Peter Dench

england uncensored

England Uncensored is a comprehensive portrait of the first decade of 21st-century England. It explores all corners documenting the ethnis diversity, the love, the food, the weather, and the many characters that make up this eclectic nation. England Uncensored, is a laugh-out-loud romp through an often badly behaved nation. It's not an idealised brochure of a green and pleasant land; it is the truth, warts and all. 

A full edit of the reportage with accompanying text is avilable from Getty Images 

  • An elderly couple kiss in a weather shelter on Blackpool promenade. The town has for a long time been a destination for those in or looking for love.
  • A man in a mustard cardigan and pink shirt laughs during a picnic in the car park on derby day at the Epsom horse race festival.
  • Spectators wait for a music concert to begin at Somerset House.
  • A woman wearing a veil walks past a family celebrating the promotion of West Ham United football club.
  • Wimbledon championship tennis fans watch the previous days play on a giant screen.
  • Three Muslim men chat on a bench as a Cobb's horse parades through the Oxfordshire town of Banbury as part of the annual hobby horse festival. A hobby horse is puppet-like costume giving the wearer the appearance of a man on horseback. Cobb's Horse was created in 1976 when the newly revived Adderbury Morris Men had been invited to dance at the Sidmouth Festival and one very new dancer, Stephen Wass, not yet qualified as a dancer created the beast. The name 'Cobb's Horse' comes from an Adderbury legend to the effect that the ghost of wicked Squire Cobb careers through the village in his coach pulled by phantom horses, this is one of them.
  • A woman carries her two Yorkshire Terrier dogs in seperate bags while on a visit to York Minster. Built between the 12th and 15th Centuries it is the largest Gothic church in England. The Yorkshire Terrier is a small dog breed of Terrier type developed in the 1800's in Yorkshire. The defining features of the breed are its small size and silky blue tan coat.
  • From left - 5 year old Ellie, Tina Connelly, Kayne 3, and Darren Bernard with dogs Ronnie and Boycie on park land in front of the crumbling Leys Estate in Dagenham.Dagenham is a large suburb in east London, England forming part of the borough of Barking & Dagenham 12 miles from Charing Cross. In 1931 the Ford Motor Company relocated to Dagenham. At its peak the plant had 4 million square feet of floor space employing 40,000. On February 20, 2002 full production was discontinued and the work force has shrunk to around 2500 causing economic decline to Dagenham and the surrounding area.
  • Suzy (righ) and her daughter Leigh outside Nellie Deans Piano Bar on Blackpool's North promenade. They are in Blackppol celebrating each others birthday. Behind them is a hen party with a woman holding a penis themed drinks holder which are sold in the bar. A bachelorette party, hen party, or hen's night, is a party held for a woman who is about to be married as a rite of passage, and is also known as the woman's last night of freedom. Groups usually dress to a similair theme. Blackpool is the country’s number one tourist destination, attracting 11 million visitors a year. The vibrant night-time economy is perhaps the town’s biggest draw, with 130 licensed premises along and around the mile-long promenade alone.
  • Members of the mounted regiment's Blues and Royals squadron enjoy a break from their regular routine at Holkham beach. The Household Cavalry is made up of squadrons from the Life Guards and the Blues & Royals. They are the two oldest and most senior regiments in the British Army and maintain a world-famous tradition dating back to 1660. The two different units are equipped to perform quite different roles. One is the Household Cavalry Armoured Regiment in Windsor, which has an armoured reconnaisance role in conflicts, while at Knightsbridge, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, is the Queen's personal bodyguard. Officers and men rotate between the two units. As able in a light tank as they are in the saddle, they are arguably some of the most versatile soldiers in the British Army.
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  • A woman talks on her mobile phone with a glass of champagne at the inaugural British beach Polo event on Sandbanks beach. Sandbanks is a small sand dune on the south coast in the county of Dorset and arguably the most expensive place to live on the planet. Property by the golden sand beach and turquoise clear sea are fetching $20 million prices.
  • Janet 95 and Robin 85 in Janet's bedroom at Reardon Court, a social services run home for the elderly in North London. Janet has been a widow for over 30 years and Robin has lived alone since 1947. They say falling in love has been an unexpected gift.
  • A woman walks past the Glassy Junction pub, the first in the UK to accept the indian rupee as currency.
  • Two boys wearing blazers in the colours of their rowing club watch the racing on the Thames at the Henley Royal Regatta. One of the jackets has what looks like a splash of red wine staining the back. The Regatta is one of the premier events of the English summer season held every year on the north side of the River Thames in south Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading.
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  • A man takes an early morning stroll along Portsmouth's pebble beach. Portsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of England, and is the UK's only island city. It is commonly nicknamed Pompey.
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  • A couple share a passionate kiss in fornt of Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC.
  • A young couple carrying a yellow bucket between them run towards the sea on a misty Scarborough beach. The Scarborough is a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire that dates back to around 966AD. With a population of about 50000 Scarborough is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast. It is home to residential communities, business, fishing and service industries plua a growing digital and creative economy.
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  • Two Asian men wearing England football shirts in the crowd at an England cricket match at Lords. Lords Cricket ground in St. John's Wood north London is recognised as the home of cricket and the games spiritual headquarters.
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  • A man with a hot dog watches Morris-Women perform in Banbury town centre as part of the Hobby Horse festival. A hobby horse is a puppet-like costume giving the wearer the appearance of a man with a horse. For centuries hobby horses, Jack in the Greens, straw men and other characters brought life and colour to civic processions in towns and cities across the country, many of them can be seen in carvings in local churches. The Oxfordshite town of Banbury revived the tradition of a procession through the town in 2000. Banbury's history goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. An earlier charter from Queen Mary in 1554 had officially established Banbury as a town.
  • Three men eat ice creams as they wait with a bag of plants for their partners outside the Daily Mail sponsored marquee at the Hampton Court Palace annual Royal Horticultural Society summer flower show. Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to the King took over the lease in 1514 and rebuilt the 14th Century manor house over the next 7 years (1515-1521) to form the nucleus of the present palace before Henry VIII took it as his residence.
  • The Estelle Clifton Dancers in their dressing room get ready to perform in a show at the Hippodrome. Before the days of the big top, many towns had a dedicated circus building. The only one still going strong is the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth built by showman George Gilbert in 1903. Houdini and Chaplin are once said to have wowed the crowd there.
  • Two traditional English Breakfasts served on a tray in a cafe in Blackpool. At the heart of the breakfast is bacon and eggs and usually accompanied by a choice of fried bread, toast, tomatos, beans and mushrooms.
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  • Visitors to the RHS summer show at Hampton Court Palace examine some of the exhibits. Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to the King took over the lease in 1514 and rebuilt the 14th Century manor house over the next 7 years (1515-1521) to form the nucleus of the present palace before Henry VIII took it as his residence.
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  • {quote}Smile 2moro will be worse{quote} - Two childcare workers push a buggy with six chidren in past a slogan spray painted on a bridge along Portobello Road on the Preston Road Estate in Hull.Kingston Upon Hull is a city in Yorkshire with a resident population of 257,000 located 25 miles from the North Sea on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary. Hull suffered heavy damage during the Second World War and went into decline suffering a wide range of social deprivation. Recently the city has embarked on a programme of regeneration and renewal.Photographer: Peter Dench+44(0)7711058090 peter@peterdench.comPhotography © Peter Denchcommissioned by:Dagmar Seeland London officeHarald Menk Hamburg office
  • EU_Cover
  • intro
  • advertising & commercial
  • mourning queen elizabeth II
  • boardmasters festival
  • queen's platinum jubilee
  • sun, sea & covid-19
  • lockdown fanatical football fans
  • the tale of the tape
  • the great british bed + breakfast
  • trans-siberian world cup
  • a1: britain on the verge
  • the english summer season
  • dench does dallas
  • football's hidden story
  • the british abroad
  • england uncensored
  • alcohol & england
  • films
  • portraits
  • singles
  • tearsheets
  • the world according to dench
  • written articles
  • shop
  • ***additional galleries
    • dench does lockdown
    • fashion faces
    • whitby goth festival
    • miami
    • heatwave uk
    • female fitness uk
    • italy in decline
    • the zabaleen of garbage city
    • trawlermen
    • leicester city
    • liverpool fc training at melwood
    • fashionUK
    • royalUK I: william & kate
    • royalUK II: harry & meghan
    • a day off in the lives of europe
    • the last resort revisited
    • sport in osire refugee camp
    • laiba & robyn
    • 50 years of match of the day
    • schooldisco.com
    • household cavalry
    • the abu dhabi corniche
    • arab london
  • private galleries
  • biography
  • contact