I have been walking around exploring and documenting my local area for several years now. To begin with I was simply looking to show the, often surprising, beauty of a former mining town on the edge of farmland that isn’t known for being ‘picturesque’ or a ‘beauty spot’. Most of my time walking with my camera was spent seeking out the waterfalls and other features of the local landscape.

During the various COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 I became bored with simply walking the same ‘beat’ locally and photographing the same things so I decided to look for new paths, literally and figuratively.

After looking at, and reading about, the work of photographers such as John Blakemore, Fay Godwin and Paul Hill, I began to think about documenting my local area in a way that reflects its industrial history and to show how landscape and architectural features change with time.

This also led me to looking at ways to address more universal concerns such as mental health (particularly social isolation and depression) and the damage being done to the natural environment by the actions of people while still working within my local area.