Images shot on Ilford XP2 Super 400 in the Lomo LC-A
I remember when I was younger, back when I was in my early 20s, really wanting to go to Glastonbury. Not to the festival, though. At the time I was going to the brilliant T in the Park every year and that was enough for me.
What was really pulling me to G-town, as nobody calls it, was a geographical feature. A hill. A tor. The magical Glastonbury Tor, with the iconic St Michael’s Tower sat atop it. And for whatever reason, I never made it.
Until recently, that was. 20 years later, in my early 40s, I finally went. I took my Lomo LC-A loaded with some Ilford XP2 Super with me too, which is why I have some photographs I can write this blog post around.
Read on for those and that, as well as some bonus material from the nearby Deerleap viewpoint and Cheddar Gorge also.
Contents
What and where is Glastonbury Tor?
I don’t recall exactly when I first became aware of Glastonbury Tor, but I remember seeing it on television. Probably on some late-night Sunday programme as I lay in bed recovering from the weekend whilst dreading the imminent Monday morning.
Shows on at that time would always affect me and stick in my mind more than any other.
Whatever it was, it was certainly before drones were available to all and sundry, but I do think I remember some sort of aerial footage not dissimilar to this that left me absolutely captivated.
The unmistakable St Michael’s Tower is all that’s left of a church that used to be up on Glastonbury Tor. Along with Glastonbury Abbey down in the town, the main body of St Michael’s Church was destroyed during the 1539 dissolution of the monasteries, which we previously mentioned here.
With that timeline, it’s safe to say no photographs of it exist. It may have looked something like this, though.
The tor itself, which rises 518 feet above the Somerset Levels, is formed of rocks from the early Jurassic Period, which gives you some idea of how long it’s been there.
It’s long been a place of interest for people, with Neolithic flint tools having been found in the vicinity. That means they date from somewhere around 4100 to 2500 BC.
Since then the tor and tower have, in no particular order, been the site of a Christian settlement, had Roman artefacts found on and around it, suffered an earthquake, turned into an island when the land around it flooded, hosted the execution of the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, and been bought and sold a few times before finally being taken over by the National Trust in 1933.
As well as established historical facts, Glastonbury Tor is also the site of a few myths and legends.
Some say it’s the island of Avalon from the King Arthur legend, with old tales stating his coffin and that of Queen Guinevere were found there. They’re not still there of course, because someone moved them.
Further whimsical stories claim that Jesus once visited the place, and that the Holy Grail may be buried there too.
But something we do know is that there are seven almost symmetrical terraces on the sides of the tor, although the origins or purpose of these cannot be fully explained.
Going up Glastonbury Tor
I was glad I finally made it to Glastonbury Tor, and I was glad that I went there with my old friend.
There was an anticipation as soon as we’d parked up in town and I’d got my first glimpse of the tower from down below. The climb up the steps only built on that, and the view did not disappoint once we reached the top.
Neither did the feeling it gave me. I think that was partly the inherent atmosphere of the place and partly that I’d wanted to visit for so long that it was kind of unreal to at last be there.
The day itself was drab and drizzly, which didn’t lend itself to the best photography, but I got what I could with the Lomo LC-A and Ilford XP2 combo.
I wouldn’t say the LC-A is optimal for landscape shots either, so I focused more on the people who were on the tor with us, and how they were interacting with the tower.
That said, I do like the final shot below, which I took as we were descending. Again, in that weather and with that film and that camera, it’s not the best shot of the view over Glastonbury that you’ll ever see.
But it’s a memento from that day at the tor for me and I’m going to be selfish here and say that, in this case, that’s enough.
Diverting to Deerleap viewpoint
Not far from Glastonbury Tor is another place with terrific vistas that my photographs do no justice to whatsoever – the viewpoint at Deerleap.
On a clear day, you can see the tor from up here. The day we were there, you could just about see it. And on my image below, you can’t.
It is out there beyond the two hills just to the left of centre, tho.
Just trust me, bro.
Actually, if you want to see an image of Glastonbury Tor from up at Deerleap, and also to see how nice the view is in general from up there, I recommend looking at this blog post here.
Jeff, who I don’t know but appears to run that site, has a much nicer photograph than mine. It’s in colour and was taken on a clearer day.
The name Deerleap comes from a tale of – get this – a deer who leapt. But not any old deer and not any old leap. No, this deer did a leap of around 16 metres. Quite why, I don’t know.
I don’t mean to sound facetious here. That wasn’t a small step for a deer. It was one giant leap for deerkind.
Today, a couple of standing stones commemorate this achievement. I didn’t get a photograph of them though, and they’re definitely not the ones in the next image below.
Even I could leap between those.
Checking out Cheddar Gorge
Moving on from Deerleap, the final place we’re looking at today – Cheddar Gorge – is another one that my efforts with the Lomo LC-A and Ilford XP2 Super 400 and the limited time I had there don’t really do justice to.
Again, if you want to see how nice it really is, you’ll have to look at someone else’s photographs. Like the ones here, perhaps.
Regardless, Cheddar Gorge.
That sounds like someone eating far too much cheese but, in this case, it isn’t. It’s the other kind of gorge. The one that’s a narrow valley cut through the rocks by river erosion over the course of millions of years.
And at about three miles long and over 120 metres deep, this one happens to be England’s biggest gorge.
Yes, it’s not the Grand Canyon.
The caves there are worth a mention, however. For it was here, in them, that cheddar was first made. Because they provided the perfect cool yet humid conditions needed for ageing the cheese back in the day.
Also, Cheddar Man. Again, not a man made of cheese, but the oldest full skeleton found in the UK. He lived around 10,000 years ago and was found in one of these caves in 1903.
All of this cheddar business, the gorge, the man, the cheese itself, is so named because it all sits just outside the village of Cheddar, which is also worth a look around if you’re in the vicinity.
The last few photographs here are of that place, on the walk either from or to the car. I can’t remember which. And it doesn’t matter one bit anyway.
Last words from the Tor, the ‘leap, and the Gorge
There clearly wasn’t a full roll’s worth of images here, and that’s because the rest of this Ilford XP2 Super was shot at Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare.
It wasn’t a bad place for some analogue photography, Weston. My favourite set from the weekend was these colour shots though, also taken with the Lomo LC-A. They’re the kind of thing that camera does really well, I think.
All things said, the ride out to Deerleap and Cheddar Gorge was nice. The photographs are what they are.
But the highlight of these three places mentioned in this post was certainly Glastonbury Tor.
It had been years since I’d first wanted to go there so it was wonderful to finally get to do that. The monochrome Lomo images from a murky, overcast day aren’t going to win any awards, but that’s not the point.
They’re not even the best thing I took from there. The memories, both of the place and of the feeling of being there, were.
If that account of going to Glastonbury Tor and other spots piqued your interest for more essays illustrated with film photography, why not have a look at some of these:
And if you think others will find this post worth a read, help them find it by giving it a share 😀
