Fay Godwin was a walker, in fact between 1987 and 1990 she was president of the Ramblers' Association. Born in Berlin in 1931, much of her early walking was on the clearly marked paths of the Austrian Alps, but she also came to love the public footpaths in England, especially the fact that she could walk through domestic farming landscapes. Bill Bryson in his latest book The Road to Little Dribbling also makes the same comment. Her walking eventually led her to the idea of working on a photographic walking guide, The Oldest Road: An Exploration of the Ridgeway. She comments in her introductory essay that it was extraordinary that government agencies and others so often try to stop people photographing our heritage. They think, she says that they can censor us as well as try to copyright the landscape. During her research and photography she experienced blocked and vanished footpaths and farmers complete with shotguns and dogs. She argues that whatever one's view of bloodsports, the general public is denied access to large tracts of land so that just a few can enjoy them. She is particularly interested in the fact that virtually no landscape in Britain has not been worked or affected by human use. It was only in later life, she writes, that that she realised the extent of the degradation of the landscape and our food supplies, arguing that the two are inseparable. Apart from her passion for walking, she says, she looks to the countryside to provide the food and untainted water to sustain her bodily needs. She decries the fact that farming is big business driven by its support industries: fertilizer, spray, antibiotics, machinery manufacturers, banks and government. The heavy machinery that is used pulverises the soil and destroys its microlife. Forestry is another business that angers her as it closes off much land from public access and some of our most beautiful land has been obliterated by sterile and monotonous blocks of conifers. Fortunately today there is more enlightenment in the forestry industry than when Godwin published Forbidden Land and even Godwin, herself notes an improvement in their practices. She criticises the fact that the Thatcher Government forced the commission to sell off some of its lands, and when it did so, it did not protect public access. She criticises the Thatcher Government for giving public access to the countryside a very low priority. She feels that traditional ways of life will be destroyed along with wildlife habitats. She finds some small cheer in the introduction of the Farm Woodland Scheme in 1988 which has received more subsidies and encouraged broad-leaved woodlands. She discusses water privatisation which she feels is one of the biggest threats to access to open countryside. She makes the case that military demand for land is insatiable and that they attempted to acquire on the the last great wilderness areas in Scotland, a mountain wilderness called Knoydart (my italics), but it was bought by the newly formed John Muir Trust, whose aim is to conserve and protect wild land for future generations, while respecting the needs and aspirations of those living in such areas. She complains that the military does not feel a responsibility to remove the hideous messes it has made in the landscape. She takes an anti-nuclear stance and comments that the fine wilderness of Dungeness, with its unique shingle bank has been lost along with billions squandered on radioactive waste. I am prompted to wonder what she would have made of the current problems of climate change caused or at least exacerbated, by the burning of fossil fuels. The third largest landowner in Britain is the National Trust for which has parise writing that by and large its record is impressive. Her introduction concludes with a section on environmental organisations and finishes on a more optimistic note.
In a Guardian article from 2011, Margaret Drabble agrees that this is an impassioned attack on the countryside. Her Personal Voice certainly rings out loud and clear. Drabble says that the photographic documentary is eloquent and illustrated with a range of poetry, which I enjoyed and felt makes an illuminating accompaniment to the images and introductory essay.
This book is a bold outcry against the destruction of our landscape, tellingly told through her photography and essay. It thoroughly deserved the first ever Green Book of the Year award.
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