Wallasea Island, Foulness Island, Potton Island, Havengore Island, Rushley Island, New England Island - six islands. Clustered between the River Crouch, the River Roach and the North Sea - or rather Maplin Sands. Separated from each other by creeks. Restricted access over land. Only fully navigable at high tide.
A boat trip. The wind was in the east and it was bleak and cold. Even colder once we were out on the water. An icy, biting wind and no shelter. Poor light. All the colours greyed out. I've walked along the banks of the Crouch on a brilliantly sunny winter day and the colours were so rich - russets, golds, deep blues and greens. But this time everything was silver, grey, brown and black.
I like the marshes best when the tide is out. The exposed mud and the way it reflects the light is far more attractive to me than when the channels are full of water. But I was interested to see the shore from a different perspective - from the water rather than the land. And in this bleak, cold light the edge of the marsh was reduced to dark lines dividing water from sky. Horizontals. Only the occasional vertical line - channel markers, breakwaters, fence posts.
The islands have always been remote. Isolated farms. Nature reserves. MOD ranges. Smugglers ... Places for people who people who choose to be at the edge of things.
Curlew over Foulness