Alfred Watkins' Herefordshire In His Own Words and Photographs ; with a Biographical Introduction by Ron & Jennifer Shoesmith
Alfred Watkins, who was born in Hereford and lived all his life (1855-1935) in Herefordshire, is perhaps best known for the discovery of ancient tracks - 'ley lines'. The core of this book is a previously unpublished manuscript by Alfred Watkins called The Masefield Country, written in 1931. Alfred Watkins' text is prefaced by an introduction to his life and work by Ron and Jennifer Shoesmith and followed by a section on his pioneering photography and developments in photographic equipment. (A light meter of his invention was used to good effect by Herbert Ponting, the official photographer on Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole.) The book ends with a selection of Alfred Watkins' photographs of Herefordshire from those held in Hereford City Library, whilst others are used to illustrate the earlier sections of the book, some of them being specifically referred to in Alfred's own text, for he intended to publish this book himself and had planned how to illustrate it.
