Commons Stories
Commons Stories is a collection of stories from four upland common regions across England: Dartmoor, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and the Shropshire Hills.
You’ll find written and photographic portraits of people, short videos, audio clips, and reflections on events through the year, as well as reflections on some of the challenges of building sustainable futures for people and landscape in these special places.
The collection is put together by somewhere nowhere duo, writer Harriet Fraser and photographer Rob Fraser, with contributions from commoners using GoPro cameras to capture snippets of their day-to-day lives on the farm and in the hills.
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Video Diary: East Okement Farm, Using the Common
Darren Penna from East Okement Farm shows the view from his upland farm in Dartmoor. This short video is taken as Darren looks out across the commons, and explains how the commons are used for grazing.
Richard Gray : Commoner, Dartmoor
Richard runs Priddons Farm, which sits just below Holne Common, with his wife and his mother. Richard continues a long family tradition of farming in Holne parish, with rights to graze on Holne Common and The Forest of Dartmoor.
Poem: What you might learn when laying a hedge
A poem about hedge laying, inspired by a day with Jeremy Weiss in Dartmoor National Park.
The art of hedge laying - the interwoven cycle of life
There are an estimated 33,000 miles of hedges in Dartmoor, which can offer wildlife shelters and corridors, as well as crucial field boundaries. Harriet and Rob meet Jeremy Weiss, who leads a course in hedgelaying as part of the Our Upland Commons project, and find out more about the benefits of a well-laid hedge for hedges, people and wildlife.
Helen and Darren Penna : Commoners, Dartmoor
An introduction to Dartmoor farmers and commoners, Helen and Darren Penna, at East Okement Farm
