

Tipi Valley, Wales
There aren't many Tipis left in Tipi Valley. In the early days, when the council in this part of Wales was keen to evict the hippies that came to settle on a 200 acre site in a valley near the hamlet of Cywmdu, the Tipis were essential. Served with an eviction notice, the occupant would simply relocate the tent and continue to live off the grid. Nowadays, the bureaucrats seem to have far less appetite for interfering with a community that has its origins in the Stonehenge fre


August day in Llandudno
A hot August day in Llandudno, North Wales, The schools are on holiday so there are thousands of families on the beach, on the pier and in the cafes near the front. What strikes me after spending so long in Australia is how tentative the English are in relation to the sea. We dip our toes in, paddle and occasionally swim, but this isn't an easy relationship. Children shriek when the cold water hits their feet, while a couple of bolder youths wade awkwardly back towards the sh

Tipi Valley, South Wales
So, I've decided to spend a few days living in Tipi Valley in South Wales and taking photographs. The place is semi-legendary, a community of about 100 people living in Indian tents in a remote valley in South Wales. The camp was an offshoot of the community that congregated at the Stonehenge free festivals in the early 1970s and is seen as part of the the so-called 'hippy invasion' of Wales in that era. I've been talking to one of the founders of the camp - Rik Mayes - a for