OUIL405 Studio Brief 2 - Tell an Untold Story pt 1 The Visual Journalist

 Esholt Woods


On my first journey out i went on a massive walk with my trusted beast Brooklyn the Beagle (my dog).

We decided to revisit some of the places i used to be taken on walks and told stories of when i was a child.  First we went to see the old railway line that was Opened 26.2.1894 and closed in 10.8.1964 it ran between yeadon and guiseley my home owns. On arriving at the site it was clear to me  it had changed dramatically over the years, it was now a tarmacked path used by dog walkers and cyclists and nothing like what i could remember it been like when i was a child, with railway sleepers piled high next to a sandy lane and all sorts of old railway treasures. Nope now it was a single strip of black tarmac with only the old bridges still remaining.

So i decided to scrap the railway line and head down to my local woods which is full of history and a massive waste water treatment plant. I spent a good 4 hours walking round, drawing/sketching and getting to know the woods a bit more. On my walk i discovered a lot of little hidden visual surprises growing out of the landscape or just build there with no consideration to the landscape.

A warning sign that looks like it is covered with bullet holes of some kind.

A warning sign and i think some kind of valve.

A old lamp post just in the middle of the trees with nothing else man made around it. 

 I went to find a old mill that used to be in the center of the woods but is now just the foundations and a few old little bridges. This is the bridge that is next to the old mill it has steps buried into the side of the hill that lead to it on both side, i have also heard that this was the site of the mills water wheel but this is long done.

One of a few bridges that pass through the woods carrying the rail lines that link Leeds and Bradford train stations with Ilkley and the towns in between.

This is a tunnel exit that carries water under the near by housing estate and farmers fields and joins to the stream that travels through the woods and enters another larger tunnel at the other end of the woods and goes into the water treatment plant i think. 

I feel it was a very successful trip with many drawings done and facts learnt, but also some of the main sites I wanted to see are not very visible now so this resulted in limited main vocal points and has made me dout my intentions of tell the story of the woods. 

My boots at the end of the walk (why not add them)