Herdwick

The most beautiful Lake District book ever.

A genuinely honest labour of love, a project which has encompassed years of camera work and dedication to create this meticulously crafted and beautifully imagined work of art. A breed as noble as the Herdwick deserves no less.

275 personally selected photographs - evenly divided between landscape and the Herdwick, 'the little grey monarch of the fells'. Sourced from all five years of Ian's quest to seek out the Lakeland of old. Beautifully laid out in majestic book form, Ian distils his remarkable collection of work for us into one notional year. He leads us through the changing seasons and narrates for us, in photographs, a year in the Lake District.

“In order to preserve what we have, I believe it is important to reveal what we are losing.”

Look Inside

A daily meditation on the changing seasons of Lakeland

While an online perusal of Herdwick in no way compares to the physical joy of holding and reading Ian's beautiful work in one's hands and directly experiencing the tactility, vibrant colour and sheer quality of the book, we nonetheless want to give you some semblance of the images, words and design in a virtual fashion before you decide to take possession of a copy yourself. From the comfort of your computer you can turn the leaves of over 90 plates and pages, allowing you a brief look inside without having to commit yourself to buy. Enjoy a limited selection of digitally replicated chapters taken directly from the book, elegantly displayed on your desktop or mobile screen.

There are another 340 pages of inspirational photographs still to discover!

The Project

Focussing on the iconic herdwick sheep of the lake district fells.

“I want people to share what I love. I didn't start this project anticipating that I could stop the Herdwick Lakeland world from changing. I purely wanted to create a visual document that reminds us and generations to come of how beautiful the Lakeland landscape once was. A book of suggestion, a landscape of my imagination as well as a record of a real and familiar place.”

‘Before I began visiting the hidden valleys of English Lakeland with my camera, my understanding of what it means to live a life regulated by the slow procession of the seasons was limited. In a technological age, the life of a Herdwick shepherd can seem anachronistic, but five years spent observing these men and women at work has taught me that this is not so. Theirs is not a life lived out of time, but rather one deeply attuned to the rhythms underpinning our very existence on this planet. I wanted to capture their time-honoured traditions; an aesthetic photographic document that would be an irreplaceable record of a fast disappearing world to inspire others to take notice of what is at stake for us all.’

Spirit & Stock

Rooted in the Elements

“I have romantic, old-fashioned views about the landscapes I photograph... I love to see people going about their time-served ways, I like to hear what they have to say, what they feel and experience in their lives and most importantly, what the place means to them. This is, in essence, what Herdwick is all about.”

Ian Lawson's Herdwick presents one of England's finest working landscapes in a superb quality volume. Accompanied by stories full of local colour and sheer grit from celebrated Lakeland authors, this outstanding book recognises and honours traditional farming communities, their deep-rooted knowledge of the natural world and their low-impact lifestyles. A notional year in the iconic English Lakeland is narrated through sweeping landscapes and intimate portraits of hard-working shepherds and their flocks of doughty Herdwick sheep. Returning to the Lake District later in life, Ian feared that the Old Lakeland of his youth had all but vanished. But hidden in the valleys and dale-heads of Cumberland and Westmorland, he discovered places where the ancient cycle of the traditional farming year had continued virtually unchanged for centuries. Five years dedicated observation and engagement in the daily working lives of Herdwick shepherds and their families has succeeded in revealing aspects of Britain's cultural heritage seldom exposed to the public eye. Herdwick will be cherished by everyone who seeks to understand and preserve Lakeland's unique character in a rapidly changing world.

Love Lakeland

With 275 inspirational photographs that bring the Herdwick's kingdom to life, owning Ian's Lake District book allows you to enjoy this cherished landscape all year round!.

2014 Editions

Beatrix Potter Limited Edition - Classic - Special Edition