Shropshire landmarks are inspiration for new book
[gallery] Stunning images of the Shropshire countryside have inspired a book of poetry bringing new life to some of the county's best known rural landmarks.
Pictures included in the new Shirelands book launched by friends Tracey Swain and Hilary Jane Jones include a desolate view of the summit of Clee Hill, a haunting picture of Ludlow Castle in moonlight, gliders over the Long Mynd near Church Stretton and a spectacular sunrise looking towards The Wrekin.
They were taken by professional photographer Miss Swain, 46, who lives in Woolston just south of Church Stretton.
Mrs Jones, 54, who lives in nearby Whittingslow, then penned a poem to go with each of the 44 pictures taken.
Other beauty spots included in the book, which was unveiled at a launch event at Burway Books in Church Stretton on Saturday, include Lake Vrynwy and the Elan Valley, the Shropshire Hills near Church Stretton and rural landscapes in north Herefordshire and Mid Wales.
Both women said that they were inspired to create the book by the beautiful countryside surrounding them living in rural Shropshire.
The book, which took five months to plan and compile, is the first of a planned Dreamscapes series, which will see landscapes, misty vales and sunrises and sunsets captured on camera.
The women started their own Briar Ridge Books publishing company after meeting almost exactly a year ago.
Their first book, The Wicked Wood: Part One of the Journey, has sold almost 250 copies since it was published in June and they plan to release the sequel, The Faerie Glen, in the new year.
Mrs Jones said: "Tracey is a professional photographer, and she went out and took the photographs before I wrote poems to go with them.
"In our Journey series of books the words inspire the pictures, but in Shirelands it is definitely the other way around.
"We met a year ago when Tracey heard some of my poetry being read out at an event at Burway Books.
"She wanted to release her own book of photographs with poetry and had spent quite a while looking for a poet.
"We only live about a mile apart but had previously only known each other to say hello to.
"But things have gone really well since. The Wicked Wood has been Burway Books' best-selling book this year."
About 600 copies of Shirelands have been printed and the book costs £14.99.
It is available from Burway Books in Church Stretton, Wenlock Books in Much Wenlock, Booka Bookshop in Oswestry, and Waterstones stores in Shrewsbury and Telford.
For more information about the ladies' work visit www.briarridgebooks.co.uk
By Peter Kitchen
