Course Evaluation: Landscape

Course Evaluation

I came to this course with traditional ideas on landscape photography, influenced by classical paintings, landscape photography within amateur photography magazines and photography exhibitions.

Through course exercises and additional reading, I developed an understanding in different landscape genres and assignments provided the ideal situations to develop technical skills such as using a stable tripod, a camera suited the task, revisiting the location to reshoot, examining how existing photographers executed the subject and developing my critical writing to introduce context behind my photographs.

I struggled with the concept of the sublime, realizing that it doesn’t mean the same to all people. On finding the sublime subject of Roadside Memorials, the literature suggested that this course was perhaps not all photography, instead mixed with sociology and psychology which made the subject of landscape photography broad, allowing for so much choice within future assignments.

When visiting Alec Soth’s exhibition and film “Gathered leaves” this year, I found my ideas around Assignment 2: The journey had changed. My idea of landscape at the time was still minus people. Research around Ingrid Pollard changed my thinking; from there on I saw landscape as the relationship people had with the land.

By Assignment 3 (Spaces to Places), I developed a photographic interest in memory and the hyper-real which linked in with tourism and local history. Research following this assignment provided a source of reading material and an essay by David Campany inspired my critical review on contemporary re-enactment photography and collective memory. There is a wealth of information, theorists and photographers in this field and a together with a developing interest in women landscape photographers, I found inspiration for Assignment 5’s self-directed project. I began to appreciate how theory relates to practice and ideas are built upon: a significant change from level 1.

There is still plenty of room for development. I last wrote critically before popular use of the internet and with the amount of photographic material and literature available online which needs referencing my knowledge of the Harvard System has been refreshed. I had not investigated staging exhibitions or public liability before; I discovered local available space is challenging and will require creative thinking before I reach level 3. Soft-proofing and printing had mystical properties which is work in progress to be continued into the next course and beyond.

One of the support mechanisms I employed was linking up with a fellow course student with whom I met for coffee to discuss assignments and attended exhibitions which led to a deeper understanding of the photographer’s work as we could discuss it critically. During this course, I attended 2 OCA symposiums which increased my understanding of the possibilities of photography as an art and medium, strengthened my understanding of landscape photography and provided the opportunity to meet fellow students. I participated in an OCA collaborative photo project and interacted a little on the Facebook and OCA forums.

I was proud of the book I produced and it is certainly a medium I would consider in the future. I found that I enjoyed the work around memory and identity and may develop this at a later date.

I look forward to developing these skills on my next level 2 course.

Assignment 6: Transitions

Uncovering the legend of Friar Tuck's Fountain Dale

(Audio Visual presentation removed from blog and inserted into OCA Assessment Google shared drive folder due to copyright)
                                                               

Assignment 6 Transitions Reflection Revised following Tutor report

I live in the heart of mediaeval Sherwood Forest. Actually I didn’t realise how close it was until I was half way through Assignment 6. This assignment evolved over the year because in the beginning, I did not envisage the slide show final presentation, relevant local history and literature I would uncover relating to Fountain Dale.

My landscape is associated with the legend of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck. Previously when out walking and cycling, walkers had stopped and asked the location of Friar Tucks Well. It had been hidden from view until clearance work started in 2015. Re-acquainting myself with the area for a site to photograph for a yearlong project, I began to look for a context in which to place the project. I initially placed this in the context of deep mapping, although at my tutor’s suggestion, further research led me to conclude that it fitted into the tourist gaze.

Around the time of the Grand Tours, (or Washington Irving’s visit to Sherwood Forest), tourists looked at everything under the umbrella of science and with a sense of beauty and awe. With mass tourism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the tourist gaze changed. Michael Foucault’s work on gaze examined surveillance by one prison guard over many prisoners. Within the health system, Foucault used doctors and patients to explain his ideas of gaze; adapted by Urry into the tourist gaze. The tour guide becomes the person who tells the tourist what to look at and how to interpret it (like the doctor), and the tourist sees a subject or people which are different from the norm (more exotic). Tourists, the places they are visiting and the commodities they may purchase makes the tourist a spectacle (as in Guy Debord’s spectacle.) The tourist gaze is earnest and paradoxically tourists transform and are transformed by their gaze.

Knudsen et al (2008) describe the main characteristics of tourist activity as viewing landscapes and experiences which are different from their norm; tourism being a “signposted experience” which involves “spectacularisation of place” (Knudsen et all, 2008:3), interactions take place with people and culture and tourism fuse together, commodifying it as a spectacle. Lisle (2004) as cited by Knudsen et al (2008) indicates that tourists are enticed to the spectacle, whether it be natural, pastoral, heritage or fantasy. Lisle also studied dark tourism in areas of violence, conflict and disaster.

Tourist landscapes are heterotopic, (a real space which exists alongside another space at the same time where norms of behavior become suspended) which fit with the idea of societal institutions and commonality. For example, when visiting a landscape associated with Robin Hood, tourists from different countries have heard of the legend of Robin Hood. Each tourist has a different interaction with the landscape because their knowledge is different. The tourists walking towards the signpost (noticeboard) of Friar Tuck may have little prior knowledge of the area, and may have inadvertently walked past it without realizing it. For those who walk from the board, they already have some knowledge, although this knowledge may challenge pre-conceived ideas and the local tourist may have different knowledge to the overseas visitor because they live or work in the area.

The tourist gaze can be 2D or 3D. With a 2D gaze, the viewer concentrates on shape, colour and detail as if viewed through a lens. (Pratt as cited by Urry, 2001:4) 3D introduces movement such as in Schivelbusch’s “mobility of vision” where the landscape loses the foreground and becomes framed from the window they are looking out of. The tourist glances at sights which are interconnected. This idea can be transferred to the tourists using the bridleway, rushing past on their mountain bikes or looking down from their horses. (Urry,2001:4)

Within this landscape, the land not only changes through man’s intervention, but natural world changes take place. The light alters throughout the year, the weather changes the surface appearance and visibility, the deciduous trees drop their fruit and leaves, flowers come and go changing the hues and colours of the space, animals are active at different times of day and eventually some lose their lives to prey or danger making their presence in death more permanent than an ephemeral sighting of them, thus confirming the notion that the landscape is an evolving, dynamic system.

Initially, I planned to use 12 photographs of the same view (one a month) taken at the same time of day. However, as I started to research the local history, I explored the landscape around the “view”. The area is quite large, so the question was how to narrow it down. It fell into areas that the workmen were working on, such as the well, spring, sluice and bank, all accessible from the bridleway. I had to work around the workmen, sometimes revisiting at a weekend or bank holiday when work had stopped. I tried different approaches such as documenting grass and plants growing around an old pipe, taking a wide angled view then closing in, seasonal changes and a collection of fungus. I discovered this is what I collect! When compiling the work, I viewed it in seasons because some months there was very little change, or areas where weed killer may have been used were growing back, only to be chopped back again later. So I still photographed once a month, and more when necessary.

As the approach to the area was around a corner, it was quite exciting wondering how it may have changed, both naturally and artificially. A round trip to this site was 6 miles by bike along dry trails. As the season changed, the bridleway became ankle deep in mud, making cycling impossible and walking slow going, adding extra journey time, and whilst researching Assignment 5, I discovered what the Kingdom of Mercia would have looked like (this landscape was once part of Mercia) giving me a real link between the three assignments.

Both the library and the internet provided a source of local history material. I already owned Sanderson’s map of the area which is referenced often in our local history. Initially I was unable to find a recording of the ballad I planned to use as a soundtrack and by good fortune one was posted on Youtube earlier in the year. However, I have removed my audio-visual presentation from my blog due to copyright. By studying old maps, picture postcards, literature, music and recollections of memory it is possible to build up a picture of the space between representation and reality or transition between space and place (Assignment 3 and 5).

This assignment changed my view of landscape photography because this landscape could be described as banal, but by uncovering the history behind it, the site made more sense and I began to see it as a work of fiction that has worked into local culture, tourism and marketing. By working with the light and weather conditions, I found that my images became more “picturesque” although they lack people and animals because most of the time there was no-one around.  This gave me the space to practice different techniques and look at how light changes through the year. For example, I had read that some landscape photographers prefer to work close to home because the quality of light is good in the winter. I now agree with this statement, because I have had the opportunity to compare my images taken over the year. Looking back to the first picture I drew of what I thought a landscape should be at the beginning of the course I found my ideas have shifted considerably. I was comfortable documenting something which was not picturesque, although in the beginning I searched for the “view”. As the course progressed I search out more interesting features and changes happening in the landscape.

On reflection, I wished I had known what I wanted to do earlier in the project. I spent time wondering if it was the right site. I couldn’t visualize a beginning, middle or ending. But perhaps creativity has to evolve?

Following the OCA Landscape Symposium in July 2016, I took my slideshow apart and reworked it. I was interested in the references of work as early as Virgil and other writers relating to the land and how there were still elements of relevance today. I revisited the book of Washington Irving “Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest” (1835) which is surprisingly readable, and pulled out the passages relating to Fountain Dale and Friar Tuck. The rest of the chapter contained an interesting view of life as an American writer in 1835. He holidayed in the area, and came to terms with the fact that the landscape is worked by landowners but he is privileged to view the world as a visitor, complete with ballads and books relating to the place. Inspired by Hanna Katrina Jedrosz’s installation, “I feel every stone of the road” (2014) in which she took her Grandmother’s diary and wrote her dialogue intertwined with her Grandmother’s, I wrote a dialogue to sound similar to Irving’s to go at the beginning and end. I felt this worked better than my existing descriptive narration. In doing so I had to swap over some of the images in the slide show.

So what would I do differently next time? Take more pictures earlier on (the ones I think I don’t need to take), photograph in landscape and portrait and leave more space around the image for cropping later when I decide what I will do with the image. I was limited by the slide show programme my laptop would run, because I would like the music to fade out behind the narration which Windows Movie Maker is unable to do. And above all, not worry about the photographic journey of exploration.

References

Jedrosz, H. (2014) I feel every stone of the road [installation, presentation] Sheffield: New pastoral paradigms: Explorations in landscape and the self. Bank Street Arts. 23/07/2016

Knudson, D., Metro Roland., M, Soper., A. Greer, C. (2008) Landscape, tourism and meaning. Burlington USA: Ashgate.

Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar (Child #123) [user -generated content-online]. Creat. Raymond Crooke 20/01/2016,9mins 59secs. Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alPeX2jpXA [accessed 07/07/2016].

Urry, J. (2001) Globalising the tourist gaze. Published by Department of sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster. LA1 4YN. UK. [online] Available from: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/resources/sociology-online-papers/papers/urry-globalising-the-tourist-gaze.pdf [last accessed 16/08/2016].

Bibliography

(Anon) (2007) University of Toronto Robarts Library (Reprinted from Irving, W. (1835) The Crayon Miscellany No.2 Containing Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey) pp.183-194. Available from:https://ia601400.us.archive.org/6/items/abbotsfordnewste00irviuoft/abbotsfordnewste00irviuoft.pdf[last accessed 25/07/2016].

Berger, J. (1972) Ways of seeing. Available from: http://waysofseeingwaysofseeing.com/ways-of-seeing-john-berger-5.7.pdf [last accessed 15/08/2016].

Biggs, I. (2014) Deep Mapping a partial view. Available from http://www.iainbiggs.co.uk/2014/10/deep-mapping-a-partial-view/ [accessed 11 July 2016].

Debord, G. (1970) The society of the spectacle. Detroit,USA: Black and red.

Dubbini, R. (2002) Geography of the gaze: Urban and rural vision in early modern Europe. London: University of Chicago press.

Knudson, D., Metro Roland., M, Soper., A. Greer, C. (2008) Landscape, tourism and meaning. Burlington USA: Ashgate

Rose, G. (2001) Visual methodologies London: Sage Publications

Loreck, J. (2016) Explainer: What does the male gaze mean, and what about a “female gaze”? The conversation [online] Available from: 

http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486 [last accessed 15/08/16]

Sinclair, I. (2003) London Orbital, a walk round the M25. London: Penguin.

Wells, L. and Standing S. (2005) Surface Land/Water and the Visual Arts. Bristol: Intellect books. University of Plymouth Press. pp. 9-41.

Wells, L. (2009) Photography a critical introduction. 4^th edition. Abingdon: Routledge.

The tourist gaze

Around the time of the grand tours, (or Washington Irving's visit to Sherwood Forest) tourists looked at everything under the umbrella of science and with a sense of beauty and awe.  With mass tourism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the tourist gaze changed.  Michael Foucault’s work on gaze examined surveillance by one prison guard over many prisoners. Within the health system, Foucault used doctors and patients to explain his ideas of gaze; adapted by Urry into the tourist gaze. The tour guide becomes the person who tells the tourist what to look at and how to interpret it (like the doctor), and the tourist sees a subject or people which are different from the norm (more exotic). Tourists, the places they are visiting and the commodities they may purchase makes the tourist a spectacle (as in Guy Debord’s spectacle). The tourist gaze is earnest, and paradoxically tourists transform and are transformed by their gaze.

Knudsen et al (2008) describe the main characteristics of tourist activity as viewing landscapes and experiences which are different from their norm; tourism being a “signposted experience” which involves “spectaclisation of place” (Knudsen et al 2008:3), interactions take place with people and culture and tourism fuse together, commodifying it as a spectacle. Lisle (2004) as cited by Knudsen et al (2008) indicates that tourists are enticed to the spectacle, whether it be natural, pastoral, heritage, or fantasy. Lisle also studied dark tourism in areas of violent, conflict and disaster.

Tourist landscapes are heterotopic, (a real space which exists alongside another space at the same time where norms of behavior become suspended) which fit with the idea of societal institutions and commonality. For example, when visiting a landscape associated with Robin Hood, tourists from different countries have heard of the legend of Robin Hood. Each tourist has a different interaction with the landscape because their knowledge is different. The tourists walking towards the signpost (noticeboard) of Friar Tuck may have little prior knowledge of the area, and may have inadvertently walked past it without realizing it. For those who walk from the board, they already have some knowledge, although this knowledge may challenge pre-conceived ideas and the local tourist may have different knowledge to the overseas visitor because they live or work in the area.

The tourist gaze can be 2D or 3D. With a 2D gaze, the viewer concentrates on shape, colour and detail as if viewed through a lens. 3D introduces movement such as in Schivelbusch’s mobility of vision where the landscape loses the foreground and becomes framed from the window they are looking out of. The tourist glances at sights which are interconnected. This idea can be transferred to the tourists using the bridleway, rushing past on their mountain bikes or looking down from their horses.

References

Knudson, D., Metro Roland., M, Soper., A. Greer, C. (2008) Landscape, tourism and meaning. Burlington USA: Ashgate. 

Urry, J. (2001) Globalising the tourist gaze. Published by Department of sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster. LA1 4YN. UK. [online] Available from: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/resources/sociology-online-papers/papers/urry-globalising-the-tourist-gaze.pdf [last accessed 16/08/2016].

Bibliography

Berger, J. (1972) Ways of seeing. Available from: http://waysofseeingwaysofseeing.com/ways-of-seeing-john-berger-5.7.pdf [last accessed 15/08/2016]

Loreck, J. (2016) Explainer: What does the male gaze mean, and what about a “female gaze”? The conversation [online] Available from: http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486 [last accessed 15/08/16]

Wells, L. (2009) Photography a critical introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.

Tutor Report Assignment 6

Response to Tutor Report Assignment 6
This was the assignment that I found the most difficult to contextualise, however, the research journey was interesting. I was pleased with the comments from my tutor.

It was an oversight not to include history on Robin Hood which has now been rectified. Although I had included some old postcards, perhaps their position was not explicit enough. I take my tutor's point about experimentation tapering off at the end - I was also working with Assignment 5 at the same time. Ideally, I should have finished one photographic project before starting the other, but time was of the essence.

I agree that this sits better with the tourist gaze, having researched gaze and Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle". My additions to the work can be found in blue.

I had contacted Raymond Crooke for permission to use his soundtrack, but have not heard back so this will disappear from the public domain before Assessment. 

Preparation

My chosen landscape to explore for a year is Fountaindale, near Lyndhurst in Nottinghamshire. The site is roughly a mile from roads in all directions. The Robin Hood Way, a long distance meandering footpath passes through the area which is steeped in legend and history. The earliest recorded history is of Lyndhurst being the site of a pagan shrine and its dwellers responsible for digging the moat at Fountaindale to protect holy relics. In later years, a priest moved them to a safe place to safeguard them against Viking invasion and they were never found. The wood later became the central forest of the many which make up Sherwood Forest and in Mediaeval times, wandering religious people (nuns, hospitalliers, friars etc) were a common sight visiting small shrines set up within the forest. Within this area a cell or hermitage certainly existed, possibly on the island surrounded by the moat (marked on maps from 1885). Over time, Rainworth Water (the stream which passes through the area) was turned into a series of lakes by the Duke of Portland to make the flood meadows more arable.

James Holt researched the name Robin Hood through the mediaeval period, finding a total of 8 in different parts of the country. Some villains had their name changed to Robin Hood by the courts. Robin Hood and other derivatives (Robert, Robe, Hode, Hod etc.) was a criminal nickname. The earliest Robin Hood dates from around 1225 in Yorkshire. The legend of Robin Hood came about after the Black Death and during the Hundred years war, War of the Roses etc when English culture was changing and the country was developing its independence and national identity. By telling stories the local population were familiar with what was expected of them. Plays at Whitsun and Pentecost (May Games) were sponsored by the church and landowners. Robin Hood was adapted for each generation.  (added in after Tutor feedback August 2016)

Controversy over the legend of Robin Hood was caused by Walter Scott’s Novel Ivanhoe (published 1920) set in 12^th Century England. Within his book he hid a manuscript as a joke which subsequent writers and historians fell for. Other notable changes were the inclusion of a fake family tree and an academic discussion with the inclusion of an Anglo-Saxon bow and arrow.

It is reputed that the name of Friar Tuck’s Well dates from the time of Walter Scott’s visits to the owners of Fountain Dale and Newstead abbey although Sanderson’s Map of 1835 only records a well.However, it placed Sherwood Forest on the tourist map and gave

people a local legend of Robin Hood. “Here is Fountaindale where he (Robin Hood) had his encounters with that stalwart shaveling Friar Tuck.” (Durkin  http://blidworthhistoricalsociety.co.uk/74612.html accessed November 2015)

The area possesses a chalybeate spring (iron spring) which used to cascade down some steps and into the water. After a tree fell on the ornate stone and iron work in the 1950’s, the area fell into disrepair. The area (Grade 2 listed) is private although visible from the footpath. 

To see how the land (and recording of the land) has changed, I compared old maps.

Fountaindale Sanderson's Map 1835

Fountaindale 1885

Fountaindale 1900

Fountaindale 1920

Fountaindale 1951

Fountaindale 2006

In 1885, the lake was labelled as a fishpond. There was a boathouse and Friar Tuck’s well (Chalybeate) was recorded. Rights of way have changed slightly over time – the biggest change was the inclusion of the long distance footpath. The 1885 map shows a line of sluices running in a north-easterly direction, parallel to Rainworth Water and not marked on subsequent maps. The field is full of crops and this may explain why the approach is often so muddy after a period of heavy rainfall.

During research for a commentary, I came across a book in the local library of old picture postcards. These show the the bridge in the legend where Robin Hood is supposed to have met Friar Tuck, including the old wooden notice possibly put up by the Need family, an aerial shot of the house showing Rainworth water  containing water and the well when the tree had fallen onto it.

In the slide show, I overlaid the modern bridge over the old bridge. The signs have long disappeared.

Postcard showing the tree which fell onto the well and the original ornate ironwork. At the beginning of my slideshow, the water trickled down the stone steps.

This is the house where Sir Walter Scott (author of Ivanhoe) is reputed to have stayed. The fishpond is to the back of the postcard, and the well is out of view.

A view?

Restoration work is ongoing and facing the fishpond, the area looks like a stream (Rainworth Water) with no evidence of a fishpond. However, the area is boggy and so it will be interesting to see what grows over the year.

Notes

Repair work is taking place around the site? lake area dammed?

Summary of transformations March to August 2015 (March and April will need revisiting – only “view images” so far of barren landscape) Area too big? Narrow it down – close up images

Main view
Changes taking place – will need to optimise and narrow down selection
Less water, more greenery, rubbish disappeared? covered
To capture - Weather conditions – frost, mist, snow

May 2015

      Bluebells (seasonal)
Colourful wild flowers
Pipe left lying around – study it rot over time
Sluice gate overgrown

Next visit 7th June 2016. Returned the next day as the area benefited from using a polariser.

8th June 2015

Wild flowers in abundance, rhododendrons
Bull rushes – no heads
Plants growing up around rubbish pile although rubbish has not been removed. 
Maybe left as a wildlife haven 
Saw fox (too fast to capture)

22nd June 2015

Weather had been very wet – foliage very green

Fungus

Dead rat

Overgrown

6th July 2015

       
More overgrown - sluice not really visible
Different wild flowers

2nd August 2015

Is area managed? Weedkiller? Trimmed

Dying plants

      Something made a route through plants?
Weeds growing through sluice gate
Bulrushes
Colours changed from green to orange

6th September 2015

  

      leaves on wood in rubbish piles - ? being added to
Area under pipe died off – pipe moved – foliage turning same colour as pipe
Area beginning to get muddy again
Wild flower area died or managed right back

October 2nd 2015
work  starting to happen in area of Friar Tuck's well 
foliage dying back

October 12th 2015

      Fungi

  21st November 2015  
  changes noticed from works in progress

12th December 2015

     In the late afternoon sun, I was looking for contrast between the light and dark, and using the sun to highlight the few trees left on the trees.Work was still ongoing, although at the point of the well nothing had changed significantly. I was able to reshoot the well using a different time of day, although it did not make much difference.

     There is no access at present from the top of the well to stage my "view". Any earth which has been banked up is very unstable and the tripod sinks in.

Having researched the history of the site, I walked along the bridleway to the information board, which is nowhere near my site of study! I explored the undergrowth to see if there was any evidence of the moat (referred to in the history of the site) which is on private property, and now that the rhododendrons have been cut back, it is just about visible. It is no wonder then that walkers unfamiliar with the area have passed through the area and not found it.


13th January 2016

      As  I walked towards the site, the temperature dropped and the ground started to freeze. The ice contained interesting patterns and feeling inspired by the work I had seen from Valda Bailey in the summer, stayed to experiment with the patterns. It was very delicate though, so I am hoping for thicker ice over the winter months. Having read Liz Wells Viewfindings and Wells, Newton and Fehily's Shifting Horizons, I experimented with the effects of the ice and marking tape. I tried to look at this site with a fresh pair of eyes and ask myself what the featured women photographers may have been drawn to. 

      The site had been cleared further and mown in places.  It all felt very barren.

11th February 2016

I liked the effect of the burning wood smoke which came down the valley in plumes towards me. With the lighting, it reminded me of landscape paintings I had looked at the beginning of the course. In Gilpin's style though, it lacked animals. I studied Ellie Davies's smoke images which were made with a smoker in a more controlled way in a forest. Davies "attempts to uncover the complex interrelationships between landscape and the individual. Davies creates both temporary and non-invasive interventions within each forested scene. By incorporating pools of light, smoke, and craft materials she places the viewer in the liminal space between reality and fantasy, a re-exploration of the natural world around us. In her series Stars, the artist overlays her own photography with stars plucked from imagery taken by the Hubble space telescope. These mystical images are created in order to encourage pause, and provoke thoughts about how landscapes influences our identity." http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/ellie-davies-stars-and-smoke/(accessed 12th July 2016) I am drawn towards this type of work and have considered experimenting with land art. I discovered there is not much access land in Nottinghamshire as it is mainly agricultural, and even land such as parts of Birklands, Sherwood Forest is owned by the Thoresby Estate rather than the Forestry Commission. Questioning which landowners own the land is something I would not have considered until I started this course. 

Ellie Davies (2014) Between the Trees 9 

16th March 2016

    Work was in full swing and the site had changed rapidly. The sluice gate had been removed and pipes were waiting to be laid. The well was being rebuilt. As I walked to the A60, there was a whole series of brick construction, tree felling and clearance taking place.I returned a couple of times in April but to no success as the bank was blocked off. During the bank holiday weekend access was resumed.

    1st May 2016

    Having come to the end of my photographic year, I was keen to see what changes had occurred during the last 2 months. I walked over one evening and the workmen were still busy so I took a few photos on my phone.The sluice gate has been replaced, there is coving on the wall edges of the water culvert and more water in the "fish pond". Pipes have been laid and the circular structure looks like a well and the dam has been resurfaced and shaped as if water may eventually flow over it if the level becomes too high.

    At the end of the assignment I put together a slide show and narration.

References

     [Anon.] [n.d.] Sanderson's map twenty miles round Mansfield 1835 [s.l.] [s.n.] 

     [Anon.] (1885) Nottingham sheet XXVIII SW. [online]. First edition without contours. Ordnance Survey. Available from: http://maps.nls.uk/view/101602791 [last accessed 14/7/16]

     [Anon.] (1900) Nottingham sheet XXVIII SW. [online]. Second Edition. Ordnance Survey. Available from: http://maps.nls.uk/view/101602788 [last accessed 14/7/16][Anon.] (Revision of 1913 with additions in 1938 and 1939) Nottingham sheet XXVIII SW. [online]. Provisional edition. Ordnance Survey. Available from: http://maps.nls.uk/view/101602782 [last accessed 14/7/16][Anon.] (1920) Nottingham sheet XXVIII SW. [online]. Ordnance Survey. Available from:  http://maps.nls.uk/view/101602785 [last accessed 14/7/16]

     [Anon.] (1951) Nottingham sheet XXVIII SW. [online]. Ordnance Survey. Available from:  http://maps.nls.uk/view/91794525 [last accessed 14/7/16]

     [Anon.] (2008) OS Explorer Map 270 Sherwood Forest 1:25 000 scale. Ordnance Survey

    Robin Hood and the curtal friar [user-generated-content, online] Creat. Raymond Crooke. 20/01/2016, 9 mins 59 secs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alPeX24jpXA [last accessed 14/07/2016]

     Davies, E. (2014) Between the Trees 9. [online image]. [s.l.] Available from: http://www.elliedavies.co.uk/images/between-the-trees-2014/#ad-image-8 [last accessed 14/07/2016]

     Richards, W. (1986) Blidworth in old picture postcards. Zaltbommel, The Netherlands: European library pp 49,52,53 

     Sierzputowski, k. (2015) Ellie Davies creates forest landscapes illuminated with fields of stars and smoke [online]. Colossal. Available from; http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/ellie-davies-stars-and-smoke/ [last accessed 14/07/2016]

     Bibliography

     Dixon, A. (2011) Friar Tucks Well SK5656. [online]. Geograph. Available from: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2742019 [accessed 14/7/16]

  Durkin, J. (2014) Friar Tuck, a hermit of Fountaindale and Copmanhurst. [online]. Blidworth and District Historical and Heritage Society. Available from http://blidworthhistoricalsociety.co.uk/74612.html [last accessed 14/7/16)

    Gaunt, A. (2012) Lyndhurst wood - "the chief wood of Sherwood". [online]. The Sherwood Forest Archaeology project. Available from: http://sherwoodforesthistory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/lyndhurst-wood-chief-wood-of-sherwood.html  [last accessed 14/07/2016]

    [n.k.], [n.d.] Lindhurst, Mansfield archaeology and cultural heritage. [online]. Available from: http://www.lindhurstmansfield.co.uk/Planningapplication/LINDHURSTESVOLUME1CHAPTERSJAN2010/07HeritageandArchaeology/07ArchaeologyandCulturalHeritage.pdf [s.n.] [last accessed 14/07/2016]

  Pixyledpublications. (n.d.) Friar Tuck's Well...new...well...actually old photos. [online] [s.n.] Available from:   https://insearchofholywellsandhealingsprings.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/friar-tucks-well-new-well-actually-old-photos/ [accessed 14/7/16]

   Friar Tucks Well, Fountaindale, Lyndhurst [user-generated-content, online] Creat. Robin Hood Blogger. 8/08/2011, 2 mins 25 secs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar3T3ohmfvc [last accessed 14/07/2016]

Further research on Robin Hood following Tutor Feedback Assignment 6

Robin Hood – fact or fiction? 

James Holt researched Robert Hoods in mediaeval court documents and records, coming up with 8 outlaws in the 12^th and 13^th century; the first being Robert Hode from Yorkshire in about 1225. In 1261, William, son of Robert le Fevre had his name changed by the court to Robert Hood. Academics record the name of Robe Hod, Robin Hod etc. as a criminal nickname.

In 1377, the Scotichronicon included a song (chant) about Robin Hood and Little John.

The Black Death (1340’s) led to social changes because of the number of deaths. From this point onwards, the legend of Robin Hood possibly began to take shape. The Robin Hood legend is based on the need for a 14^th and 15^th century emphasis on being English and national identity. England was warring with France and Scotland. The Hundred Years War and War of the Roses left England unsettled. 

The first recorded literary piece mentioning Robin Hood is by William Langland in an allegorical narrative poem entitled Piers Plowman in the late 1370’s.

May Games (Whitsun and Pentecost Games) formed an important part of the calendar. Plays were sponsored by the church and landowners (noblemen) and enjoyed by a cross section of society, providing an opportunity for merchants, middle class, working class and petty thieves to get together. Morris dancing (from 1448 onwards) started to include songs of Robin Hood. The earliest entertainment sketch found is on a manuscript dating from 1475.

In the Tudor period religion changed several times. The legend of Robin Hood changed depending on which religion was in favour.

The printing press was developed in the 16^th century and “A lytell geste of Robin Hood” was printed. Spoken word from the manuscripts became accessible once it was written down. This work was a compilation of all the works so far.

Black cites Marxist Historian Rodney Hilton (1958) as arguing that the “Robin Hood legend [is a] result of anti-authoritarian sentiments and the inherent conflict and violence present in the late mediaeval society” (Black p12) Hilton also linked the legend to the Peasant’s Revolt of 1387. However, this was disputed by James Holt who suggested that the Robin Hood ballads may have been written by the gentry signifying “resistance against corruption rather than a peasant discontented by their landlord” (Black p13).

Robin Hood seems to sit in central to Northern England, as ballads belong in Northern England and Peasant Revolts happened in the south. Northern England was the place for baronial and border warfare. The underlying themes in the country were discontent with the forest laws and sheriffs. Robin Hood changes from class to class as a response to society’s needs.

The earliest ballad was Robin Hood and the monk (not Friar Tuck), chronicled in a manuscript dated 1465. This could have been written down 100 years earlier. This contained legal undertones and outlawry with which 14^th century middle class folk would be familiar. Up until 1329, a freeholder could have killed Robin Hood. After 1461, outlaws had to be handed over to justices of the peace rather than sheriffs. 

Anthony Mundy (16^th Century) theatre plays.

William Stukeley (18^th century) added a false family tree for Robin Hood.

Joseph Ritson (1795) Robin Hood: A Collection of all the ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, now extant, relative to that celebrated English Outlaw: To which are prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life.  Contains the first academic discussion on Robin Hood.

Thomas Love Peacock (1822) Maid Marian

Sir Walter Scott (1819) Ivanhoe. Hero Robin of Loxley appears in 10 out of 44 chapters.  Based character of Robin Hood on an Anglo Saxon freedom fighter, possibly resembling Hereward the Wake (1035-1072), an Anglo Saxon resistance leader. Walter Scott hid the Wardour Manuscript within the book to make the readers believe it was an accurate description of the middle ages. From this publication, 4 theatre productions were produced detailing different parts of the book. The book was translated and sold in France, Germany, Spain and Austria. French Writer Augustin Thierry was convinced of the reality, justified by English place name such as Robin Hood’s Bay.

Henry Walter (1828) History of England. “The 1190’s were a period that “deserves notice” because it proves that “the Saxon English” still felt themselves to be a distinct people from the descendants of their Norman Conqueror.” (Basedo 2016 p4)

Washington Irving (1835) Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest.  American writer. Travelogue containing his journeys through Sherwood Forest in pursuit of the legend of Robin Hood.

Pierce Egan the younger (1838-40) Robin Hood and Little John

John Mathew Gutch (1847) A lytell Geste of Robin Hood published in 2 volumes, building on previous works. Depicted an Anglo Saxon bow and Arrow as used by Robin Hood drawn by Frederick W Fairholt. Provides new “evidence” of Robin Hood.

By 1859 Robin Hood had changed from a yeoman to an Anglo Saxon yeoman (freeholder)

Alexandre Dumas (1872) Robin Hood prince of thieves

Francis James Child (1882-98) 5 volumes of Ballads. Did not believe Robin Hood was an Anglo Saxon.

Edward Fithian (1900) Life of Robin Hood. Robin Hood was a patriot despite his outlaw status. He acknowledges that Walter Scott represented him in this way.

Errol Flynn (1938) Adventures of Robin Hood

Within Assignment 6, I read the work of Washington Irving, Sir Walter Scott and some of Child's ballads, all available online as the full book as the copyright has expired. It seems that throughout time, writers, chroniclers and playwrights have been drawn to the history and legend of Robin Hood because “he” is adaptable to fit the times and cultural needs of the people.

References

Basdeo, S. (2016) Ivanhoe’s afterlives: Walter Scott’s legacy upon 19^th century Robin Hood scholarship and fiction in England and France. Academia.edu. Available from: https://www.academia.edu/25924634/_Ivanhoe_s_Afterlives_Walter_Scott_s_Legacy_upon_Nineteenth-Century_Robin_Hood_Scholarship_and_Fiction_in_England_and_France   (p4) [last accessed 13/08/2016]

Black, T. (2012) Extralegal and English; the Robin Hood Legend and increasing national identity in the middling sorts of late mediaeval England. Available at: http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/7673/1/etd.pdf (p12) [last accessed 13/08/2016]

Black, T. (2012) Extralegal and English; the Robin Hood Legend and increasing national identity in the middling sorts of late mediaeval England. Available at: http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/7673/1/etd.pdf (p13) [last accessed 13/08/2016]

Bibliography

Basdeo, S. (2016) Ivanhoe’s afterlives: Walter Scott’s legacy upon 19^th century Robin Hood scholarship and fiction in England and France. Academia.edu. Available from: https://www.academia.edu/25924634/_Ivanhoe_s_Afterlives_Walter_Scott_s_Legacy_upon_Nineteenth-Century_Robin_Hood_Scholarship_and_Fiction_in_England_and_France_ [last accessed 13/08/2016]

Black, T. (2012) Extralegal and English; the Robin Hood Legend and increasing national identity in the middling sorts of late mediaeval England. Available from: http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/7673/1/etd.pdf [last accessed 13/08/2016]

Knight, S. (2003)Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography. [online] Available from: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dPtpkU1WSbcC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=1370+piers+plowman+robin+hood&source=bl&ots=z48GYcjoEk&sig=nlPKx42sSMp91HRZMoAwk64vl54&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwtZiHg8HOAhUoL8AKHRiDCkQQ6AEIJjAC#v=onepage&q=1370%20piers%20plowman%20robin%20hood&f=false [last accessed 12/08/2016]

Knight, S. and Olghren, T.  (1997) Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar. University of Rochester [online] Available from: http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-curtal-friar-introduction

Johnson, V. (n.d.) Collection Highlight: Ritson. Robin Hood a collection… River Campus Libraries. [online] Available from:  http://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/4591 [last accessed 14/08/2016]