DECEMBER 2022 · GROUNDED
The woods, Ashton Court, Bristol
Avon Gorge, Bristol
Ashton Court is ten minutes from the centre of Bristol. The woodland is old — oaks that were growing when the estate was a working deer park, tall enough now that they dwarf the ironwork fencing that was put up to manage the land. The fencing is still there. That's what I kept noticing: the metal railings running through the trees, the stone walls buried in ivy and moss, the estate's infrastructure absorbed into the woodland over time.
December had stripped most of the canopy. The undergrowth was in late autumn collapse — bracken down, leaves deep on the ground, the forest floor brown and wet. But there was still autumn colour in the upper canopy where yellow leaves hung on. And down at ground level, the decay cycle running: a small mushroom in the leaf litter, delicate, precise, moss thick on the stones around it.
Two registers of history in one shot: the trees that predate the wall, and the wall that tried to contain them.
Ashton Court — December 2022
The path winds through it all alongside the metal fencing. You walk between boundaries. On one side, old estate wall covered in ivy and green moss. On the other, the trees doing what trees do. Occasionally a figure visible through the oaks in the middle distance, walking. The ancient woodland interior with the moss-covered stone wall and the autumn canopy overhead — that was the frame I kept returning to. Two registers of history in one shot: the trees that predate the wall, and the wall that tried to contain them.
Exposed root systems on the forest floor. Tall straight trunks, russet undergrowth around their bases. The light low and diffuse through the bare canopy, winter-flat.
Close-up of delicate mushroom and fallen autumn leaves with moss on woodland floor
Woodland path lined with tall oaks and metal fencing, autumn foliage overhead
Dried bracken fern beneath bare trees and metal fence, woodland undergrowth
Winding woodland path with metal fencing, yellow foliage and autumn light
Tall oaks in autumn woodland, fallen leaves and exposed tree root on forest floor
Forest interior with tall straight oak trunks, russet undergrowth and autumn color
Dense woodland with dark tree trunks and ivy-covered undergrowth, muted autumn tones
Ancient woodland interior with moss-covered stone wall, autumn forest canopy above
Weathered stone walls covered in green ivy and moss within ancient woodland
Winter woodland with bare trees, ivy-clad trunks, and faded undergrowth
Misty woodland path beside metal fencing, bare trees and autumn leaves on ground
Woodland interior with tall oaks, yellow autumn foliage, distant figures walking
Ancient oak forest with dark trunks, moss-covered stone walls, autumn light
Winter woodland with tall bare oaks, golden autumn light filtering through canopy
Ancient woodland with massive oak trunks and russet autumn carpet of fallen leaves