The Carbon Forest
Over the course of the workshop sessions, I have been continuing work recently started, photographing ancient trees in the Sherwood Forest nature reserve at Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire. A remnant of a once much larger royal hunting forest synonymous with the legends of Robin Hood, the reserve is home to the famous Major Oak, one of the fifty Great Trees of Britain, estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old. I used to play in this forest as a child but my undeveloped sense of time meant I could never fully appreciate or understand the age and wisdom of these trees. Revisiting them as an adult, I have a renewed fascination with these gnarled beings and a keener awareness of how precious they are, particularly in the midst of the climate crisis.
Sherwood Forest is a symbolic place bound up in folklore and traditions, but it is also an industrial place. Deep beneath the forest lie rich seams of coal that have been mined for generations by local men at the nearby collieries of Thoresby, Ollerton, Welbeck and Bilsthorpe. Thoresby Colliery, the closest to the Sherwood Forest nature reserve, only ceased operations in 2015. For my contribution to this project, I have sequenced together new photographs of ancient Sherwood Forest trees, with portraits of mineworkers at Thoresby Colliery, taken during the weeks prior to its closure. Plans showing the mining tunnels in the area and a studio photo of my grandfather’s Davy lamp refer to my family connection to the area and its industrial past. In presenting this varied material together, I am drawing attention to the often-overlooked industrial heritage of Sherwood Forest, marking the end of a fossil fuel dependent era, and highlighting the importance of preserving and respecting our ancient woodland in the fight against climate change.
This series of images, bringing together work from my archive alongside new photographs made in Sherwood Forest, forms my contribution to the Stories from the Forest, Stories from the Sea project.
Aerial view showing the proximity of Thoresby Colliery (ceased operations 2015) to Sherwood Forest
My grandfather’s Davy lamp from his time as a pit Deputy
Hollow trunk, Robert’s Plantation, Sherwood Forest
Dave Ramsdale, Winder, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Plan of Thoresby Colliery mining tunnels
Braced Ancient Oak, Queen Oak Plantation, Sherwood Forest
Pithead conveyor, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
The Major Oak, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Plan of Thoresby Colliery mining tunnels
Mark Ross, Belt Repair Workshop, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Ancient oak in a clearing, Sherwood Forest
Lamp room, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Hollow trunk of an ancient Oak, Seymour Grove, Sherwood Forest
A mineworker among the slag heaps, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Burled ancient oak, Sherwood Forest
Slag heap and conveyor housing, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Ancient Oak among ferns, Birklands, Sherwood Forest
Ashley Makins taking a tea break, Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire
Tracks into the forest, Robert’s Plantation, Sherwood Forest