| Book Review by Merfyn Williams | |
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Heart of the Country by Jeremy Moore & William Condry Gomer Press, Llandysul ISBN 1-84323-203- 0 £14.95 (Softback) |
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The front cover says a lot about this book and, in its turn, a lot about Wales – a big country in a small part of the world. It depicts the Dysynni Valley with Craig y Deryn (Bird Rock) on the right and the summit of Cader Idris on the left and in the distance. It is resplendent with striking physical features, biodiversity and, of course, a rich cultural landscape.
Jeremy Moore, one of Wales’ foremost landscape photographers, has gathered together a number of stunning plates that relate sometimes directly and, at other times, obliquely to a selection of William Condry’s pieces for The Guardian Country Diaries which he wrote “between 1957 and his death”. |
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| On Page 8, Condry rails against the overuse of our uplands – | “Leave the uplands as they are, some of us say, or let them get wilder. As the population grows and the world of micro-chips and televisions begins to drive us all mad, we are going to need our wilderness areas more and more.” This is accompanied by a tremendous vista of the Pumlumon foothills – and the point is made visually. William Condry must be turning in his grave with the prospect of the intrusive turbines appearing at Cefn Croes and perhaps even more further south. One wonders what Jeremy Moore says...? |
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William Condry never lost his ability to wonder at the splendour of his adopted country nor his passion for the protection of its natural features and, similarly, Jeremy Moore retains the eye to gaze beyond the obvious and present to us some striking images of the land. |
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| Similarly, on page 100 Condry bemoans the march of the conifer – | “It only shows what wonderful schemes can be devised by bat-blind politicians who, though they tog themselves up in greens suits, can still see no further than the nearest money bags.” |