Imagine an idyllic English village scene, a flowing river, country cottage, and a picturesque bridge, with families enjoying a picnic at the water’s edge, the perfect view of traditional country life, a Constable painting or picture postcard perhaps. This is Ashford in the Water in the heart of the Peak District, where I live. Within a few metres of this view, and generally overlooked by visitors to the area, is a building in decay, neglected through the passing of time. In the earlier part of the last century, the land on which it stands, is believed to have connections with a farming family, the Daybells, and formed part of an old road, now replaced by the A6 trunk road. As a resident of seven years, this project began from a newcomers perspective, as a photographic documentary of The Barn and a growing fascination into the history of the village. This structure, clearly built for purpose, is slowly being reclaimed by nature, as the trees and web covered ivy gradually envelop the cracked walls of the building. The River Wye may also be making its own more destructive claim on the land, as shifts in weather patterns increase through climate change. The past is written in history, the present is a continuation of that, acknowledged through my picture making, while the future of The Barn still remains uncertain.

“Picturesque pictures are like a soft warm blanket of sentiment which covers everybody’s idea about the countryside…it idealises the countryside in a very unreal way.” Fay Godwin