This collection of searching ink drawings depicts the buildings and landscape of the county of Buckinghamshire. Four years of work has culminated in a personal choice of images, reinforced with compact historical notes on almost every settlement. It becomes clear, as one explores the pages of the book, that this often neglected part of England is still deeply rural. Ancient market towns predominate in a landscape characterised, for the most part, by the hedges and fields of an agricultural economy. The county is further enriched by countless attractive villages linked by a web of narrow country lanes.

The broad watery basins of the River Great Ouse and the Thames are offset by the striking chalk ridge of the Chilterns whose towering beechwoods and steep north facing escarpments create the only dramatic experiences.

London is very close and yet has failed to quench the pastoral qualities of this subtle blend of the domestic and the wild. Stately homes and modest manor houses coexist comfortably with clusters of simple cottages and mellow farmhouses. Every village has its parish church, which tells the story of the community through its sculpture, stained glass, furniture, memorials and wall-paintings. Windmills, bridges and canals speak of the more recent industrial past and newly planned communities strive to blend into this evolving physical drama.

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