Although we have avoided the flooding which has afflicted other parts of the country the low lying fields round here are holding a lot of water. The continual battle to keep the land dry is one of the subjects I keep returning to. It's interesting to note that to the west of the region's little river, where the drainage system was originally installed to drain the mere (the then largest lake in England according to some sources) the ditches flow rapidly, whereas to the east they back up almost to overflowing with little or no flow.
This afternoon I got the light to make a reasonable picture of the pumping station in action and showing it in it's wider context. In trying to build a bigger picture of the drainage of the land I also try to show details. In the past this has been channels dug in field edges, today it was a plastic pipe overhanging the edge of a drain.
Yesterday, when the rain eventually stopped, I'd popped out for a look around and saw this recently dug ditch. The contrast between it's straightness and smooth, but already crumbling, sides with the ploughed earth softened by weeks of rain and the curving tyre tracks struck me as symbolising the ongoing human intervention in the landscape.
Today was drier, and after doing what jobs needed doing I managed a little longer scouting the area for other scenes of minor flooding. Again I spotted a contrast. This time it was one of the increasing number of field tracks which are being laid with hardcore to enable machinery to access the land without churning the soil as in the picture above - or the machinery becoming bogged down, as it has in the field below in the past. The sodden trail leading off this track to the left is a visual reminder of the need for the rubble.
Elsewhere, where another such track ended, there was a large pool of water, and more lying in ruts beyond. Thinking back I should maybe have approached this scene differently and concentrated more on the track and the piles of rubble by its side in preparation to extend the track. Even so I was starting to get ideas for how to begin to pull this all together with other pictures I have made previously. Unfortunately the light was beginning to fade beyond the point when photography would be practical for my purposes.
It's at times like this, when my head is buzzing with plans for making photographs that I wish I was a man of independent means so I could get one with putting the plans in to practice! Especially so as this morning I formulated ideas for a couple more small series of photographs to take around the village.
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