Lake District Landscape and Language: Lost & Found, Our 85th Birthday exhibition opens

Friends of the Lake District’s Landscape and Language; Lost and Found exhibition, which opens at the Rheged Centre, Penrith, on 17 September 2019, uses words and photographs to create a bridge spanning and celebrating the 85 years of the life of the charity from 1934 to 2019.

Photos in the exhibition include historic Lakeland scenes taken from photographer Gwen Bertelsman’s book ‘Lakeland Life in the 1940s and 1950s’ juxtaposed with photographs of the same scenes as they look today, by renowned local photographers Rosamund and John MacFarlane.

Accompanying the photos are ‘lost’ words for landscape taken inspired by their son and author Robert MacFarlane’s award winning and bestselling books “The Lost Words” and “Landmarks,” and ‘new’ words for landscape features created by local children.

Douglas Chalmers, of Friends of the Lake District said: “Comparing old and new not only reminds us what we may have lost, but what we still have, and illustrates how we have moved on.

“Photographs show landscapes through time, and so does language. Communities in remote, rural areas have always had their own words, including those for describing the landscape and nature around them, reflecting their strong sense of place and local identity.
“We wanted to celebrate these local dialects and the unique words and expressions which we risk losing.

“Our Exhibition – Lake District Landscape and Language: Lost and Found - will show you photographs of Cumbria “Then and Now” but, excitingly, will also compare the local country words of the past with a new set of words created by children today, which express their interest and sense of wonder in the natural world around them.”

The exhibition runs from 17th September until 29th October at the Rheged Centre, and will move to other venues later.

It is open to the public and free.

About Friends of the Lake District

In 2019 landscape conservation charity Friends of the Lake District celebrates its 85th birthday.

Friends of the Lake District was launched at a public rally in Fitz Park, Keswick in 1934 after growing recognition and awareness that the Lake District was a unique landscape deserving of the highest level of protection. During the 1930s and 1940s, Friends of the Lake District played a crucial role in the campaign for the Lake District to become a national park.

Since then, the charity has continued, with the passionate support of its members:

• To protect the Lake District and Cumbrian landscapes through campaigning, planning and policy work; sustaining the rich, diverse, living pattern of landscape, wildlife and culture that makes Cumbria such a unique place.

• To engage and inspire people to become landscape caretakers and custodians of this remarkable place; actively encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds, both local and visitors, to experience and enjoy the county’s amazing landscapes.

About Rosamund and John MacFarlane

Rosamund Macfarlane took up photography seriously over fifteen years ago after retiring from medical research work, while her husband, John, has developed his skills over the past decade.

They moved to Loweswater in the Lake District in 2008, after he retired as Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Nottingham. Since then, they have continued their passion for photography, mountain walking, wildlife and travel.

In 2015, both had pictures ‘highly commended’ in the British Wildlife Photography Awards; John was awarded a second place in category in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards, and Rosamund was a finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, with her picture selected as one of the final 100 pictures out of over 42,000 entries from around the world.

They worked closely with the National Trust for the popular Word Hoard exhibition held at Wordsworth House in 2017 and provided all the photographs. They have contributed numerous images to Julian Cooper's multi artist exhibition "The Unpicturesque" held at the Heaton Cooper Gallery in Grasmere this year.