Swaledale Museum | Review | The Flowers of Swaledale: Trees in the Swaledale Landscape

For many years I had to speed read academic text books, extract information, facts, opinions, analyse and compare and use them for instructing myself and others.

During that time I found it very hard indeed to read a book properly, savouring it, re-reading passages, anticipating what was in the next chapter. It has taken years to re-discover slow reading.

The books I hope you will seek out do not have much writing, they are picture books and you can take hours, or even a whole day, contemplating one page. We are in the process of slowing down, deadlines have disappeared over a far horizon and we have all the time in the world to look and think. It may not be a coincidence that these books come from the pen and brush of an artist who is also member of the Society of Friends.

The first is The Flowers of Swaledale by Jocelyn Campbell (2014). Recording the flora of a particular location has a long history but this may be the only record of the botany of Swaledale and will, in time, be an important document that scientists may look to as our climate changes, to see what remains the same and what has changed. Jocelyn has arranged botanical specimens in al-phabetical order by their common or English name, a beautiful watercolour, the Latin name, when in flower and a brief description.

Flowers can evoke an emotional response even in an illustration. This book can touch a half-forgotten memory, a place, a walk, and you can relive that experience just by looking at a picture. Some of the flowers are common to most of the country, some are specific to the geology of the Yorkshire Dales.

On each page you can reflect on the skill of the artist, the beauty of each flower and marvel at the huge variety of flowers which grow at our feet when we make time to look.

The second book is by the same artist, Trees in the Swaledale Landscape (2013) with text by Tim Laurie.. The pictures are black and white sketches and are a very detailed record of some of the most ancient trees in Swaledale giv-ing the variety and location. To achieve this Jocelyn tramped to some amazing and remote parts of the dale with her sketch book and pencils, quite a feat in itself. This book was instigated by Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeolo-gy Group who survey and interpret the ancient landscape in the dales, and it reveals that there are many surviving features of medieval life in ancient trees still living, and often overlooked remains of tree roots. Each chapter takes a different type of location – waterfalls, churchyards, hedgerows, limestone scars, with information about the variety of trees and what they can tell us about the past. However, it is the illustrations which bring this book alive and will make you go out and study the form, shape and age of any trees that you encounter.

For a taste of these books see the YouTube films:
http://www.swaledalemuseum.org/explore.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcbvDth0D3w

These books will slow you down. They will take you to different places, the Yorkshire Dales, or the Lebanon. They will help you to contemplate, day-dream, and marvel at the beauty of the natural world.

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A Yorkshire Guide The Flowers of Swaledale by Jocelyn Campbell, published by the Hayloft Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 9781910237038 Softback, 159 pp, 151 colour illustrations, £15.99 Available from the publisher: books@hayloft.eu and Swaledale Museum. Trees in the Swaledale Landscape by Jocelyn Campbell and Tim Laurie, published by Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group, 2013. ISBN: 9781471636554 Softback, 210 pp, b/w illustrations, £12.74 Available from Lulu For many years I had to speed read academic text books, extract information, facts, opinions, analyse and compare and use them for instructing myself and others. During that time I found it very hard indeed to read a book properly, savouring it, re-reading passages, anticipating what was in the next chapter. It has taken years to re-discover slow reading. The books I hope you will seek out do not have much writing, they are picture books and you can take hours, or even a whole day, contemplating one page. We are in the process of slowing down, deadlines have disappeared over a far horizon and we have all the time in the world to look and think. It may not be a coincidence that these books come from the pen and brush of an artist who is also member of the Society of Friends. The first is The Flowers of Swaledale by Jocelyn Campbell (2014). Recording the flora of a particular location has a long history but this may be the only record of the botany of Swaledale and will, in time, be an important document that scientists may look to as our climate changes, to see what remains the same and what has changed. Jocelyn has arranged botanical specimens in al-phabetical order by their common or English name, a beautiful watercolour, the Latin name, when in flower and a brief description. Flowers can evoke an emotional response even in an illustration. This book can touch a half-forgotten memory, a place, a walk, and you can relive that experience just by looking at a picture. Some of the flowers are common to most of the country, some are specific to the geology of the Yorkshire Dales. On each page you can reflect on the skill of the artist, the beauty of each flower and marvel at the huge variety of flowers which grow at our feet when we make time to look. The second book is by the same artist, Trees in the Swaledale Landscape (2013) with text by Tim Laurie.. The pictures are black and white sketches and are a very detailed record of some of the most ancient trees in Swaledale giv-ing the variety and location. To achieve this Jocelyn tramped to some amazing and remote parts of the dale with her sketch book and pencils, quite a feat in itself. This book was instigated by Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeolo-gy Group who survey and interpret the ancient landscape in the dales, and it reveals that there are many surviving features of medieval life in ancient trees still living, and often overlooked remains of tree roots. Each chapter takes a different type of location – waterfalls, churchyards, hedgerows, limestone scars, with information about the variety of trees and what they can tell us about the past. However, it is the illustrations which bring this book alive and will make you go out and study the form, shape and age of any trees that you encounter. For a taste of these books see the YouTube films: http://www.swaledalemuseum.org/explore.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcbvDth0D3w These books will slow you down. They will take you to different places, the Yorkshire Dales, or the Lebanon. They will help you to contemplate, day-dream, and marvel at the beauty of the natural world. Marion Moverley, Apr 2020.