Trip to Essex

Last week I took the sleeper train to London for a conference. It was a hectic few days . Leaving my parent's house at 5.30 to run the 7 miles to the station to catch the train to Liverpool Street. Lectures all day then the train home.
However we spent the weekend relaxing, going to pubs and running .
On Sunday we went to the Chequers in Goldhanger a 15th century pub close to the Blackwater Estaury. The food is excellent and there is a good range of real ales to drink. One of my favourite runs is from the pub along the sea wall back to Maldon.
Despite the reputation of Essex being built up and full of night clubs. the coastal marshes are truly wild with big open ever changing skies, there is the distinctive tang of mud and salt and the air is filled with the lonely cries of  sea birds. Although in the South of England it always seems cold with a wind 'like a whetted knife'

The  marshes from the seawall near Goldhanger

 The Bell in Purleigh is also one of my favourite pubs - a historic old building in the centre of a picturesque village.The rector of the village church from 1632 to1643 was Laurence Washington great grandfather to George Washington the first President of the U.S.A.
Importantly there is a good running route from my parents house.

In my parent's kitchen

Canal near Beeleigh

Recent Paintings

On the way back from Acharacle- Loch Sunart

Grey Corries -Stob Choire Claurigh

Looking back towards Stob Choire Gaibhre

I haven't done much  outdoor sketching recently . The days are shorter and the weather has been  wet and windy; not ideal for painting watercolours. However I have done some paintings from photos .

The bottom two pictures are from photos taken on a beautiful afternoon in the Grey Corries two weeks ago . It is a long slog up fom the Leanachan Forest to the ridge but once there the views are stupendous. Because the Spean Bridge is hidden in the valley all one can see in every direction is rank after rank of pristine mountains. There are no towns, no houses, no roads nor indeed any sign of man's mark on the landscape visible. It is a wonderful  playground of glens, hills and forests and I'm lucky enough to live in the middle of it.

The top picture is a view from the road  between Strontian and Acharacle on another fine day.The road is single track and twists and turns along the lochside and through  beautiful oak woodlands. It is always a treat to drive there although concentrating on the road rather than the scenery can be a challenge !

Theresa

Yesterday afternoon I went for a run on The Grey Corries, the mountains closest to where I live.
It was a great day; dry and sunny with spectacular autumn colours. Higher up it was cold and windy but still clear and bright.As the day drew to a close the mountains threw long dark shadows and the landscape was suffused with a wonderful golden glow from the sinking sun. I spent much of the time deep in thought . On such a lovely day in such magnificent surroundings I felt privileged to be alive. All the more so because last week we heard the tragic and unbelievable news that Theresa, a vet I used to work with, had been killed in  a car accident.
Theresa was brought up on Mull. On graduating she took a job in Fort William. However when the chance to buy the singlehanded Mull practice came up she took what was likley to be a once in a lifetime chance despite her relative inexperience. An extremely, capable and caring vet it was a job that was made for her .Most would find the prospect of taking on a practice single handed especially on an island extremely daunting: No back up, no colleagues to consult, no days or nights off unless a locum was employed.  Few people today would be willing to make that sort of sacrifice. Theresa had the passion and drive to make it work and she did. I'm filled with admiration for what she achieved.
So it is such a cruel blow that she was killed returning from an evening call last week . She was only 29 and had so much ahead of her. It is a terrible loss not just to her family and friends but to the islanders of Mull and to the veterinary profession.

Glencoe from a photo taken last week

A sketch of Ben Nevis from Banavie

View from the Gairlochy Road .Aonach Mor in the distance