The Spirit of Hadrian's Wall

This is the second photography book in as many months that would blow the socks off this reviewer if she was wearing any.

Last time it was Martin Gray and his epic 20-year quest to photograph more than 1,000 sacred sites across the world. This month it’s Roger Clegg and his (almost) stone-by-stone photographic record of Hadrian’s Wall.

You’ve got to admire photographers like Clegg and Gray. So enamoured – obsessed, even – are they with their subjects, that they spend years of their life seeking to capture that perfect shot. The moment. The light. The angle.

He may not have clocked up as many air miles as Gray, but the images Clegg has captured along Hadrian’s Wall are as impressive as those captured by Gray farther from home.

Northumberland-based Clegg knows Hadrian’s Wall better than almost anyone. He, after all, has lived almost in its path at Hexham for almost 20 years. When he set out to photograph the wall – nearly all of it – Clegg was a keen amateur photographer. Six years later, Britain’s great Roman barrier had turned him into a pro.

Capturing The Spirit Of The Wall

There is certainly nothing amateur about the results of his toils. The Spirit of Hadrian’s Wall covers almost 200 pages, and contains nothing but beautifully taken and lovingly captioned images of the wall and the countryside that surrounds it. The book really does represents the ‘spirit’ of the barrier.
 
Clegg has captured wonderful moods against stark landscapes, skies at dawn and at dusk, snow-filled crags and sun-burnt rocks. Some landscapes are presented several times, at different hours of the day or in different seasons. The results are quite brilliant.

The book opens with a rather splendid ‘note on the photography’, penned by Clegg himself. Here, he talks (briefly) about his decision to photograph the wall, but largely he concentrates on his art. He talks of his techniques, his habits as a photographer, his advice to others wanting to shoot this (or any other) historic site. He talks of the weather and its influence on the wall; he discusses the best time of day to visit; he writes of his favourite spots, and where he sits, supping his cup of tea and pondering the meaning of life. It’s nice – and not a jot self-indulgent. The ‘note’, like the photographs that follow, make you want to jump into Clegg’s camera bag and have him share with you his experiences of his wall.

Putting The Images Into Context

The author Mark Richards provides a thoughtful introduction to the book, and a sketch of the historical and social context of the wall. He also provides the words that preface each of the photographic chapters that follow the wall from east to west. The images in the book are broken down geographically, starting in South Shields and ending eight chapters later in Bowness-on-Solway. The Roman footprint is, of course, centre stage, but Richards also has tales to tell from the age of Arthur, from the arrival of the Christians, and of the birth of the Industrial Age.
 
Richards is no stranger to Hadrian’s Wall and, like Clegg, knows it well. He pioneered a coast to coast route called ‘The Wall Walk’, which was published by Cicerone and later evolved into the Hadrian's Wall Path guidebook.

Cicerone is best-known as a specialist publisher of activities-based guides. Its authors are some of the most knowledgeable – if I added the word ‘nerdy’, it would be intended only as a compliment – writers on their chosen subjects. In Clegg, Cicerone has found a photographer of equal note. Coffee tables the world over would break into rapturous applause if Cicerone was to branch out from its guides on a regular basis and publish more travel-based photographic books just like the one.