Cumbrian Shepherd, 1990Guardian photographer Denis Thorpe was on a whirlwind tour of Cumbria in November 1990, documenting the activities of rural communities with the then Countryside Commission, when he chanced upon a pair of shepherds bringing their sheep down from the hills a ritual known as the gather, says Thorpe. I was lucky to be there at the moment they came through the gate I felt Id captured the animals breath in the cold air. It was a beautiful composition, he

There are many sumptuous photographs of “The Greatest” in the archives: him castigating the defeated Sonny Liston

who was based in Manchester

JUDGE: A photo like this is rarely achieved by accident – this photographer was right place

” wrote Neustatter

The Flying Scotsman set two world records for steam traction

their leathered

A few weeks earlier

the diminutive striker – nay

The then Guardian photographer Dan Chung visited Kuz Ganrshal

a young man sells fruit at a roadside stall beneath a rudimentary striplight (Wainwright is pictured just beyond him

Bed or wed

documenting the activities of rural communities with the then Countryside Commission