Reclamation

By the canal bridge in Mytholmroyd. Gerard Liston

RECLAMATION A chance to open our eyes to the power of nature on our doorstep

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Another world is not only possible, She is on her way.

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing Arundhati Roy

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It is easy for us to feel helpless when faced with the scale of climate change and biodiversity loss, perhaps hoping some unnamed others will find a solution. But we can be agents of positive change in our own ecosystems through local, small-scale action. If only we will give nature a chance.

Research* reveals that the UK ranks lowest of 14 European countries for ‘nature connectedness’ and wellbeing and that ‘countries with a high level of smartphone ownership were strongly associated with a more distant relationship to nature.’ And yet the evidence – including experience during COVID lockdowns – shows that a connection to nature can improve human and planetary wellbeing.

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So, ‘Reclamation’ is a challenge to use our smartphones to take photographs of nature restored, instead of just seeing nature unravelling on our TV screens. It is an opportunity to open our eyes and see nature’s ability to recover from man-made development in our own neighbourhood.

As part of the Hebden Bridge Arts' 2023 Open Space 70 environmental arts festival, a community workshop led by photographer Gerard Liston and conservation expert Paul Knights encouraged local people to take photographs about reclamation by nature in the Upper Calder Valley, whether an ivy-clad chimney or grass growing through the cracks in the pavement.

* https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/23/britain-ranks-bottom-in-europe-for-nature-connectiveness

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Alongside the canal in Mytholmroyd. Gerard Liston

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Outside St Michael’s in Mytholmroyd. Gerard Liston

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Behind the medical centre in Mytholmroyd. Gerard Liston

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Mytholmroyd Station. Gerard Liston

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By the rail station in Mytholmroyd. Gerard Liston 11

Ivy clambers up and camouflages a long-disused mill chimney. Birch trees and dandelions spring from between the cracks in an abandoned pub car park.

Moss and nettles and ash trees bear down on a sagging old shed. The images in this photobook show that there is evidence everywhere that nature will respond and recover if allowed, that it will reclaim space and resources that humans have taken from it.

Such scenes can, of course, be tinged with melancholy at the human creation that has been neglected and is being lost – a bramble-twined bench, a fence being consumed by wild growth, a farmhouse succumbing to the elements. But this is balanced with another perspective: the hopefulness in being reminded that nature is rambunctious and always ready to revive and reclaim.

The theme of this project was reclamation, which we can think of as a nature-driven process that happens in the space created by human abandonment, whether this is through neglect or design.

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It is in contrast to the human-managed process of ecological restoration. In many cases, human assistance for the rehabilitation of natural areas is essential. But sometimes we would do well to relax our tendency to control it, the very trait that has caused so much of the environmental damage that needs repairing. Instead of allowing only licenced and carefully-managed species reintroductions, we could be more open to unexpected arrivals. We need not always create new woodlands by planting the trees ourselves in rows of plastic tubes, but could sometimes allow them to naturally regenerate how they will. These images show that nature has always been ready to reclaim control, long before the term we now apply to this alternative to traditional nature conservation management – rewilding – became a buzzword. We just have to be prepared to do that thing that comes most unnaturally to us; to let go.

Paul Knights

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Newly-dug ponds at High Hirst Woodmeadow. Paul Knights

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Old Birchcliffe graveyard. Paul Knights

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Nutclough Woods. Paul Knights

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Jumble Hole Clough. Lizzie Lockhart

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Jumble Hole Clough. Lizzie Lockhart

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Winters, Blackshawhead. Lizzie Lockhart

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By the towpath near Hebden Bridge. John Adamson

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Between Stoodley Pike and Cragg Vale. Carly Morel

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Disturbed roadside verge on Cragg Vale. Graham Ramsden

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Near Gibson Mill. Liz Hutchinson

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Near Lumb Bank. Liz Hutchinson

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By Hebble End in Hebden Bridge. Liz Hutchinson

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Industrial building near Callis. Liz Hutchinson

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Between Hebden Bridge station and Mytholmroyd. Dorothy Simister

Gatepost in Todmorden. Graham Ramsden

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Banksfield Estate. Carolyn Mayborn

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Burlees House, Hebden Bridge. Lisa Graham

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Abandoned pub car park, Luddendenfoot. John Adamson

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Wild garlic, Lumbutts Clough. John Adamson

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Above Edge Lane in Colden. Richard Peters 43

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Midgley Moor. Su O’Brien 45

Jute Shed, Dean Clough, Halifax. Su O’Brien

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Higher Underbank, Charlestown. Lizzie Lockhart

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Far Nook, Old Town. Heather Morris

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Cuckoo Steps, Hebden Bridge. Heather Morris

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Above the New Delight pub, Colden. Richard Peters 50

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Mayroyd Moorings, Hebden Bridge. Gary Parkinson-Fraser

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Beaumont View, Hebden Bridge. John Adamson

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By the Rochdale Canal. John Adamson

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Hebden Bridge. Nicola Jones

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Pinfold Lane, near Sowerby. Stephanie Penny

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Abandoned allotments by Mearclough Bridge. Stephanie Penny

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Around Mytholmroyd. Bethan Bayley (age 12 yrs)

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Paddy Bridge Road, Mytholmroyd. Karen Doherty 64

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Far Nook, Wadsworth. Adrian Crowther

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Old burial ground off Sandy Gate, Hebden Bridge. Adrian Crowther

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Calder Place, Hebden Bridge. Jen Dodds

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Thrush Hill Road and Ashton Road, Mytholmroyd. Byron Bayley (age 7 yrs)

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Canalside and Walkley Clog Mill site. Braeden Bayley (age 15 yrs)

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Old Mytholmroyd Farm and rail bridge, Mytholmroyd. Hazel Li

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Victoria Road, Hebden Bridge. Karen Wilcock

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Scout Bottom Lane, Mythomroyd. Sheila McAnulty

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Goose Gate, Callis Wood. Sian Ahern

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Jumble Hole Clough. Morrigan Bayley

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Looking towards Dodd Naze, Hebden Bridge. Nicola Jones 85

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Mayroyd Moorings, Hebden Bridge. Rebekah Fozard

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Alongside cycle track, Hebden Bridge. Nicola Jones

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Gerard Liston gerard@objective.uk.com

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