Peter discusses his research and fieldwork supported by the PGR Support Fund.
I am very grateful to the PGR Support Fund for facilitating fieldwork during the summer of 2025, which is part of the Landscape Biography process and forms the overall methodology for my PhD research, ‘Landscapes of Atomic Optimism: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Energy Infrastructure through Visual Inquiry’.
Extensive fieldwork was conducted over two weeks in North Wales, examining the expansive landscapes around two power stations designed by Dame Sylvia Crowe. These stations are a primary focus of the research: Trawsfynydd Power Station in Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) and Wylfa Power Station on Ynys Môn (Anglesey).
Successful visual recordings of both sites were made, including several walks exceeding 20 km, which allowed for surveying the areas to understand the broader implications of infrastructure within the landscape. Access was also granted by the Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS)/Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to both power stations’ landscapes within the licensed nuclear site, which is rarely available. This provided a unique perspective on the landscape’s design from the workers’ viewpoint within the stations.
The fieldwork also enabled discussions with the NRS regarding the sites, as well as meetings with residents and members of the Nuclear Futures Team at Bangor University.
The photographic work will support the presentation of a paper this autumn at the ‘Beyond Infrastructure? (Un-)built Environments in the Anthropocene 2025’ conference at the University of Vienna. It will also aid further fieldwork at the sites by organising an exhibition of the work to encourage community participation and conduct photo elicitation through workshops in 2025/26, as well as creating a small folio on each site and a web-based publication.