Life on the Levels
Voices from the Working World
Published on 22. August 2006
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-84158-504-8 (ISBN)
Description
The Moors and Levels of Somerset are still home to practices and professions that are particular to the unique landscape of the place. Lying in a bowl of hills bounded by the sea, and crossed by a network of rivers, ditches, dikes, canals and rhymes, these lowlands are defined by water and by flood. The farmers, fishermen, peat diggers, withy-growers, basket makers and cider makers in this area have all inherited traditions that were evolved over many years by Celts and Saxons, abbots and noblemen, commoners and landowners. Illustrated with evocative photographs of the landscape and its people, "Life on the Levels" presents the voices of local people talking about their memories of a now-threatened way of life. The book is both a study and a celebration of the men and women whose lives have always been lived to the rhythm of life on the levels.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Birlinn General
Illustrations
Illustrations, map, ports.
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 258 mm
Thickness: 258 mm
Weight
1122 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84158-504-8 (9781841585048)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
THE AUTHOR Tony Anderson has written for television and for publication. He made the film Life on the Levels for Channel 4, and has lived on the Somerset Levels for thirty years. His latest book is Bread & Ashes, A Walk through the Mountains of Georgia, (Jonathan Cape and Vintage.) THE PHOTOGRAPHER Chris Willoughby's photographs have been widely exhibited throughout the country but his work on the Levels was a major contribution to his life's work. He was chosen to make the Somerset volume of the series Photographer's Britain (Allan Sutton). He taught photography for many years in Somerset and collaborated with the author on Life on the Levels, and also on Bread & Ashes, which was illustrated by his photographs of Georgia, Turkey and the Caucasus. Chris's daughter Sophie, also a photographer, contributes to he father's legacy by adding her recent images.