Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons project - introducing the Digital Diaries

Harriet Fraser walking with Tracy May on Willhays Tor, Dartmoor

January can bring harsh winds to the highest places of England. The kind of wind that makes you cold on the inside - a ‘lazy’ wind: too lazy to go round you, it just goes straight through. It’s a wind like this that almost blows us sideways as we stand on Willhays Tor, the highest point of Dartmoor, gazing over a massive expanse of moorland. We have to shelter behind the layered granite stones of the Tor so that we can hear one another speaking.

We’re high on Okehampton Common, looking over another common, The Forest of Dartmoor, which despite its name is not covered in trees. Around us, the moor spreads like a pale sea. Tracy May, who is a hill farmer, active commoner, and administrator on the Forest of Dartmoor HLS agreement, names the hills and tors that surround us. She points out the standing stones that mark the boundary between one common and the next.

Just one day earlier, with not a breath of wind, we walked up to Holne Common with farmer Richard Gray: sun in our faces, winter-dry bracken at our feet, hawthorns striking classical skeletal poses against a blue sky. And in previous weeks, we’ve enjoyed days out on the Shropshire Hills, in freezing drizzle, and on the fells of Yorkshire, where an incoming storm made for a stunning evening sky, all pinks and golds.

The view looking south from the edge of Brantfell Common in the Yorkshire Dales

We love this mix of weather, which is an inevitable part of upland life, and it’s lucky we have enough hats to keep us going, as throughout 2022 we will be regularly visiting upland commons in four regions around England. We will be in the company of people who love and care for these places and know them well: farmers, rangers, archaeologists, ecologists and many more.

This blog will be a space for them to share their points of view, to tell their stories about their day-to-day lives and also to discuss current challenges. What does it mean to be a commoner? Why do commons matter? What makes each common unique? What’s going on in the uplands that will support a nature-rich and culture-rich future? What can be learnt from the many people whose lives are so involved in these special places?

 Nationally and internationally, there’s a huge focus on the urgent need to do as much as possible to mitigate against climate change, and also to improve habitats and reverse the decline in biodiversity. And England’s uplands play a crucial role in creating a better future: holding on to and improving what is already good, and implementing change where this could be beneficial. 

As we talk to people about what’s happening now, and the changes ahead, we’ll be spending time in farmyards and barns, and out on the commons with farmers; in woodlands and on peat bogs; among the bracken, on archaeological sites, in meadows and along rivers.

We’ll be finding out about careful management of animals who graze on the commons and in doing so encourage a diverse mosaic of habitats; and we’ll be learning about bird surveys, peat restoration, the act of shepherding, hedge-laying, tree planting, bracken management and more. We’ll also take time out to wander, and to wonder, and to take things in slowly, making photographs and films, and building a small collection of poetry.

Sam Rawling bringing his sheep down from the common to lower pastures

We’ll be posting regularly on the blog with short films, brief interviews and photo essays. We will also be sharing footage created by farmers using GoPro cameras to capture events in their lives. The next blogs will introduce you to these people so you can follow their stories through the year. It is important to hear directly from them, as they reflect on day-to-day life and the way they work independently and collaboratively with the aim of passing these places on to future generations in better condition.

We have joined in with the Our Upland Commons projects largely because of our own attachment to these upland landscapes, particularly the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. We would never want to live away from them. It’s not just that we love being out among the fells and high moors, though. For more than ten years our work has allowed us to spend time with commoners and others who care for the uplands - the people who are always navigating changes, and who are helping to shape a positive future.

At the heart of everything in the uplands is the land itself: it speaks of a long history of farming, forestry and collaboration, with commoning at the heart of it, and when carefully nurtured has so much to offer, for people, for wildlife, for the planet.

The view looking east from Long Mynd in the Shropshire Hills AONB

Out on the highest commons, there’s often little to focus a camera on, especially in winter when a monochrome land rolls on and on. But what you capture on the image is not the whole story. Under the surface, there is much to be revealed, and many different elements come into play, whether this is river courses, peat bogs, hard-to-find ground-nesting birds,or the culture of farmers and commoners, sharing knowledge of a landscape that many people love, but few know well. The image becomes a metaphor for the place - something to begin with, a place to start from as you get to know the place better.

Now, let’s go back to that sunny morning out on Holne Moor, with farmer Richard Gray. Richard lives just below Holne Common, but like all commoners, he relies on common land in a system of grazing that involves the home farm and the common and must be kept in balance to keep both in good condition. As we looked over the land together, Richard told us about his way of farming, his family history, and his hopes for the future, and left us with this thought:

“Well, in every decision you make in life, whatever it is, if you can pretend your granddad’s looking over your shoulder (tutting about what you’re doing!) and your child’s in your ear thinking the decision you make today, I’m going to have to live with, I think that guides you in a really good direction. Think of the traditions and the hard work put in from the previous generation and then the children who’ve got to face the challenges of the future.”

Harriet Fraser interviewing farmer, Richard Gray on Holne Common, Dartmoor