Friday Photo(s) #79

Last week I took a bus over to the town I work in and walked home along country footpaths. I've done the jaunt before, more than once, but was trying out a new route this time. I estimated that it would take around 1¾ hours and for the first few miles all was going swimmingly, then I hit the first of two sweetcorn fields I'd have to cross. Footpaths should be maintained by the land owner, regardless of whether or not there's a crop in the field, so I followed the wooden 'Public Footpath' sign into the field, which was only slightly overgrown at this point. As I pressed on, the worn down path beneath my feet became gradually less obvious as previous walkers had presumably given up the ghost and turned round. By the time I realised that the footpath was completely gone and I couldn't actually walk any further, the sweetcorn surrounding me was over head height - I felt disorientated and even a little panicky. For the photo below I was holding the camera up over my head and shooting blind. It took me some time to hack my way out, imagining I was roughly retracing my steps, but I actually emerged from the corn some distance from where I entered it, such was my disorientation. Long story short, taking a series of alternative footpaths around the field instead of walking across it added considerably to my step count. 

Fortunately the second sweetcorn field, a mile or so further on, was perfectly maintained, offering a clear cut footpath straight through the middle of the towering crop - you can see it disappearing into the distance in the photo at the top of this post. A short while later however, the next phase of my pre-planned walk was scuppered by a stretch of country footpath that had been officially closed by the Parish Council, damaged by off-road vehicles apparently, necessitating yet another detour for me. I eventually arrived home, wearier than anticipated, more than three hours after setting off.

Here's The Coral, summoning the spirit of early Pink Floyd I feel, with an appropriately titled tune from their 2004 LP 'Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker'.

Song of the Corn