Most of what I’ve been doing during this second stage of the residency has been to work further on a planning a viable route (or routes) to run. I’m also continuing my exploration of the area this side of the river. When I started thinking about this I was pretty convinced that as the river widens, I would follow it along the south side, as I was aware of the obstructions that the large docks on the north side would cause. Now, I’m not so sure; these are part of the working river and even if I can’t get through them, getting round them will be an acknowledgment of their presence. There is alot of controversy surrounding their development as ‘super ports’, in terms of jobs and also the environment. They have been responsible for dredging the riverbed to make it deeper to encompass ever larger sea vessels and this has disturbed much of the river’s natural eco-system; at the same time they have brought wildlife to the area and have worked on returning former rubbish dumps and brownfield sites back to nature.
There are of course other ‘obstacles’ to get round on the south side of the river and I’m particularly aware of the looming presence of the former oil-fired power station on the Isle of Grain, which I can see from my window. I’m looking forward to spending some time on that side at the weekend. I’m attending some talks and a couple of night walks organised by the Inspiral London group of artists, who have devised a new walking route for experiencing London and its surrounds, spiralling out from the centre. They are launching the Inspiral Trail map tomorrow, Thursday 19th April at The Place, near Kings Cross. The event also also marks a series of night walks, talks and workshops over the weekend in Gravesend , Kings Cross and Medway. I’m particularly excited about taking the ferry from Tibury to Gravesend on Friday evening.
I’ve been continuing to work on the large map I have installed in my room/workspace. It’s a slow process and I can only do it for so long before the light goes. At the moment, I’m mainly filling in the trajectory of the river and connecting waterways in pale-blue coloured pencil. I will then start adding annotations relating to run, mainly marking out daily route sections (when I’ve worked out what they are) and places I’ve identified as possible overnight stays. I’ve already started to work this out in my notebook, with reference to the Thames Path route on the National Trails website. It’s a really useful resource as it’s completely up to date and includes the latest diversions and changes to the route. There’s also a distance calculator that allows you to plot your own route in relation to the official Thames Path and you can also select for it to local places to stay en route- very helpful. This mapwork is a much bigger task than I anticipated and I’m not sure I will have completed it by the end of my stay here, but I will have got alot further with it and I’ll have better sense of what I’m letting myself in for, than if I had not had this opportunity of consolidated time. Luckily it will be a good while before I actually embark on this journey.
