Walk into Prehistory

Book: Walk into Prehistory: Discovering the 40 Greatest Ancient Sites of Britain and Ireland
Bill Bevan (Author)
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Frances Lincoln (October 25, 2011)

A HEPSCOTT-born archaeologist and photographer has published a new book, selling 500 copies before it is even released.

Bill Bevan travelled the length of Britain and Ireland last year to photograph 40 of the most impressive prehistoric monuments.

Today the result, Walk Into Prehistory, hits the shelves.

The book is a series of walks, with each taking a journey back in time from the modern landscape to imagine how the prehistoric landscape would have looked. Mr Bevan also describes how the monuments were built to be seen and approached from specific directions.

He said: “I travelled around Ireland in two weeks and Scotland in 16 days. The tight schedule meant I had only two chances to photograph each monument. I would arrive at a place in the afternoon to photograph it in late evening light and at sunset, then return the next morning before dawn.

“I had to work with whatever light was thrown at me. I was extremely lucky as I only had thick clouds and rain at two of the 40 sites I visited. That’s when I had to get creative with the flashgun.”

Mr Bevan returned to Northumberland to capture Yeavering Bell in the Cheviots.

“Returning to Northumberland to photograph Yeavering Bell was an emotional experience for me. It was shortly after my mother died who lived in Northumberland at the time. The open spaces filled with blossoming purple heather helped me to reflect on her passing,” he said. Morpethherald.co.uk