Lloyd Mitchell preparing vegetables for his entries in the flower show, Dolton, August 1982

By confining himself mostly to a radius of 10 miles from his home, Ravilious was able to develop an intimacy with his subjects.

Diane Hiscock competing in the pancake race, Fore Street, Dolton, 1974

This part of England clung on to its rural traditions longer than many other parts of the country.

Bill Cooke in Colehouse Yard, Riddlecombe, 1975

Between 1972 and 1989 James Ravilious took nearly 80,000 photographs for the Beaford Centre initiative (now Beaford Arts) in north Devon, establishing a peerless archive of rural life in south-west England.

Ivor Brock rescuing a lamb in a blizzard, Millhams, Dolton, February 1978

Ladies’ fashion show in the old village hall at Beaford, 1976

Woman judging flower arrangements at the Conservative party flower show, Hatherleigh, August 1976

Dick French and his family watching the cup final on television, Brendon Barton, Exmoor, 1985

Instow Sands, 1975

Archie Parkhouse and his cow, Millhams, Dolton, 1980

All photographs by James Ravilious © Beaford Arts