Sonder Bikes
Using photography to help children get out and explore their local wild places
Mary-Ann Ochota is patron of the Ridgeway National Trail and when she contacted the Alpkit Foundation to support a photography workshop that engaged children to explore nature on their local national trail, we were more than delighted to help out. Thanks Mary-Ann for letting us know how it all went!
What happens when you take 390 primary school children and some groups of girl guides to an ancient trail, show them how to use a camera, and then let them loose to capture what they see? It turns out you get some stunning photographs and you nurture seeds of creativity and adventure that can last a lifetime.
That was the goal when the Ridgeway50 Photo project was devised. A professional photographer, Matt Writtle, would take 25 photos of the landscape along the length of the 140km Ridgeway National Trail in south east England. Then a league of school kids who live close to the trail but might have never visited it, take part in photography workshops, visit the trail and capture 25 more shots.
“It was super steep at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon. It made me really happy to be there, and I felt like a real photographer. When people spend time in nature it helps them understand more about what’s happening with wildlife, and it makes them smarter.” Huzaifah, age 10
The incredible results of their work, beautifully nurtured by professional photography coach Lillie Spibey, are below. The images are dramatic, moving, funny, and technically very impressive. None of the images have been cropped or adjusted – these are the frames, straight out of the kids’ digital cameras.
The Ridgeway50 junior photography exhibition is on display at Queens Park Arts Centre in Aylesbury until 7th November.
However, we are delighted to share the final 25 images here.
“I really love how you can move around to frame the shot you want. You have to really notice, and look closely. You see the world from a different angle. My advice to another kid? Go out. Even if it’s raining or cold, if you look closely you’ll see the beauty of the natural world.” Alyssa, age 11
Jo Saw is the Year 3 teacher at Thomas Hickman Primary School in Aylesbury. ‘Some of our children don’t get many chances to go into the countryside and they’d never seen anything like it,’ she explains. ‘The scale of the views, getting up close to sheep, exploring and noticing the wildlife. Then learning about lighting, closeups, framing the shot…It was marvellous.’
The Ridgeway is relatively close to towns like Swindon, Reading and Luton, which means that millions of local people could benefit from the beautiful landscape, fresh air and headspace it offers. But many communities living near it don’t know it’s there, or do know about it but can’t get to it, or they don’t feel like it’s for them.
The Ridgeway50 is a small first step in tackling those issues – by introducing local kids to their trail, giving them the skills to explore the landscape creatively through photography, and helping families and communities access it, and build confidence and familiarity so they can come back to walk, play, picnic and photograph again.
Professional photographer Lillie Spibey ran the photography workshops for kids and teens, and knows the power of outdoor photography. ‘I’d see the children engage more with their surroundings, worrying less about the mud or poo under their feet, lying down on the ground to get a better shot, running and looking for the best tree to capture and feeling more confident with their camera in hand. Watching their faces as they experienced their first big view of the world from the trail, and then showing them how to creatively record it on their camera, was phenomenal. I’ll do it again in a heartbeat.’
“If you get a chance to do a photography workshop, definitely do it, it’s fun and exciting. I really like the pictures in the exhibition – I particularly like Adam’s picture of the upside down reflections – it’s cool. I think I’ll carry on taking pictures.” Charlie, age 10
The plan is to grow this programme year on year, reaching more youngsters, and working with their families and wider communities to build more opportunities to explore the trail and make lifelong connections – with their own creativity, with adventure, and with the countryside. After all, that’s what National Trails are for.
The Ridgeway is sometimes described as Britain’s Oldest Road, because sections of it date to at least 3,000BCE, during the Stone Age. It runs north east to south west, along the chalk high ground from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire, through the Chiltern Hills and across the windswept North Wessex Downs, to Avebury in Wiltshire. It’s a route some of the first visitors to Stonehenge probably walked along, Boudicca probably used it, and much later, King Alfred fought the Vikings along it. Now it’s ours – a long-distance public right of way that’s open to walkers and trail runners along its full length, and horse riders and mountain bikers along its western half. It’s well signposted and pretty easy to follow, making it a great introduction to long distance trails.
With thanks to Alpkit Foundation for providing gifts for the young photographers in the Ridgeway50 Exhibition.
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Exploring the Ridgeway
The Ridgeway National Trail runs through Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Swindon and Wiltshire. The whole path is accessible to walkers and runners, and the western half is a bridleway and restricted byway, so open to horse riders and mountain bikers too. It boasts rolling chalk hills, rare grasslands, ancient woods, pretty villages and intriguing history – from ancient tombs, to white horse hill carvings, to medieval churches and the biggest prehistoric henge in Britain – Avebury – where you can finish your walk by striding up an ancient ceremonial avenue of stones and celebrate in the tea shop or pub that sit in the middle of the stone circle.
There are 20 National Trails in the UK - long distance routes that showcase the variety and beauty of our landscapes. Other National Trails include the Pennine Way, Offa’s Dyke Path, Peddars Way and Yorkshire Wolds Way.
Some walkers through-hike the Ridgeway in about 6 days. But the route can be broken into chunks of shorter day hikes and weekends, or combined with other paths to create circular routes starting and finishing at towns and villages along the way.
Access via public transport to some sections of the trail is tricky – plan ahead and be ready to get a taxi to help you get to and from train stations and the trail.
Interested to find more information?
National Trails
The Ridgeway Trail official site, including interactive map planning tool.
Sharp Shots photo workshops and courses for kids and teens.
Sparky Guidebook to the Ridgeway Trail.
Matt Writtle’s Ridgeway50 photos