The photographs in this section document eerie nature, occasional glimpses into the more uncanny and sinister aspects of the countryside and its villages I’ve encountered on my various itineraries. Nature-as-nightmare is one of the main motifs and insights of the folk horror genre; as well as being a picturesque, cosy, even healing environment, it discloses a rural assemblage that can be equally full of danger, oddness, and inscrutable things and meanings.
Alstonefield, Derbyshire.
Wetton, Derbyshire.
Birchover, Derbyshire.
Mupe Bay, Dorset.
Thornhill, Derbyshire.
Endon, Staffordshire.
Padley Gorge, Derbyshire.
Brafferton, North Yorkshire.
Toad stone. Millstone Edge, Derbyshire.
Eckington, Derbyshire.
Eckington, Derbyshire.
Eckington, Derbyshire.
Yearsley Woods, North Yorkshire.
Brafferton Spring Wood, North Yorkshire.
Jacob's Ladder, Edale, Derbyshire.
Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Tortoise rock. Grindslow Knoll, Derbyshire.
Trent and Mersey Canal, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Langsett Reservoir, South Yorkshire.
Brafferton Spring Wood, North Yorkshire.
Rosehips in witch country. St Osyth, Essex.
Churchyard portal. Holy Trinity, Loddon, Norfolk.
Escape from Hob Moor. York, North Yorkshire.
Uisken, Isle of Mull.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, West Yorkshire.
No swimming in the infected swamp. Whirlow, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Hope, Derbyshire.
Eighteenth-century guide stoop. Beeley Moor, Derbyshire.
Back Edge, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Yearsley Woods, North Yorkshire.
Horror tree. Lyndhurst, Hampshire.
Keeper of the egg stall. Dunwich, Suffolk.
Wyming Brook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Give way to toads. Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Thetford Forest, Norfolk.
Keeper of the witch marks. Creswell Crags, Derbyshire.
Flash, Staffordshire.
Brandside, Staffordshire.
Shop Farm, Brandside, Staffordshire.
Not the bees. St Olave, York, North Yorkshire.
Fionnphort, Isle of Mull.
Covehithe, Suffolk.
At Mother Ludlam's Cave the trees have eyes. Farnham, Surrey.
Ardtun, Isle of Mull.
Bamford, Derbyshire.
Horses. Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Stone head. Craig, Isle of Mull.
Horror tree. Stowlangtoft, Suffolk.
Rivington, Lancashire.
Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Ovine watcher. Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Thetford Forest, Norfolk.
Grimacing sugar beet. Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Carsaig, Isle of Mull.
Snowden Hill, South Yorkshire.
Opium poppy. Petersfield Physic Garden, Hampshire.
Ardtun, Isle of Mull.
Octopus tree. Gormire Lake, North Yorkshire.
Mushroom stone. Grindslow Knoll, Derbyshire.
Lochbuie, Isle of Mull.
Glebe garden, St Peter, Heysham, Lancashire.
The Roaches, Derbyshire.
Blackbrook Wood, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Welcome. Glebe garden, St Peter, Heysham, Lancashire.
Ardalanish, Isle of Mull.
Tin Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Nidd Gorge, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
Help is at hand. Bamford, Derbyshire.
Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Moonrise. River Ure, Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Newby Hall, Skelton-on-Ure, North Yorkshire.
Endon, Staffordshire.
Green Woman, Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Mam Tor, Derbyshire.
Edale, Derbyshire.
Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire.
Trent and Mersey Canal, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Tideswell, Derbyshire.
Buck Beck Beach Bench, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.
The Roman Road, tramped by the ghosts of ancient legionnaires. Hope, Derbyshire.
Goyt Valley, Staffordshire.
Mulgrave Woods, North Yorkshire.
Bamford, Derbyshire.
Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Buxton, Derbyshire.
Langsett Reservoir, South Yorkshire.
Toad's mouth, Hathersage, Derbyshire.
Derwent, Derbyshire.
Edale Cross, Pennine Way, Derbyshire.
Barnsley Main Colliery, South Yorkshire.
Little house on the prairie (moor). Upper Booth, Derbyshire.
Football fan. Great Hucklow, Derbyshire.
Cork stone. Stanton Moor, Derbyshire.
Bradwell, Derbyshire.
Tortoise rock, Millstone Edge, Derbyshire.
Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Coach and Horses, Derwent Edge, Derbyshire.
Birchover, Derbyshire.
Ladybower Reservoir, Derbyshire.
Great Hucklow, Derbyshire.
Mushroom stone. Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire.
Snail cupboard. Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Buxton, Derbyshire.
Flash, Staffordshire.
Bradwell, Derbyshire.
Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.
Patriots. Youlgrave, Derbyshire.
Gormire Lake, North Yorkshire.
Birchover, Derbyshire.
Pig rock. Woolpacks, Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.
Woodhouse, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Face stone. Woolpacks, Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.
St Joseph's Shrine, Goyt Valley, Staffordshire.
Gormire Lake, North Yorkshire.
Hope, Derbyshire.
Newby Hall, Skelton-on-Ure, North Yorkshire.
Tin Mill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire.
Ringinglow, South Yorkshire.
Grindleford, Derbyshire.
Parkwood Springs, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Terraced Gardens, Rivington, Lancashire.
Monk Bretton Priory, Lundwood, South Yorkshire.
Wharncliffe Woods, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Trent and Mersey Canal, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Toad stone. Fyfield Down, Avebury, Wiltshire.
St John, Bamford, Derbyshire.
Green Moor, South Yorkshire.
Sheep crossing. Raven's Low, Buxton, Derbyshire.
Eckington, South Yorkshire.
Graveyard daffodils. St Andrew, Aldborough, North Yorkshire.
Castleton, Derbyshire.
Pet ceme-tree. Woodhouse, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Kimberworth, South Yorkshire.
Kimberworth, South Yorkshire.
Kimberworth, South Yorkshire.
Wetton, Derbyshire.
Ruanaich, Iona.
Parkwood Springs, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Castleton, Derbyshire.
Family portrait. Rivington, Lancashire.
Mam Tor, Derbyshire.
Barnby Dun, South Yorkshire.
Stanton in Peak, Derbyshire.
Fox Lane Cross, erected by the monks of Beauchief Abbey in the thirteenth century. Ramsley Moor, Derbyshire.
Smiling doorknob. Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Oxspring Dam, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Snowden Hill, South Yorkshire.
30. Grindleford, Derbyshire.
Hope, Derbyshire.
Burbage Moor, Derbyshire.
Face stone. Ramshaw Rocks, Staffordshire.
Castleton, Derbyshire.
Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire.
Middleton-by-Youlgrave, Derbyshire.
Endon, Staffordshire.
Kiveton Park, South Yorkshire.