I just couldn't wait to share this with you. Back in November you may remember my post about the fallen ash tree on the Leicestershire / Rutland border. And my observation that it recalled Paul Nash's Monster Field, his photographs of felled trees taking on the attitude of crawling timber terrors. Every Saturday since I have driven over the bridge next to the leviathan, and on a number of occasions noticed a Landrover pulled up beside it and heard the hornet buzz of a chainsaw. So yesterday morning we parked on the snowy verge and I vaulted over the gate. (Well, alright then, climbed unsteadily.) I need say no more about my one-eyed friend, but equally remarkable are the colours and shapes, immediately redolent of a Paul Nash painting, or, for that matter, one by his brother John. My hand starts twitching to prise open the watercolour box.
It's looking more and more like the Nash photograph. If someone starts ripping the bark off and teasing bits of the wood out into fibrous strands, you'll know they're winding you up. Meanwhile, out with those paints.
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
4 comments:
marvelous - I should run !
It's looking more and more like the Nash photograph. If someone starts ripping the bark off and teasing bits of the wood out into fibrous strands, you'll know they're winding you up. Meanwhile, out with those paints.
Like a giant reptile about to pounce. Well spotted. Yes Peter, get the paints out. You'd make a fortune.....
Thanks Toby, I bloody well need to.
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