MEETING AT THE EDGE. At the point where the river is narrow enough to be bridged, we find the edge land where binary opposites can meet.
MARSHY PLACES Submerged in winter and after heavy rain, this is the marshy place at the edge of town where nature meets civilisation. Except that it's not a tidy meeting. This neglected, decaying and wild version of the human world meets the river and collides with derelict industrial units. And the Forest converges with the Cotswolds at the top of the Vale. Reclaimed in parts, lit's where long horned cows roam across newly constriucted cycle paths.
Blocked by steel fences, barbed wire and a river, we climbed through abandoned yards and past locked up workshops. All the time, the cathedral was magnificent and intermittent although sharing sky-space with a pylon
LOST IN PLACE Wandering, rambling and meandering: we always knew where we were, but not necessarily how to move to the next place. We each have some knowledge of different parts of the place. There is no plan, nor overview of how all this fits together.
FEELING EDGY Walking in a very thin oval, we uncover, discover and recover areas otherwise unfound, places which seem now to have no point. Certainly we're walking on our own, whilst over there, by the canal, hundreds are shopping, strolling or something more strenuous. Had we been walking with a purpose, we wouldn't have done this. Only by not having a plan was this possible. We stumbled upon a method of uncovering the land less stumbled upon.
NO-ONE GOES HERE In truth, it's topographically challenging, a terrain based on obsolete technology and relegated to unproductive hinterland by the road network. Except that now the long horns and recreational cyclists are making it again purposeful. Now that the asbestos or similar has been cleared, in some places the grassland is healing over industrial scars. Nearby and conversely, developers have bulldozed some scrubland with a view to what appears to be a new venture.
CONTRASTING PAST Reading in a southeasterly direction gives a flavour: Port Ham, Richard's Wood, Electricty Transforming Station, Nature Reserve, Castle Meads, Parking, Docks
FEELING OUT OF PLACE And then we find the river. Everything looks to be fine except that the path follows that east-west side branch of the river and so we walk an awkward track through pussy willow with river on our left and a steel anti personnel fence on the right, defending a car park and some office building from our potential invasion. Then we're out in that row of terraced houses overlooked by the planners when they gave the OK for the dual carriageway. Nice place, apart from the proximity of speeding vehicles. We've walked about two miles in our Sud Meadow loop and progressed 100 yards northwards. Not lost but not in full control, either.