topPhotography Homepage | Philosophy and Ethics

 One of my favourite walks, down from my old office towards the Chelmer and Blackwater canal...

Essex in 2018 ... parched in summer's heat!

seeds

looking south

dead tree

Green appears where a small stream soaks away into the canal, a lush background to the skeleton of a fallen tree.

wheat

Almost ready for harvesting, and it's still only July.

path westwards

canal

And finally... a most beautiful navigation, running from Chelmsford to the sea at Maldon.

 

tree

Weeks of hot weather and no rain has left the Essex countryside parched. For once, my photographs are not of far-flung places but of the fields and canal just half a mile from my office and former home.

The footpath gently drops towards the canal, finally joining the towpath. The water of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation flows in leisurely abundance eastwards, towards Maldon, the Blackwater Estuary and the North Sea.

But my temptation at this point is to turn westwards, and head upstream to where the Old Stables tearoom at Paper Mill Lock offers refreshment.

Surely, if I walk far enough, I will burn off the flapjack that weighs heavily upon my conscience and stomach!

across field

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cracks

What does it mean to be 'at home'?

This question is the starting point for my latest writing project, exploring the concept of personal space, and a sense of belonging.

Little Baddow was the village of my birth; the place where I feel most rooted.

In a cosmopolitan world, does it make sense to commit to a particular place?

Can we live without a sense of home?

Watch this space... or rather the Philosophy and Ethics website... for my exploration of that one.

UPDATE...

As of July 2020, the 'Home' book is progressing towards publication later this year!

 

All images on this site are © Mel Thompson