Beckett IV, p. 322). He made many changes to the plate, making at least eight progress proof variations during the process, before producing the published state.

In this progress proof the rooks are larger and clearer than in previous proofs. The ploughman’s legs have been clearly defined and there is a new shadow in the foreground. The trees have greater definition. Heysen owned a progress proof of Spring (Shirley 7 h) and remarked: ‘I am particularly impressed with “Spring” … – of course I love them all – for each has its own particular merits ... Spring – I have always thought a particularly lovely & happy thing’ (Heysen 1947).

Constable touched this proof with Chinese ink to show Lucas that he wanted additional rooks in the sky and foreground, more stones and re-grounding in the foreground and lower windows on the mill.

This is the same state as the previous work, however it has been printed with less ink and the image is therefore lighter. It may have been a later printing after the ink on the plate had been reduced. In this progress proof there are only a few stones in the foreground; the ploughman’s legs, the wheels of the plough, the horses and the mill sails are black; the low hills behind the plough are dark, and the contrasts in the sky are very sharp. All these details changed in subsequent proofs.

In the mezzotint, Spring, Constable and Lucas aimed to capture the dry quality of the paint of Constable’s oil sketch of this subject: Spring: East Bergholt Common c.1821 or 1829 . Constable wanted his print to ‘give some idea of one of those bright and animated days of the early year, when all nature bears so exhilarating an aspect’ (Beckett, Discourses, p. 14), and in the list of contents for English Landscape it was called Spring. East Bergholt Common, Hail Squalls. – Noon. In his text for the plate Constable referred to the range of colour of spring foliage and the importance of clouds in forecasting weather. He noted that: the clouds accumulate in very large and dense masses, and from their loftiness seem to move but slowly; immediately upon these large clouds appear numerous opaque patches, which, however, are only small clouds passing rapidly before them … These floating much nearer the earth, may perhaps fall in with a much stronger current of wind, which as well as their comparative lightness, causes them to move with greater rapidity (ibid., pp. 14–15). Lucas had probably begun work on this plate by September 1829 (Beckett IV, p. 322). He made many changes to the plate, making at least eight progress proof variations during the process, before producing the published state.

Lucas based this mezzotint on the oil sketch, Autumnal sunset c.1812 . Constable decided to include this subject in English Landscape after talking to C.R. Leslie on 14 September 1829. The next day he wrote to Lucas: ‘we have agreed on a long landscape (Evening with a flight of rookes), as a companion to the “Spring”’ (Beckett IV, p. 322). Lucas had already begun work on the plate in March 1830 when Constable was anxious to see a first proof of it (Beckett IV, p. 326), but it was not published until July 1832. During the proofing the sky was reworked, a line of low-lying clouds added, a tree on the left and corn stooks and stubble in the foreground field were introduced. The towers of Langham Church and Stoke-by-Nayland Church were also added. On 2 June 1832 Constable wrote to Lucas, criticising his poor transcription of the flight of rooks: the Evng – is spoiled owing to your having fooled with the Rooks – they were the chief feature – which caused me to adopt the subject – nobody knew what they are – but took them for blemishes on the plate (Beckett IV, p. 376). Lucas subsequently reworked the image to Constable’s satisfaction. In the list of contents for English Landscape this print was called Sunset. Peasants returning homeward. Shirley describes six progress proofs (a–e), whereas Harold Wright describes this one as ‘h’: we are therefore recording it as ‘undescribed’.

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Director General of the National Trust, Fiona Reynolds. Passionate about the countryside, the job at the National Trust was a dream come true for Fiona, but six weeks into the job she was faced with Foot and Mouth and had to make the drastic decision to close almost all of the National Trust properties.In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: The Salutation from Dies Natalis by Finzi Book: The Making of the English Landscape by W G Hoskins Luxury: The full collection of Ordnance Survey maps of the British Isles

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Director General of the National Trust, Fiona Reynolds. Passionate about the countryside, the job at the National Trust was a dream come true for Fiona, but six weeks into the job she was faced with Foot and Mouth and had to make the drastic decision to close almost all of the National Trust properties. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Salutation from Dies Natalis by Finzi Book: The Making of the English Landscape by W G Hoskins Luxury: The full collection of Ordnance Survey maps of the British Isles