Category Archives: Fen Landscape

Fen Landscape – Reach

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Brian Human

Reach, Wednesday.  Parked in the village, climbed up onto the Devil’s Dyke and walked south-east between hedges rich with autumnal fruits, hips, haws, sloes and blackberries.  Just before the line of the old railway we dropped down to the right … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – All Saints Cottenham

Posted on September 19, 2021 by Brian Human

The low sun picks out the tower of All Saints, Cottenham, against an approaching stormy sky. Pevsner writes: ‘The one feature one remembers about Cottenham church is the tower with its odd stepped battlements and bulbous ogee pinnacles. It is … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Cottenham

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Brian Human

Sun setting over North Fen, Cottenham, mid-August 2021.

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Fen Landscape – Cottenham

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Brian Human

Low evening sun illuminates trees in bold relief against an approaching leaden sky. Edge of Cottenham, August 2021.

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Fen Landacape – North Fen, Cottenham

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Brian Human

It’s too easy to focus on the scale and drama of the skies in the Fens. It’s important to look to the land for the features that help to define this extraordinary landscape.

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Fen Landscape – Rampton

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Brian Human

Late afternoon walk out along Cow Lane yesterday. A dozen young bullocks at a water trough. Pheasants running for cover. Ripening blackberries. An uncut field of a mysterious grass-like crop. Joggers and cyclists; and cars raising dust along the newly … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – North Fen, Cottenham

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Brian Human

Walking out onto North Fen under a bi-polar sky, yesterday evening.  Clear sky and bright sun to the east; slate skies of an approaching front to the west.  Trees and buildings, hedges and stubble illuminated in a diorama relief.

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Fen Landscape Revisited

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Brian Human

Further to recent posts after my visit to RSPB Lakenheath, three photographs from the archives. The Padnal signal box Shippea Hill; it always looked as if it was about to collapse before it succumbed to fire. The Wellingtonia (if that … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Lakenheath New Fen

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Brian Human

According to historian on the Fens, W H Wheeler,: ‘so wild a country naturally reared up a people as wild as the fen, and many of the Fenmen were as destitute of all the comforts and amenities of civilised life … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Poplars

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Brian Human

The poplar plantations are a striking feature of RSPB Lakenheath – the trees thrive on the moist soil and the mild/temperate climate. There are many 40-60 year old plantations throughout the British lowlands, including the Fens, as a result of Wilkinsons … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Little Ouse

Posted on August 17, 2021 by Brian Human

The Little Ouse marks the northern edge of the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath, flowing through rough pasture between raised embankments. It rises east of Thelnetham, flows west and defines the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk for much of its length.  After 37 miles it … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Lakenheath

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Brian Human

To Lakenheath over slumped, rodeo roads yesterday.  A once familiar route from Ely through Queen Adelaide, Prickwillow, Shippea Hill and down towards Beck Row.  Still a landscape of dykes, big fields, lonely farms, straight roads and sharp bends.  Still an … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Cottenham

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Brian Human

Early evening walk, Cottenham, 3rd July 2021.

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Fen Landscape – Wicken Fen

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Brian Human

A gathering of the Konik ponies at Wicken Fen yesterday.  With hundreds of acres of grazing to choose from, what’s the attraction on a patch of mud? ‘Herds of free roaming Konik ponies …  are helping to engineer new habitats … Continue reading →

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Fen Landscape – Rampton

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Brian Human

Walked out along Cow Lane, Rampton, yesterday – early to beat the sun. A favourite fen stroll. The scent of elder flowers has replace the cow parsley. A weasel and a muntjac deer ran across the road ahead of us. … Continue reading →

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