Assignment 3 Space to Place revisited
The Oxford Dictionary
defines space as “a continuous area or expanse which is free, available or
unoccupied” (Anon, 2016) whereas a place is defined as a “particular position,
point or area in a space or location”. (Anon, 2016) Usually a place has an
interesting landmark with which people associate, a historical reference (where
something happened) or the area has a present day use. Places can be linked to
the past through history or mythology, environmental or political concerns, all
of which have involved or involve people.
There are many different
types of places. Military and historical places include battlefields and air
bases such as abandoned RAF bases e.g. RAF Newton, abandoned cold war sites
e.g. RAF Steingot, Queens Sconce Civil War earthworks, War of the Roses battlefields
e.g. Bosworth. Memorial places include roadside shrines, the National Memorial
Arboretum or local War Memorials. Places of worship both historical and
currently occupied include abbeys, churches and minsters. Mythical places trace the legend of Robin
Hood in Sherwood Forest. Industrial places include local water mills, metal box
factory, coal mines or power stations.
For this assignment I
explored the original World War 1 (WW1) trenches and reconstruction in Sherwood
Pines, Nottinghamshire. Last year saw the centenary of the start of the WW1 in
which Nottinghamshire commemorated with a project called “Trent to Trenches”; a
series of exhibitions and art displays to share and rekindle memories of the
event. In 2013 I noticed the beginning of a new excavation at Sherwood Pines. I
watched with interest as it turned into a replica WW1 trench. I began exploring
the forest to discover the original trenches and started to research the
significance of the place. This assignment therefore captures two places, although
both are linked through the concept of hyper-realism (of which I shall explain
later). It is interesting to compare the different stages of the place – the
original place was built by the soldiers who used it for warfare training. Over
time, the sides have collapsed and the earth has built up through decayed plant
matter. Nowadays these are used for individual, family or friends’ recreation
by riding bikes or walking along them. So it is returning back to a space
through decay and hidden from memory or view. The reconstruction is located
within the country park; and with all the media attention in the beginning, it
became a tourist attraction. But it is away from the visitors centre and off
the beaten track so many visitors are unaware of it. Again it is local
knowledge and word of mouth which makes people visit unless a school or
organised group has booked a trip directly with the forestry commission. The
Trent to Trenches art project (2014) enabled the history to become popular
culture once more and people became interested in the subject. Over a short
time, positive changes have happened to the reconstruction such as the sides
became rounded and the vegetation became established enhancing the realism. The
reconstruction became a living history exhibit, but how does the visitor gauge
the accuracy of the build or know how it was used? There are no signs or
displays and it is left to people to interpret as they wish. Knowledge may be
based on fantasy re-enactments such as Steven Spielberg’s Warhorse (2012) which
was based on some historical accuracy and how does the visitor separate fact
from fiction without knowledge? Even if the visitor has studied WW1, who can
say that the media / propaganda of the time was an accurate representation?
Battles have never been fought here, although it has the potential for a one-sided
battle. But by the nature of the way it is built, it is a place. How long will
it be until this also shrinks from memory and returns to being just a space?
Clipstone Camp World War 1
Trenches
At the outbreak of the
World War 1, Clipstone Heath was just that – an area of heathland owned by the
Duke of Portland from the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, used for shooting
partridge and sports. Lord Kitchener was a frequent visitor to Welbeck. Three
of Nottinghamshire’s estates; Thoresby, Wollaton and Welbeck already had
temporary camps in preparation for training soldiers. Marples (2013:22)
suggests that it is not known why this area was chosen for siting a permanent
hutted training camp, although under the Defense of the Realm Act, the War
Office had the powers to “take land or building or construct works” if needed.
The camp was located
between Forest Town (a new mining town) and Clipstone (a hamlet) on an area
which had been bought by the Bolsover Colliery Company. The mine (sunk in 1912)
had been planned with a new village of 700 houses. Instead, Clipstone Camp was
built here to house 25,000 soldiers until 1920 when it was sold off. Work on
the mine was postponed when young miners were recruited as soldiers. Also the
war made importing goods such as wood more difficult and prices increased. As a
result, the Forestry Commission was formed in 1919 to manage supplies of
timber, often depleting large areas of forest and changing the landscape of the
area. The pit was completed in 1920. Soldiers moving to the area had not seen
coal mines before and Mansfield Colliery became a tourist attraction with
evening trips organised down the mine shaft for the soldiers stationed there.
Marples (2013) a local
historian, interviewed locals who recalled the trenches becoming play areas for
children after demobilisation. Whilst exploring the unmarked trails in the
forest, I came across some of the old trenches. Mountain bikers who explore off
the beaten track recall the area known locally as the “bomb holes” and have
often practiced their skills there. The purpose of this place changed from
training soldiers to entertaining folks, the place left to nature, sometimes
forgotten and waiting to be rediscovered.
I discovered the Forestry
Commission were managing the area where the original trenches are. Huge swathes
of trees have been harvested and others are colour coded waiting to be felled.
Where work has already taken place, poles mark out the trenches. I found the
trench reconstruction fascinating as it has recreated and brought the past to
life from photographs for future generations to explore especially as the WW1
veterans are no longer with us.
My research
Vest pocket cameras were
invented by Kodak in 1912 and marketed for soldiers to take to the Front.
Britain, forbade them, although photographs survive from Corporal Hackney and
others of daily life in the trenches. The risk of court martial if caught may
have impacted on the choice of subject e.g. only portraying comrades rather
than officers. However, these stand as a historical record which supplement
official photographs and oral histories at a time when memories of such a place
are being forgotten.
Medium format (35mm glass
plate) cameras were developed by Leica. Roberts (2014) explains that “The First
World war is the conflict in which the concept of documentary truth first
evolved. Prior to that, because of the scarcity of press photography in
general, picture desk editors from newspapers were quite happy to use
photographs which were merely representative or illustrative of a point rather
than showing a genuine event itself.”
Ernest Brooks was the
first appointed Daily Mirror official war photographer and worked in monochrome
although two official WW1 photographers Hans Hildenbrand (German) and Jules
Gervais Courtaillemant (French) used the process of autochrome lumiere to
produce colour photographs at the Frontline, developed by the Luminaire
brothers in France in 1904 (a process of adding red, green and blue violet
coloured potato starch grains (4 million per square inch) to the glass plate.
Light passes through filters as the photograph is taken and when processed, the
image becomes colour. One disadvantage was a longer exposure time, meaning
subjects had to be staged, although readers of newspapers could see the
situation in colour.
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| Hans Hildenbrand |
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Jules Gervais Courtaillemont
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I found several photographs on the internet
taken by Ernest Brooks during the Battle of the Somme at Gommecourt.
“Gommecourt was a position of immense strength and a place of psychological if
not strategic importance to the German Army” (McDonald, 2007). Whilst many of
Brooks’ images were documentary and included troops from both sides, I found
these images described as taken after the English troops captured the German
lines. These could have been used as propaganda or illustration of the progress
made by the British soldiers, because after the first 12 hours of fighting, (July
1916) the British Army had 57,740 casualties and Battle of the Somme lasted
until November 1916. There is no date for Brooks’ photographs and Brooks had
previously been accused of faking images. In 1916, Britain imposed a policy
regarding no faking or staging of photographs. However, for the German and
French photographers working in colour, there was no option but to stage the
photographs. Did this imposition limit the technological advances of British
colour photography?
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Official photograph taken on the front in
France. View in captured German Trench in
Gommecourt. (Ernest Brooks)
|
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Official photograph taken on the front in
France. View in captured German Trench in
Gommecourt. (Ernest Brooks)
|
To a modern day viewer
Brooks’ images are factual showing perspective, height and construction of the
trenches although Brooks’ inclusion of troops adds to my understanding of the
living conditions but not the action. The Battle of the Somme ended in November
1916 with atrocious weather. Even in monochrome, Brooks’ images look like the
weather is foggy or wet. As the weather leading up to and including Remembrance
Sunday was foggy I experimented using the weather conditions to add atmosphere
to my images although I saturated the colours a little increase the contrast.
I experimented using
Photoshop to create replicated autochrome lumiere images to use for the
reconstruction images. (see exercise 3.5 http://nicolahampshirelandscape.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/local-history.html) Reviewing my images though, I preferred the fog and
mist (shown below) as it adds atmosphere and reality to them. Shooting through
the fog gave less clarity and contrast than usual. The season also helps with
less contrast and provides earthy colours.
In July 2014, the Daily
Mail published a series of computer coloured WW1 photographs based on actual
colours of uniforms. Whilst these photographs are interesting, how does it
affect our memory of the historic event? Monochrome is seen as authentic and
truthful and when genuine coloured images come to light, they have a place in history
reserved. As Strauss (2003: 9) wrote “the idea that the more transformed or
“aestheticized” an image is, the less “authentic” or politically valuable it
becomes.” It changes our understanding of the facts. Thus the market for
photographs coloured one hundred years after the event could be questionable
and destined for the newspapers, in which case we have come full circle with
publishing fake coloured images.
Existing critical writing
Liz Wells (2009:88) argues
that photographs taken in WW1 do not really give the viewer “a sense of the
nature of trench warfare, and the poetry, films and paintings of the time are
often more moving and revealing.” Sontag (1979:168) backs this up suggesting
that “the feeling of being exempt from calamity stimulates interest in looking
at painful pictures, and looking at them suggests and strengthens the feeling
that one is exempt. Partly it is because one is “here,” not “there” and partly
it is the character of inevitability that all events acquire when they are transmuted
into images. In the real world, something is
happening and no one knows what is going to
happen. In the image world, it has happened
and will forever happen in that way”.
Maybe because the veterans are no longer around to add the oral history to the
photograph and bring it to life, it lacks meaning to us. Barthes described
studium as having enough interest in the photographs to look further at the
subject and this is possibly what is meant by Well’s statement.
Baudrillard (social
theorist with an interest in semiotics) developed the concept of hyper-realism
which is “the product of an irradiating synthesis of combinatory models on a
hyperspace without atmosphere” (1983:3) and questions the reality of things or
situations. He argues that replication is a simulacrum (a likeness) to the
original which can never be the same. Sometimes it causes people to have
differing views on the replica and once the replica is accepted, the original
dies because “under the pretext of saving the original it is possible the very
memory…will fade in the minds of future generations – but from now on there is
no longer any difference. The duplication is sufficient to render both
artificial.” (1983:7) When considering this in relation to the original and
reconstructed trenches in Clipstone Forest, it is interesting to suppose that
both are hyper-real places. Possibly the soldiers who built the trenches in the
training camp built a simulation of what their instructors thought they should
build. Were these based on the exact replica of those used in WW1 in the great
battles? And when they were used for exercise, was it in a war situation with
the soldiers being fired at? I did not find evidence for these answers so my
supposition is that it is a simulacrum. I have not visited the original
trenches in France/Belgium and so my local trenches are real, but they become
artificial. Steven Spielberg’s film Warhorse (2012) was shot on location in the
English landscape and featured trenches which had to be built. These were based
as close to the original depictions from photographs, paintings and memorabilia
at the Imperial War Museum. The replica at Sherwood Pines is built by someone
who worked on the set. The film was fantasy – based on Morpurgo’s book and
whose aim was to tell the story and emotion between a man and his warhorse,
promoting recollection and discussion on perhaps a lesser known part of the
war. Using Baudrillard’s theory, the simulacrums are real making them
hyper-real. The original is dead to most people because its memory has been
forgotten, especially if they have not visited.
This theory can also be
applied in a similar way to my autochrome images and the reconstruction trench
in the sense that they both become hyper-real in Baudrillad’s sense of the word
because they are both replicated. The original memory fades and is replaced by
the modern images of the modern site. This may be what people remember although
it is fantasy.
My images
Clipstone lies a few miles to the east of Mansfield.
The WW1 trenches lie in an area now managed by the Forestry Commission – a
working forest and recreational space known as Sherwood Pines.
My images start by looking at the area which contains
WW1 trenches and the replica built for the centenary in 2014 by Philip and
Courtney Wilkinson.
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| Surface model Clipstone |
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| Terrain model, Clipstone |
Topographical surveys undertaken by the
Forestry Commission in 2011 depict the earthworks.
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Image 1 View from Vicar Water Viewpoint
looking out over Sherwood Pines
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Clipstone is now dominated
by the twin headstocks. The slag heap was turned into a viewpoint within a
country park which shows the type of heathland familiar to the soldiers. This
is near the original site of Clipstone Camp. Clipstone forest (modern day
Sherwood Pines) is in the distance – a 3-mile march for the soldiers to the
training trenches.
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Image 2
Clipstone Forest WW1 trenches in
clearing
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The site of the WW1
trenches is around the patch of clearing but also extends in the direction of
the visitor centre.
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Image 3 Original trench – marked for
felling trees
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In Clipstone Forest, which extends to the
south of Clipstone the locals find the original rifle, pistol and machine gun
trenches, possibly used by many battalions including the UPS Royal Fusiliers,
the 16th Service Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, 17th
Service Battalion (first footballers) and 18th Service Battalion (1st
public works). Over time, the sides have collapsed and they are not as deep as
they once were. Trench construction was zig-zag or circular in shape.
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Image 4 An original trench area marked for
safety
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The Forestry Commission
are in the process of felling the trees in this area, although no-one works on
Sundays, making the area accessible.
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Image 5 Position of reconstructed WW1
trench
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The reconstructed WW1
trench is situated just off the main fire road extending from the visitor centre.
Philip and Courtney Wilkinson (who worked on Stephen Spielburg’s War Horse
set), use reclaimed timber found in the skip.
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Image 6 Land surrounding the reconstructed
trench
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The land surrounding the reconstruction is designed to
look as if it has been involved in a mortar attack.
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Image 7 The reconstructed trench area
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Image 8
|
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Image 9 The shape of the reconstructed
trench is comparable to the original. (image 4)
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Image 10 The curved trench
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Image 11 Inside the trench
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Areas also included in the
trench are an office, privy and kitchen. The ground is completely uneven
suggesting bomb holes.
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Image 12 The trench
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Part
of the trench is accessible to visitors enabling them to witness the scale of
the place.
Hugh Mannall, Heritage
Manager with the Forestry Commission explained “This is something which we have
been thinking about for the last 20 years and it has been in planning for the
last 3.” (Mannall, 2013) Following my study of WW1 trench photographs, I think
this modern reconstruction bears resemblance to the original WW1 structures and
see it as a great educational resource within the Forest. I hope it can
illustrate to school children the size of the trench and type of buildings
found within it and how vulnerable the soldiers felt, although without sound,
smoke and weather it will not replace life on the battlefield. I compared it to
images I took in 2014 and the wood has weathered plants grown, although with
the surrounding fence it does define it as a place.
How I could extend the project?
I became interested in the
area’s history and involvement in WW1 whilst watching the reconstruction take
shape and discovering the old trenches. This project could be extended to look
at other aspects of the war. I could take some of the images from Marple’s
“Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield Area in WW1 (2013) and explore today’s
landscape, layering one over the other as Shimon Attie has done in “Writing on
the Wall (1992-4).
References
Allen, C. (2014) Photography, Video and
Visual Journalism: Photographers on the front lines of the Great War. New York Times. 30th June.
Available from: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/?_r=1 [last accessed 7th
September 2016].
Anon (2016) Place. Oxford Dictionaries [online]
Available from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/place [last
accessed 7th September 2016].
Anon (2016) Space. Oxford Dictionaries [online]
Available from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/space[last accessed 7th September 2016].
Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulations.
New York, USA: Semiotext (e) Inc.
Done Johnson, A. (2013) Clipstone Camp
brought back to life. Chad. 2nd
October. Available from: http://www.chad.co.uk/features-columnists/clipstone-camp-brought-back-to-life-1-6107692 [last accessed September
2016]
Marples (2013) Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield Area in World War 1; The impact of a
large military presence in a North Nottinghamshire community. Forest Town
Heritage Group.
McDonald, A. (2006) Planning the Somme offensive. Gommecourt. Available from: http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/plan.htm [last accessed 7th
September 2016].
Strauss, D. (2003) Between the Eyes; Essays on Photography and politics. New York,
USA: Aperture Books.
Sontag S. (1979) On Photography. St. Ives: Penguin.
Wells L (2009) Photography: A critical introduction. Glasgow: Routledge.
Bibliography
Local history
(Anon) (2013) Sherwood Pines Clipstone Forest. UK. Available from: https://kingsclipstone.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/modern-clipstone-forest/[last accessed 7th September
2016].
(Anon). (2013) Work to create WW1 Clipstone
training trench. Nottingham. BBC.
Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-24231397 [last accessed 7th September 2016]
Siegphyl. (2013) Centenary group works on restoration of training camp for WW1
Anniversary.War History online. Available from: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/centenary-group-works-restoration-training-camp-wwi-anniversary.html [last accessed 7th September 2016]
Forest Research. (2012) Archaeological prospecting in woodland using
LIDAR – summary of 2012 surveys. Available from: www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/infd-8zkec4 [last accessed 7th
September 2016].
World War One at home. (2014) [Television].
BBC. 28th May 2014. 6mins. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01xtx82 [last accessed 7th September
2016].
Trenches and WW1
Lawrence, G. (n.d.) 10 photos of life in the trenches. Imperial War Museum. Available
from: http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-photos-of-life-in-the-trenches [last
accessed 7th September 2016].
Photography
(Anon) (undated) The first colour
photographs from the German front line during WW1. The
Telegraph. (undated) Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/3460206/The-first-colour-photographs-from-the-German-front-line-during-World-War-One.html [last accessed 7th September 2016].
National Library of Scotland. (undated)
First World War “Official Photographs”. Available from: http://digital.nls.uk/first-world-war-official-photographs/pageturner.cfm?id=74546454 [last accessed 7th September 2016].
Spiegel online. (2008) Photo Gallery: The
world of trench warfare in colour. Spiegel online. Available from: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-the-world-of-trench-warfare-in-color-fotostrecke-37025-5.html [last accessed 7th September 2016].
Never seen books and curios (2014) The
First World War in (real) colour: autochromes. Available from: http://www.neverseenbooks.com/?tag=autochromes [last accessed 7th September 2016].
Duell, M. and Glanfield, E. (2014)
Astonishing moment German troops surrendered during Battle of Somme is revealed
in “amazing” collection of WW1 images captured by British soldier. Mail Online. 17th November. Available
from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2838031/Amateur-photographer-turned-soldier-defied-WWI-Army-chiefs-secret-photographs-life-trenches.html [last accessed 7th September 2016]
Jones, N. (2014) The horror of the war as
you’ve never seen it before. Reproduced in breathtaking colour dramatic
photograph from the WW1 that show the carnage…and courage. Mail Online. 18th November. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2695644/The-horror-war-youve-never-seen-Reproduced-breathtaking-colour-dramatic-photographs-WW1-carnage-courage.html [last accessed 7th September 2016]
Further reading following tutor report
Groscop, V.
(2012) How Steven Spielberg found War Horse’s third character in Dartmoor. The Guardian.8th January.
Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/08/steven-spielberg-war-horse-dartmoor [last accessed 8th September 2016].
Wilson, B.
(2012) War Horse: The real story – adding some historiocal heft to the fable. The Telegraph. 2nd March.
Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9114272/War-Horse-the-Real-Story-adding-some-historical-heft-to-the-fable.html [last accessed 8th September 2016].
Culture 24
(2012) War Horse film costume join Spielberg and cast’s artwork at National
Army Museum. Culture 24 [online] 13th
January. Available from: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/first-world-war/art373024 [last accessed 8th September 2016].
Solon, O. (2012)
Inside the animatronic “War Horse” used in the grizly trench. Wired .[online] 24th January.
Available from: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-01/24/war-horse-animatronic-puppet [last
accessed 8th September 2016].
Galloway, S.
(2011) “War Horse”: The making of Steven Spielberg’s WW1 epic. The Hollywood Reporter. 12th February. [online] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/war-horse-steven-spielberg-269054 [last accessed 8th September 2016].
Black, B. (2012)
Depicting the War in War Horse. The
British Scholar Society. [online]. Available from: http://britishscholar.org/publications/2012/02/20/depicting-the-war-in-war-horse/ [last
accessed 8th September 2016].
Figgis, M.
(dir.) (2001) The Battle of Orgreave
(2001). [Television]. Archangel Media. Channel 4. [user-generated content,
online] Creat. Jonny Jones. 19/08/2013. 63 mins, 15 secs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ncrWxnxLjg
[last accessed 5th September 2016]
Deller, J.
(n.d.) The Battle of Orgreave, 2001.
[online] Available from: http://www.jeremydeller.org/TheBattleOfOrgreave/TheBattleOfOrgreave_Video.php [last accessed 6th
September 2016].
Feustel, M.
(2011) Interview with Joan Fontcuberta.
Available from: http://www.marcfeustel.com/interview-with-joan-fontcuberta/ [last accessed 6th
September 2016].
Fontcuberta, J.
(n.d.) Joan Fontcuberta. Available
from: http://www.fontcuberta.com/ [last
accessed 6th September 2016].
Harrison, R. (2016) What
is heritage? The Open University. Available from: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/what-heritage/content-section-3.1 [last accessed 5th September 2016].
Response to Tutor Feedback
Great overall comments received."This is a solidly researched and well-executed assignment
Nicola. Pursuing your critical reflection a little further would be an
opportunity to add depth." (Bloomfield, 2015) I enjoyed working on this
assignment, and the time of year (November) and foggy, drizzly weather added to
the atmosphere.
Good points
Having researched first world war colour photography and ways of reproducing the effect in photoshop, I thought the images were engaging and I had not made the link between hyper-real and simulation, instead linking the work to memory and truth.
It is really helpful to receive feedback which takes my work off in a different direction, and also provides links for future assignments. Looking back over the course, this assignment started to develop some of the ideas that I would use later on in the course.
Points for development
link the artificiality of the autochrome effect and the artificiality of the reconstructed trenches
Good points
Having researched first world war colour photography and ways of reproducing the effect in photoshop, I thought the images were engaging and I had not made the link between hyper-real and simulation, instead linking the work to memory and truth.
It is really helpful to receive feedback which takes my work off in a different direction, and also provides links for future assignments. Looking back over the course, this assignment started to develop some of the ideas that I would use later on in the course.
Points for development
link the artificiality of the autochrome effect and the artificiality of the reconstructed trenches
·
Consider using Spielberg as
the link between fantasy and reality within simulation
·
Consider "how the
reconstruction is different from the original place it
represents. For instance, how is it experienced differently by the
contemporary visitor from the traces of the original WW1 training camp at
the site? How do the different contexts of warfare, country park, culture
industry and so on change the meaning?"
Further reading
Baudrillard’s Precession of Simulacra
Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave
Joan Fontacuberta’s Landscapes Without Memory
The research around it sent me off in different
directions and from here I felt the landscape course became really interesting.
The further reading became my basis for the critical review because I wanted to
develop my understanding around these theories and ides. November 2015
Assignment 3 Spaces to Places
The Oxford Dictionary defines space as “a continuous area or expanse which is free, available or unoccupied” http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/space (accessed Nov 2015) whereas a place is defined as a “particular position, point or area in a space or location”. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/place (accessed Nov 2015) Usually a place has an interesting landmark with which people associate, a historical reference (where something happened) or the area has a present day use. Places can be linked to the past through history or mythology, environmental or political concerns, all of which have involved or involve people.
There are many different types of places. Military and historical places include battlefields and air bases such as abandoned RAF bases e.g. RAF Newton, abandoned cold war sites e.g. RAF Steingot, Queens Sconce Civil War earthworks, War of the Roses battlefields e.g. Bosworth. Memorial places include roadside shrines, the National Memorial Arboretum or local War Memorials. Places of worship both historical and currently occupied include abbeys, churches and minsters. Mythical places trace the legend of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. Industrial places include local water mills, metal box factory, coal mines or power stations.
For this assignment I explored the original World War 1(WW1) trenches and reconstruction in Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire. Last year saw the centenary of the start of the WW1 in which Nottinghamshire commemorated with a project called “Trent to Trenches”; a series of exhibitions and art displays to share and rekindle memories of the event. In 2013 I noticed the beginning of a new excavation at Sherwood Pines. I watched with interest as it turned into a replica WW1 trench. I began exploring the forest to discover the original trenches and started to research the significance of the place.
Clipstone Camp World War 1 Trenches
At the outbreak of the World War 1, Clipstone Heath was just that – an area of heathland owned by the Duke of Portland from the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, used for shooting partridge and sports. Lord Kitchener was a frequent visitor to Welbeck. Three of Nottinghamshire’s estates; Thoresby, Wollaton and Welbeck already had temporary camps in preparation for training soldiers. Marples (2013 p22) suggests that it is not known why this area was chosen for siting a permanent hutted training camp, although under the Defense of the Realm Act, the War Office had the powers to “take land or building or construct works” if needed.
The camp was located between Forest Town (a new mining town) and Clipstone (a hamlet) on an area which had been bought by the Bolsover Colliery Company. The mine (sunk in 1912) had been planned with a new village of 700 houses. Instead, Clipstone Camp was built here to house 25,000 soldiers until 1920 when it was sold off. Work on the mine was postponed when young miners were recruited as soldiers. Also the war made importing goods such as wood more difficult and prices increased. As a result, the Forestry Commission was formed in 1919 to manage supplies of timber, often depleting large areas of forest and changing the landscape of the area. The pit was completed in 1920. Soldiers moving to the area had not seen coal mines before and Mansfield Colliery became a tourist attraction with evening trips organised down the mine shaft for the soldiers stationed there.
Marples (2013) a local historian, interviewed locals who recalled the trenches becoming play areas for children after demobilisation. Whilst exploring the unmarked trails in the forest, I came across some of the old trenches. Mountain bikers who explore off the beaten track recall the area known locally as the “bomb holes” and have often practiced their skills there. The purpose of this place changed from training soldiers to entertaining folks, the place left to nature, sometimes forgotten and waiting to be rediscovered.
I discovered the Forestry Commission were managing the area where the original trenches are. Huge swathes of trees have been harvested and others are colour coded waiting to be felled. Where work has already taken place, poles mark out the trenches. I found the trench reconstruction fascinating as it has recreated and brought the past to life from photographs for future generations to explore especially as the WW1 veterans are no longer with us.
My research
Vest pocket cameras were invented by Kodak in 1912 and marketed for soldiers to take to the Front. Britain, forbade them, although photographs survive from Corporal Hackney and others of daily life in the trenches. The risk of court marshall if caught may have impacted on the choice of subject e.g. only portraying comrades rather than officers. However, these stand as a historical record which supplement official photographs and oral histories at a time when memories of such a place are being forgotten.
Medium format (35mm glass plate) cameras were developed by Leica. Roberts (2014) http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/?_r=1 (accessed November 2015) explains that “The First World war is the conflict in which the concept of documentary truth first evolved. Prior to that, because of the scarcity of press photography in general, picture desk editors from newspapers were quite happy to use photographs which were merely representative or illustrative of a point rather than showing a genuine event itself.”
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Official photograph taken on the front in France.
View in captured German Trench in Gommecourt.
(Ernest Brooks)
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Official photograph taken on the front in France.
View in captured German Frontline Trench before Gommecourt.
(Ernest Brooks)
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Ernest Brooks was the first appointed Daily Mirror official war photographer and worked in monochrome although two official WW1 photographers Hans Hildenbrand (German) and Jules Gervais Courtaillemant (French) used the process of autochrome lumiere to produce colour photographs at the Frontline, developed by the Luminaire brothers in France in 1904 (a process of adding red, green and blue violet coloured potato starch grains (4 million per square inch) to the glass plate. Light passes through filters as the photograph is taken and when processed,the image becomes colour. One disadvantage was a longer exposure time,
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Hans Hildenbrand
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Jules Gervais Courtaillemont
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I found several photographs on the internet taken by Ernest Brooks during the Battle of the Somme at Gommecourt. “Gommecourt was a position of immense strength and a place of psychological if not strategic importance to the German Army.” http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/plan.htm (accessed Nov 2015) Whilst many of Brooks’ images were documentary and included troops from both sides, I found these images described as taken after the English troops captured the German lines. These could have been used as propaganda or illustration of the progress made by the British soldiers, because after the first 12 hours of fighting, (July 1916) the British Army had 57,740 casualties and Battle of the Somme lasted until November 1916. There is not date for Brooks’ photographs and Brooks had previously been accused of faking images. In 1916, Britain imposed a policy regarding no faking or staging of photographs. However, for the German and French photographers working in colour, there was no option but to stage the photographs. Did this imposition limit the technological advances of British colour photography?
To a modern day viewer Brooks’ images are factual showing perspective, height and construction of the trenches although Brooks’ inclusion of troops adds to my understanding of the living conditions but not the action. The Battle of the Somme ended in November 1916 with atrocious weather. Even in monochrome, Brooks’ images look like the weather is foggy or wet. As the weather leading up to and including Remembrance Sunday was foggy I experimented using the weather conditions to add atmosphere to my images although I saturated the colours a little increase the contrast.
I experimented using Photoshop to create replicated autochrome lumiere images to use for the reconstruction images. (see exercise 3.5 https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3236350692233930171#editor/target=post;postID=2177828894755869644;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname) Reviewing my images though, I preferred the fog and mist (shown below), as it adds atmosphere and reality to the images. Shooting through the fog gave less clarity and less contrast than usual. The season also helps with less contrast and provides earthy colours.
In July 2014, the Daily Mail published a series of computer coloured WW1 photographs based on actual colours of uniforms. Whilst these photographs are interesting, how does it affect our memory of the historic event? Monochrome is seen as authentic and truthful and when genuine coloured images come to light, they have a place in history reserved. As David Levi Strauss (2003 p9) wrote “the idea that the more transformed or “aestheticized” an image is, the less “authentic” or politically valuable it becomes.” It changes our understanding of the facts. Thus the market for photographs coloured one hundred years after the event could be questionable and destined for the newspapers, in which case we have come full circle with publishing fake coloured images.
Existing critical writing
Liz Wells (2009 p88) argues that photographs taken in WW1 do not really give the viewer “a sense of the nature of trench warfare, and the poetry, films and paintings of the time are often more moving and revealing.” Sontag (1979 p168) backs this up suggesting that “the feeling of being exempt from calamity stimulates interest in looking at painful pictures, and looking at them suggests and strengthens the feeling that one is exempt. Partly it is because one is “here,” not “there” and partly it is the character of inevitability that all events acquire when they are transmuted into images. In the real world, something is happening and no one knows what is going to happen. In the image world, it has happened and will forever happen in that way”. Maybe because the veterans are no longer around to add the oral history to the photograph and bring it to life, it lacks meaning to us. Barthes described studium as having enough interest in the photographs to look further at the subject and this is possibly what is meant by Well’s statement.
My images
Clipstone lies a few miles to the east of Mansfield. The WW1 trenches lie in an area now managed by the Forestry Commission – a working forest and recreational space known as Sherwood Pines.
Topographical surveys undertaken by the Forestry Commission in 2011 depict the earthworks.
My images start by looking at the area which contains WW1 trenches and the replica built for the centenary in 2014 by Philip and Courtney Wilkinson.
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| View from Vicar Water Viewpoint looking out over Sherwood Pines |
Clipstone is now dominated by the twin headstocks. The slag heap was turned into a viewpoint within a country park which shows the type of heathland familiar to the soldiers. This is near the original site of Clipstone Camp. Clipstone forest (modern day Sherwood Pines) is in the distance – a 3 mile march for the soldiers to the training trenches.
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| Clipstone Forest WW1 trenches in clearing |
The site of the WW1 trenches is around the patch of clearing but also extends in the direction of the visitor centre.
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| Original WW1 trench |
In Clipstone Forest which extends to the south of Clipstone the locals find the original rifle, pistol and machine gun trenches, possibly used by many battalions including the UPS Royal Fusiliers, the 16th Service Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, 17th Service Battalion (first footballers) and 18th Service Battalion (1st public works) . Over time, the sides have collapsed and they are not as deep as they once were. Trench construction was zig-zag or circular in shape.
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| Original WW1 trench |
The Forestry Commission are in the process of felling the trees in this area, although no-one works on Sundays, making the area accessible.
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| Position of reconstructed WW1 trench |
The reconstructed WW1 trench is situated just off the main fire road extending from the visitor centre. Philip and Courtney Wilkinson (who worked on Stephen Spielburg’s War Horse set), use reclaimed timber found in the skip.
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| Land surrounding the reconstructed trench |
The land surrounding the reconstruction is designed to look as if it has been involved in a mortar attack.
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| The reconstructed trench area |
Areas also included in the trench are an office, privy and kitchen. The ground is completely uneven suggesting bomb holes.
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| The shape of the reconstructed trench is comparable to the original. |
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| The curved trench |
Part of the trench is accessible to visitors enabling them to witness the scale of the place.
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| Inside the trench |
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| The trench |
Hugh Mannall, Heritage Manager with the Forestry Commission (Chad 2013) “This is something which we have been thinking about for the last 20 years and it has been in planning for the last 3.” http://www.chad.co.uk/features-columnists/clipstone-camp-brought-back-to-life-1-6107692 (accessed November 2015). Following my study of WW1 trench photographs, I think this modern reconstruction bears resemblance to the original WW1 structures and see it as a great educational resource within the Forest. I hope it can illustrate to school children the size of the trench and type of buildings found within it and how vulnerable the soldiers felt, although without sound, smoke and weather it will not replace life on the battlefield. I compared it to images I took in 2014 and the wood has weathered plants grown, although with the surrounding fence it does define it as a place.
How I could extend the project?
I became interested in the area’s history and involvement in WW1 whilst watching the reconstruction take shape and discovering the old trenches. This project could be extended to look at other aspects of the war. I could take some of the images from Marple’s “Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield Area in WW1 (2013) and explore today’s landscape, layering one over the other as Shimon Attie has done in “Writing on the Wall (1992-4).
References
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com (accessed November 2015)
Marples (2013) Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield Area in World War 1; The impact of a large military presence in a North Nottinghamshire community, Forest Town Heritage Group, UK
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/?_r=1 (accessed November 2015)
http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/plan.htm (accessed Nov 2015)
Strauss DL (2003) Between the Eyes; Essays on Photography and politics, Aperture Books, New York
Wells L (2009) Photography: A critical introduction, Routledge, UK
Sontag S (1979) On Photography, Penguin, UK
http://www.chad.co.uk/features-columnists/clipstone-camp-brought-back-to-life-1-6107692 (accessed November 2015)
Bibliography (All accessed November 2015)
Local history
Marples (2013) Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield Area in World War 1; The impact of a large military presence in a North Nottinghamshire community, Forest Town Heritage Group, UK
Trenches and WW1
Photography
Sontag S (1979) On Photography, Penguin, UK
Strauss DL (2003) Between the Eyes; Essays on Photography and politics, Aperture Books, New York
Wells L (2009) Photography: A critical introduction, Routledge, UK
General
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