Bowerman's Nose + Giant Chair Recce Shoots 4th April 09

To further prepare for shoots from now on, I have decided to carry out some pre shoot recce trips which will help me understand the proportions of the different subjects I want to feature in my photographs, and also see how they look when composed as if I were to be looking up at the North Star.

The Giant's Chair - Widecombe In The Moor
I have only known about the Giant Chair of Natsworthy for around 6 months even though it has been there since back in 2007, anyway I did some research into why the structure is there in the first place.

I visited www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk and found an article about it's existence which is shown below:

Some background as to why the chair is there:

It appears that the chair is classed as a sculpture and the whole purpose of it was to create a landmark which celebrated the natural environment. In addition it was hoped that the chair would provide an opportunity for the appreciation of the special qualities of the local landscape and to engender a sense of joy and laughter for anyone seeing it. The intention of the sculpture's design was for it to be harmonious with the landscape. Only locally sourced, hand hewn green oak was used for the 6 metre high chair which was jointed using the old, traditional mortise and tenon joints. The location was chosen because it provided a spot where people could stop and stare at the wide-spreading moorland landscape below. As with most works of art there is an underlying message and in this case it is one of ambiguity, that being the unattainable. The sculpture can be recognised as a chair but because of its size it is impossible to sit upon it.

The article goes on to talk about the allowed planning permission and visitor rights of the structure:

The Giant's Chair appeared sometime in late 2006 and went before the Dartmoor National Park Authority's planning committee as a retrospective application on the 2nd of March 2007. The committee expressed some concern insomuch as they thought the sculpture may result in traffic congestion caused by visitors and that their numbers could impact on the area. In view of this the sculpture was granted planning permission for a period of two years with 3 conditions attached. Firstly, the sculpture must be removed by the 2nd of March 2009, secondly, the timberwork should remain in its natural condition which means the wood can't be treated. The third and final condition was that there is to be no means of access to the site which includes any form of gate and stile, in other words, visitors cannot get anywhere near it.

The chair is located North of Widecombe and provides a view right down over the valley towards Widecombe itself, the map below shows Widecombe and the chair is around 2km from the village:
Source: Google maps

An aerial/satellite view of the chair:

Source: Google Maps

Below are several recce photograph I took of the chair on the 4th April 2009, they show the chair from many different viewpoints which has helped me to understand the land form around the structure as well as see how to compose the chair into a possible photograph at nightfall.

Here is my first image, showing the chair looking in a South Easterly direction towards Haytor in the distant background:

The next image below shows the chair from a closer viewpoint, this time looking Eastwards:

The image below shows the chair at a wider angle than above, again looking Eastwards:

The chair is now shown looking North Easterly:

A north Easterly view of the chair from a lower viewpoint, starting to see how the North Star could fit into the composition:

The image below shows the chair looking North where there could possibly be space for the North Star to feature above, although it is relatively difficult to guess where the star would be. Though I do believe if I am to shoot the chair, I would need to compose my photograph in a portrait style in order to fit the whole subject and North Star into a single frame:


Thoughts about the Recce and The Giant's Chair
The recce shoot was worthwhile so that I could get an idea of the scale of the structure and where I should sit/stand to compose my image. Although having done the photo shoot, I am concerned that I just cannot get low enough to get both the chair and the North Star into a single frame, it will definitely be necessary for me to set my tripod to a low position or even lie down on the floor so that I can get some decent star trails captured.

I will certainly consider the chair as a location for a photo shoot but Bowerman's Nose, which is around 1km away, does appear to be a more obvious choice for the star trail photography.

Bowerman's Nose - Hound Tor

The Nose is located near Hound Tor as shown in the map below, you have to drive down a narrow road to a gateway which you can open to gain access onto the moorland with your car, the stone structure can be seen from the road and is around 10 mintues walk from the road below:


The stone structure has some interesting folklore tied to it, feel free to have a read below, it's a pretty good story :)

The story of Bowerman goes back into a time when witches and witchcraft were rife on Dartmoor. In these times there lived man called Bowerman or to give him he full title 'Bowerman the Hunter'. He was a tall man with the strength of ten. The moorfolk knew him as a kind, generous and jovial person and so he was much respected and liked. He lived on the Eastern side of the moor and his passion was as his name suggests - hunting. He owned what was reputed to be the strongest pack of hounds on Dartmoor, they were relentless in their pursuit and merciless at the kill. Both he and his dogs could often be seen drawing the clitters and the mires in search their quarry.

As mentioned before, witches were rife on Dartmoor. They would meet at secluded spots to make their potions and spells and the local folk held them in awe and fear, all except Bowerman that is. Whenever talk came around to witches he would just laugh and say how he was "afraid of no one, not even the Devil himself' he would then explain that the moorfolk should not "a fear the crones for they were jest ole hags a 'mumbo jumboing' to 'em selves". Naturally this got back to the local coven who were not best pleased. Firstly that Bowerman was not in fear of them and secondly he encouraged the moorfolk to be the same. The lack of fear made them less plausible and so the power they held over the moor dwellers was lessened. Although they would not admit it, the witches were secretly scared of Bowerman, after all he was a strong man that always had a fearful pack of hounds at his side. So there was a kind of unspoken and uneasy 'live and let live' arrangement. The witches carried on ' a mumbo jumboing' and Bowerman carried on hunting.

However, late one Autumn evening as Bowerman was leading his pack homeward a large hare bolted out of some clitter and sped off down the hillside. With a whoop of delight Bowerman urged his hounds on and baying eagerly they chased after the hare - the hunt was on. It didn't take long for the huge dogs to close in on the beast, but just as they were going for the turn the hare veered off into a small wooded valley. It took a second or two for the dogs to regain direction but soon they were in full cry down through the tree lined valley with Bowerman at full gallop. Suddenly the chase came to a clearing and Bowerman could see ahead of him a coven of witches all crouched around a bubbling cauldron. The hare darted through the middle of the assembled hags closely followed by the hounds and Bowerman. As his mighty mount leapt over the tangle of crones, cauldron and heaven knows what else Bowerman yelled in delight "mumbo jumboing now who's all a muddling".

The witches were incandescent with rage, they spat, they cursed, they shrieked and they wailed but all to no avail Bowerman was long gone.

After gaining some composure the coven reassembled around the cauldron and all agreed that Bowerman had gone too far and it was time for him to learn a lesson. There was one witch among the coven who had, in return for her soul, been given the power to turn herself into any animal she wished. The witches all knew that there was only one way in and one way out of the valley and that was the way Bowerman had charged in. So it was only a matter of time before he had to return back past the spot where the coven was amassed. A cunning plan was hatched, the one witch would turn herself into a hare and lead Bowerman and his dogs on a chase across the moor. Meanwhile the rest of the old hags would lie in wait to spring their trap.

As thought it was not long before the hounds could be heard coming up the valley, the witches vanished all apart from the one who transformed herself into a huge hare. It was not long before the dogs picked up her scent and were on her heels in full cry. The hare gave the hunter a chase like he had never seen before, they went across the moor, through bogs, across streams, up over hill after hill, around tor after tor and back down through mires, quakers and stables (types of Dartmoor bogs) and still the hare sped on. Finally, Bowerman and his hound were completely exhausted and it was only sheer determination that kept them going. As they crested a large granite topped ridge the hare slowed down enough for the dogs to gain on it and just as the lead dog went to flip the hare it darted off behind a tor. Bowerman and his pack followed and charged right into the witches trap, for behind the tor were the rest of the coven and a few witches extra for good measure. They encircled the hunter and shrieked and cursed in unison. Such were their numbers and such were their powers that Bowerman was helpless, both he and his dogs stood transfixed and helpless. The spell the witches cast was that of petrification and to this day you can see the result for Bowerman and his dogs were turned to stone. Bowerman became a huge granite figure-like outcrop and his hound the large boulders at his feet. It is aid that on some dark, misty, moonless nights Bowerman and his dogs come back to life and can be heard chasing some quarry across Hayne Down.

Sourced from: www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk

It is always interesting to find out about the history of the different tors on Dartmoor, although unfortunately most of the stories are fictional and the reason why Bowerman's Nose is here today may never be known. But the story does make for an interesting read for a few minutes and certainly gives the stone formation a much more mysterious and spooky background.

As for trying to photograph it, on the same day as the recce for The Giant's Chair, I took a trip over to Bowerman's Nose to get a few recce photos.

Shown below are a collection of the photos I took:

This photo is taken from the Tor side of Bowerman's looking West over the valley


The photo below shows Bowerman's Nose looking in an Easterly direction, unfortunately the 'Nose appearance' isn't very evident on this side making the rock look just like a stack of graite rock with no nose resembling aspects:


This image looks North showing the full extent of the nose appearance on the rock stack, coinicdentally the best view of the rock is from the Southern side looking North which is perfect for some star photography, it also appears that I can get low enough to feature the North Star above:


Here is a closer image to show the very detailed granite rock which needs to be exploited so that the final photograph takes on a certain degree of texture as well as mysterious effects:


Thoughts on the Recce shoot for Bowerman's Nose

The recce shoot showed me an excellent location to shoot a photograph, the viewpoint looking North with the Nose as the foreground subject, would work perfectly in conjunction with the star trails behind.
As for access, it is only about 10 minutes from the road and the footpaths are easily navigable after dark with a torch.
All I need to do now is pick a suitable evening and come up to give it a try!