To the west of Norfolk, where the county meets Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, you find the fens. An area of flat, some might say featureless, land, much of which is below sea level. The fens are criss-crossed with channels and waterways, and retain much of the area of mystery they must have had before they were drained by Dutch "Adventurers".
What the fens lack in hills they more than make up in sky, there is more sky in the fens than anywhere else in the UK. That sounds like a slightly odd statement but if you head to the fens you'll see what I mean. With this abundance of sky comes and abundance of light, which for the photographer represents and opportunity, whatever the landscape might be.
However, even though the fens hold some delight, there is an area which is even more captivating. This is where the fens meet the sea, or in this case the Wash. The Wash is a shallow bay, riddled with sandbanks and where it reaches land marshes form. As always in the fens, these marshes are punctuated with channels, draining the land and ensuring the fertile areas inland remain relatively un-sodden.
As an aside, the Wash is also where King John lost his crown jewels. Foolishly he took a shortcut through these margins, and somewhere below the land or below the water treasure can be found. It's probably too much to ask that this treasure would be found simply poking out of the mud...but I can dream.
My last visit to this area was with a photographer I met online, and am mightily pleased to have met in real life now. Andrew and I spend may a happy hour trudging through the margins between land and sea close to Sutton Bridge. Andrew is a very skilled photographer, shooting a variety of styles, and with a particular mastery of black and white. Perhaps you should take a look at his work over on his Flickr, I'm fairly certain you'll like it.
One of the nice things about visiting this area is the people you meet. A wonderful dog walker stopped to pass the time of day taking much interest in our cameras, particularly the pinhole cameras (shots will be posted soon). Andrew and I speculated that she was a best selling author, let's hope that is true and she spends her days, when not walking the dog, gazing out over the margins plotting her latest novel.
There's also a lot of excitement with the things that you see, from the features of the landscape...the creeks pools and mudflats, to the occasional jetty and harbour. One thing that remains a mystery, at least in my view, is the circular island just out in the Wash. Apparently this was part of a desalination project in days of yore but I'm not sure I buy that. I could speculate and give you theories, but perhaps its better if you visit and make your own.
All images made with a Fujifilm GF670 on Fuji Pro 400H, developed and scanned by the amazing UK Film Lab. Many thanks to Andrew for making this a memorable and enjoyable day.