A Day Above Yorkshire - Couverture rigide

John Nowell first flew in a De Havilland Chipmunk at the age of 14 and with that first wing-over, decided that flying was for him. He first went solo in a glider over Lincolnshire at the age of 16. He decided on a career in the Royal Air Force and went on to fly on Avro Shackletons with 206, 205 and 230 Squadrons, some of the great flying boat squadrons. It was here, as custodian of the squadron F.540s - the squadron operational records, that he found the amazing records of the exploration flights which took place in the 1920s. When fixed wing aviation was only 20 years old, the crews in their Short Southampton flying boats, flew from England across the world as far as Australia and New Zealand. The photographs, which were taken on these expeditions, now in The Imperial War Museum, provided the spark that evolved into the Now & Then series of coffee table photographic books. John met Christine at Changi in Singapore and it was Christine who introduced John to photography, an action which she sometimes regrets! They married at Thorney Island, near Chichester, four years later, lived in Oman, California, Florida, Abu Dhabi and Dubai with brief stints in Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait and Sri Lanka and now have six children; Marc, Kerri, Robert, Simone, Nicholas and William plus four grandchildren; William, Isa, Max and Layla and three sons-in-laws, Robert, Cyrus and Patrick. John's first book, 'A Day Above Oman' has been reprinted 14 times. It was on a photographic sortie during the making of 'A Day Above Oman' that John discovered a collection of perfectly preserved 5000 year-old tombs. This discovery made the front page of The Times and led to John becoming a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. The photographs in the book led to John becoming a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and his photographs are now used worldwide for a variety of uses, including being used on all the different denominations of the Omani currency, the Riyal. He and Chris are currently working on a series of County books in England, Wales and Scotland, including 'A Day Above Rutland', 'A Day Above Ribblesdale', 'A Day Above Lincolnshire' (which won an award form HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), 'A Day Above Leicestershire', 'A Day Above The Lake District', 'A Day Above Gloucestershire', 'A Day Above Northamptonshire' and this, their latest book, 'A Day Above Yorkshire'.

Stunning aerial views of God's Own Country. The landscapes of Yorkshire are familiar to us all but in his role as an RAF pilot, John Nowell was able to observe the diversity of the county from a different perspective. During RAF training at Leeming, Church Fenton, Dishforth and Topcliffe, John enjoyed a bird's eye view of every corner of Yorkshire. From the industrial heartland of Teeside to the rolling hills and dales and from the ruggedly beautiful coastline to the urban sprawl of West Yorkshire, John noted how quickly the landscape of his home county can change. He also witnessed striking contrasts when flying at different times of the day. Keen to share this 'third dimension' of the landscape with other Yorkshire folk, John set out to photograph the whole county from dawn to dusk. The result of this labour of love is 'A Day Above Yorkshire'. --Adrian Braddy, Editor, The Dalesman Magazine.

Wow - what a superb set of images. A marvellous book. --Ken Arkley, Glider Pilot, Yorkshire Gliding Association.

The very striking cover captures the eye and brings the theme of the book to life. I like the central narrative of a journey through time and how this is used to explore the landscape and create a sense of journey. The two elements are the warp and weft of the book. There are some truly stunning aerial views that present the landscape of Yorkshire in ways that most of us, with our feet firmly on the ground, simply could not imagine, or ever be able to see, such as the photograph of the power stations looming through the early morning mist. There is real variety and interest throughout the book and I particularly like the way that historical references and images are woven through the timeline and linked to the present, reinforcing the sense that this is more than just a collection of photographs. This is the story of Yorkshire. --Leslie Thompson, Photographer.