IN The Drovers’ Roads of Wales, Shirley Toulson provided walkers with a detailed guide to the routes taken by the cattle, sheep and pig drovers on their arduous journey from the Welsh uplands to the towns and cities of England.

The photographic work on these routes and in the earlier book, The Oldest Road: An Exploration of the Ridgeway, with J R L Anderson, both by Fay Godwin, began to set a new standard in landscape photography which continues to influence photographers today.

In an exhibition of Godwin’s work at MOMA Machynlleth until 1 April, curators Diane Bailey and Geoff Young have selected vintage prints from The Drovers’ Roads of Wales, on loan from the National Library of Wales, to mark 40 years since the original exhibition in Cardiff and the publication of the book in 1977.

And to reflect the status of Godwin as a British documentary photographer in the landscape, the exhibition will include photographs, from a loan by The British Library, chosen by her son, and by people who knew and worked with her.

These include photographers well known in Wales, Marian Delyth, Pete Davis, Aled Rhys Hughes, Jeremy Moore and Jean Napier, and other important British figures such as Paul Hill, John Blakemore and John Davies, as well as J R L Anderson’s son David, and writers Jim Perrin, Mike Parker and Jane Whittle.

Their extended captions, alongside their chosen print, provide a very personal appraisal of Godwin’s work.

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