Tor And Marsh

Can there be anything more iconic to Somerset than the Glastonbury Tor?

The problem with photographing any iconic landmark like the Grande Canal or the Colosseum in Rome is that they’ve all been shot a million times before. 

The best angles are often the ones most photographed from so putting a new slant in your style is the challenge otherwise you’re simply churning out the same view on a different day.

At some point in my life I remember reading that Somerset comes from the latin word Summerseata ‘Land Of The Summer People’ as much of the land was under water 6,500 years ago and only habitable during the summer months.

Having remembered read this I decided I wanted to create an image of the Tor rising above a flooded landscape and I knew just the place Catcott Lows Nature Reserve on the Avalon Marshes.

During the winter months the area around Catcott Lows floods and is home too many species of birds.

With the correct timing I was able to visit and compose my image filling the foreground with some ancient flooded marsh land with the iconic Tor rising above as it has done for centuries before.