Fortuitous Fog – Earl Crag

Earl Crag is a gritstone rock outcrop above the village of Cowling in North Yorkshire bordering West Yorkshire in the UK. It is about 1 km long and 365 metres above sea level and affords wonderful views. Remnants of quarries are to be found around the area.

At one end is the Lund Tower built in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It has an opening that gives access to 39 steps up to the top.

At the opposite end is Wainman’s Pinnacle built in 1898 to mark the defeat of Napoleon by Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. In its exposed position it was struck by lightning on two occasions and had to be re-built in 1900.

The Crag has a footpath running along its length between the two monuments easily accessed by purpose-built steps. On my first visit I was unaware of these and making my way to the top of the ridge took some significant risks scaling large boulders stacked on one another whilst carrying camera gear and a tripod.

These images were made on my third visit with a camera in January 2026. The weather was windy and cold at 2 degrees C with low cloud – moody enough, but as I arrived a fog fell on the top; fog landscapes are one of my favourites. I was transported with delight!

I was carrying a Nikon F3, and two Nikkor lenses, a 50 mm 1.8 and a 35 mm 2.8. After one exposure I discovered I had reached the end of the roll of Tri-X, a 24-frame film length and not 36 as I had thought. All I had with me was a roll of Kosmofoto Agent Shadow with a box speed of 400 which I quickly loaded.

My usual slow-paced attitude to making photographs was replaced by a hectic dash from one end of the crag to the other, fearful the fog would lift as quickly as it had arrived. Frantic lens changes and placings of my tripod at last brought me to the Pinnacle and as I made the last exposure, rain started to fall and the mist disappeared.

The Agent Shadow was developed in Ilfotec HC, dilution 1:31 for 8 minutes. The strong film grain is for me entirely appropriate to the subject and the images convey the atmosphere of that memorable afternoon.

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