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3:33 PM 6th January 2021
arts

Hill Farming In A Phone Box

 
‘A Year in Hill Farming’ is the title of the new exhibition at the Gallery on the Green in Settle, the former telephone box, believed to be the world’s smallest art gallery.

Ingleborough Fell
Ingleborough Fell
The exhibition by local photographer John Bentley opens on January 8 and runs until March 12.

Gallery on the Green is one of the few art galleries that can remain open despite coronavirus restrictions, mainly because being located in a former telephone box it is impossible to lock the door. The organisers encourage local people to call in as part of their one visit out of the house for exercise purposes but ask them to limit themselves to just to one visitor in the gallery at any one time, visitors are also asked to maintain social distancing and ensure they wash their hands after returning from their visit.

The photographs in the new exhibition document the sheep farming year in the uplands of Yorkshire and Cumbria. They have been taken over the past six years by John who is based in Settle and is fascinated by the cycle and traditions of the farming year, the diversity of sheep and hill farming and the dedication of individual farmers and localities to particular breeds.

Tan Hill Sheep Show
Tan Hill Sheep Show
John says:
“To me it is very important to document the industry as it stands and I am very respectful of the history and traditions of sheep farming and its social and economic importance to the Dales and the rural north of England. There are economic and environmental pressures on the industry and this past year has, of course, also seen the impact of Covid-19, meaning that the gatherings for the traditional shows and sales (as depicted in many of the photographs) could no longer take place in the usual way. The photographs in the exhibition document the sheep breeds, the people who rear / buy / sell them, the workings of the farming calendar and the environment and the infrastructure of hill farming. “

John Bentley
John Bentley
John has been a keen photographer for over 40 years. He has a wide range of photographic interests including live concert photography, landscape, travel and documentary photography. While John contributes news and stock photographs to a national press agency he is retired from full-time employment and able to devote his time to his personal photographic projects. In 2016/17 he was a contributor to the ‘Voices from the Land’ exhibition (initially staged at Hawes Countryside Centre), which focussed on interviewing and photographing farmers in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. His wide range of photographic work can be viewed online at-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_arc-images/collections

John says:
“When I moved to Settle my farming photo project was mainly centred around photographing agricultural shows, livestock markets and sheepdog trials. In particular, sheep shows like Tan Hill and the various Lake District Shepherds’ Meets started to loom large in the coverage. Becoming an ‘addict’ of sorts, I was drawn into photographing the world of hill sheep farming. There is still so much to photograph in the realm of sheep, but in the meantime in this exhibition I’ve tried to paint a picture of how the farming year pans out, including putting the tups with the ewes (or ‘yows’) in autumn, pregnancy testing, spring lambing, fell gathers, shearing, shows and sales and haymaking. I’ve tried to record the people, the animals, the activities, the infrastructure, the landscape and environment and the seasons. I find lots of aspects to photograph, although Covid-19 has obviously limited my progress over the past year".