“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time”
T.S.Eliot, Little Gidding
Thought I would share this quotation. It is strange how, despite the fact that there is this need to be at the location to 'understand what is necessary', it is only when you come away and discover what has been left in your memory that the sense of place that I am exploring really comes into it's own.
Yesterday I had the strong feeling that this project is going to be more of a challenge than I thought. I came away with some photographs and with some initial impressions but ironically it is the things that I didn't photograph that have stayed with me.
The new bench outside the toilet block for example which I remember consciously NOT photographing for some reason. I said yesterday there are many, many benches with nobody sitting on them. What is the thinking, I am wondering, behind creating a new 'place to sit'. This has set me off on a whole train of thought and picks up on a previous project of mine and makes me wonder what is this fascination I have with benches!!
One of the comments written in the Regeneration shop also keeps coming back to me 'please don't make it like Leigh-on-Sea'. I believe I understand the 'thrust' of this plea but it has also got me to thinking about comparisons, similarities and contrasts, with neighbouring Leigh with which Hadleigh shares its border.
Also, it seems my sense of place is driven by what is not there. Almost 'negative space' not physical but in my mind.
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