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PHOTO ESSAY: Views From The Sticks
Barker heads back to his small town on the edge of Bristol to remind himself how beautiful our surrounding countryside is.
I grew up in a really small town, like really small. Having moved to Bristol recently it made me think of all the amazing things I was blessed with living in that town. With a population of about 7,000, not a lot goes on in Dursley, but there are some amazing views in every direction. So I went back home and went for a long walk around the town to reminisce on the amazing countryside I grew up in.
This is a shot from a nearby hill that overlooks parts of the town (that aren’t hidden by that other hill). There are a collection of small villages around this area and if you find a hill that’s high enough you can do a full 360 and see pretty much all of them. Unless they’re hidden by hills. Some hills are so tall you can see all the way to Severn Bridge!
This is rapeseed. This stuff grows everywhere in Dursley and the surrounding towns. It is a bright yellow and you can see fields of it for miles up in the hills, giving the countryside a warm glow. They press it into rapeseed oil which can be used as a healthier substitute for olive oil with it having the lowest saturated fat content of any cooking oil.
My parents’ house has a balcony that is the perfect place to watch the sun rise and set. This image above is at 5 in the morning when it was -1 and the whole area was a musky blue that rolled over the surrounding hills as the sun rose.
This picture was taken on the same day as the sunrise, in the same place. The surrounding hills block out most of the light when the sun is setting and rising which can make for amazing silhouettes of the hills as the light peaks over them. It’s amazing how just natural lighting can have such a amazing change on scenery.
As an old market town, Dursley has some amazing listed buildings. The earliest recording of this church is in 1221 when it was a sanctuary church but it has received construction and repairs many times since. This blossom tree outside is a gorgeous sight when in bloom, I had to go back through my photo archives to find it in such beauty.
Being in such a rural area can produce natural art. Living in a valley it can go from beautiful sunshine to huge downpours very quickly, which results in awesome views like this, a rainbow emerging from the forest.
I chose this as my final image because it just radiates beauty. It was a very peaceful spot and I sat here for a while, just taking everything in. The different shades of green grass create an interesting contrast to the black clouds creeping up in the corner and the soft clouds in the upper left.
Pictures like these are why I encourage everyone to leave the city once in a while and take a trip round the country. You can find some amazing sights and sceneries and its the best place to clear your head when city life is driving you a bit mad.
Have you been to anywhere so spectacular recently? Let us know tweet us @rifemag
Or get at us on instagram with your pictures using the hashtag #ViewsFromTheSticks
Interested in photography? Check out this creative course.
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About the author
Barker
Barker is a musician and writer from Dursley, Gloucestershire, and one of the newest content creators for Rife Magazine. He has released music from a young age and his creative writing shone through to land him a job at Rife. His main interests include but are not exclusive to - music, politics, life for young people, fashion, food and the deepest of deep conversations about the world.
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