[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 August 2021].
reflections on an unprecedented year
Usually, I edit photos and write my end of year wrap-up blog on New Year’s Eve.
2020 was no different. Except I found myself a bit overwhelmed as I tried to string together my thoughts about the past year and edit photos to post in time for the midnight cut-off.
I actually posted what I wrote just before midnight that night, and it was live on here for about five hours. But after a very brief phone call with Simon, then about five hours of celebrating the coming of the new year virtually with my friend, Sophie, I decided to unpublish it and revisit it with fresh eyes.
The opening of my original post felt like too much of a political rant. And whilst I can often be heard ranting about politics, I decided that’s not what I want this post to be.
Since my wrap-up didn’t make it online in time for the end of the year in the form I’d intended, I ended up taking a little longer to put the post together. I wasn’t planning it to take this long, but I guess that’s what happens when life is a little stressful.
So here it is. I hope you enjoy it :)
By the beginning of 2020, my fractured ankle was gradually improving, and I could get out and about more.
In January, my friend, Khanisa, and I ventured out into the night to see the Winter Lights at Canary Wharf.
In February and March, Simon introduced me to more English towns and villages.
We visited Rickmansworth.
Ware and Wareside.
I also managed to visit Tate Modern for the Dora Maar exhibition with friends from Australia. With heightened caution and hand sanitiser, of course.
Unfortunately, after eight years as a member, I recently had to cancel my membership until I have a steady income again.
Simon and I took a wander around Hampstead on 8 March.
As we ate dinner at the King William IV pub after our explorations, we had no idea it would be our last pub meal for precisely four months.
A couple of weeks later, Simon and I took advantage of the London lockdown to experience a drive through an eerily empty City of London and Camden.
Redundant?
In late March, I was made redundant.
I’ll say no more than it was one of the best things to happen to me in 2020, a year that was mostly okay for me, despite the pandemic.
Hardly!
While I may not have brought in a wage during much of 2020, I found other ways to keep myself occupied.
The 100 Day Project started on 7 April and seemed a perfect opportunity to explore something new.
Namely, cut out and keep. 100 digital collages created using a mix of illustrations and paintings in the public domain, in many instances combined with my own photos.
The project provided a welcome distraction for me from everything else going on at the time. And — based on the results of my Instagram Top Nine for 2020 — chimed with many of my followers. It also earned me likes from one of my most admired filmmakers, Guy Maddin, which was a bit of a highlight for the year.
The natural world
Along with toilet paper and pasta shortages, and the joys of queuing, 2020 brought me an increased appreciation of nature.
I learned a lot last year by slowing down and observing the world around me.
Wandering through the woods with Simon and my camera.
Redesigning our shared garden with Simon and my neighbour.
Learning about and growing plants in my flat.
I talked a lot to plants. I got excited about new leaves, flowers, growth of any kind. And I squeed when I saw my babies flourishing in new ways. It was kind of embarrassing…
Not pictured: our sunflowers, Anya potatoes, ruby red Swiss chard, leeks, coriander, parsley and thyme, all of which came and went in 2020, and our hyacinths, spider plant, flaming Katy, ivy and avocado, which are all gradually coming along.
Parklife
Though our wanders in 2020 rarely terminated at a pub — as they would have done in previous years — we visited and revisited many parks for our daily permitted exercise.
We visited Monken Hadley Common and Hadley Wood multiple times.
I finally made it Hampstead Heath. Not once, but twice!
The second visit was part of a socially-distanced meander with Julie and her Simon from my place via Alexandra Park and Palace, part of the Parkland Walk, Hampstead, Highgate Wood and Kentish Town.
We popped over to Amersham for a day out on our anniversary, discovering Pondwicks Meadow.
And we made a new friend in The Stumpery at Golders Hill Park.
Not pictured: Finsbury Park, Gillespie Park Ecology Centre, Theydon Bois, Walthamstow Marshes, Walters Close Open Space in Cheshunt, Hampstead Heath Extension and Minchenden Oak Garden.
The Magnificent Seven
When restrictions allowed, Simon and I continued our visits to London’s Magnificent Seven cemeteries.
We belatedly celebrated my birthday with a visit to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park in April after finding Kensal Green Cemetery was closed to all but those attending funerals.
As I’m a Friend of Highgate Cemetery Trust, we had the chance to be guinea pigs for the new self-guided tours of the west cemetery in July.
While I will always recommend the guided tours there, it was lovely to wander (mostly) at will through the overgrown hillside cemetery.
Fortuitously, in December I happened to see Gasometer Gal’s tweet that Kensal Green Gasworks had been reduced to one gasholder. The penny finally dropped: Kensal Green Cemetery was the one we’d seen set against gasometers featured in episodes of the Channel 4 TV series, Misfits!
So we celebrated an early Christmas Day our way visiting the Kensal Green Cemetery and gasworks. My early Christmas present was two of my obsessions — cemeteries and gasometers — colliding.
Hopefully, this year we'll visit the two I haven't been to before: Brompton Cemetery and West Norwood Cemetery. And maybe we'll revisit some of the others.
Last gas-p
Which brings me to the loss of more London gasometers in 2020, and the ones I managed to capture last year.
The New Southgate Gasworks disappeared by about mid-2020. I had photographed them previously but missed documenting their dismantling.
The remaining gasholders at Bethnal Green/Haggerston will be incorporated into a new residential development similar to those at Kings Cross. I recently signed a petition to influence how it will be done.
As for Kensal Green Gasworks, one gasometer was removed in 2020. It's unclear if the remaining one will disappear from the skyline or if it will be incorporated into the new development. It seems developers behind Gas Holder Park in Kings Cross may be involved.
Here's hoping the canals in Kensal Green and Haggerston can preserve a little of their iconic appearance.
Long-distance dedications
I hadn't expected to see my parents again in the flesh this year. So, despite the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, not much changed in that respect.
However, the extended Victorian lockdown meant Mum and Dad were cut off from the rest of our family for most of the year. And due to temporary restrictions at my Mum's nursing home, Dad was unable to visit her at one stage.
Mum likely didn't notice and has been, thankfully, otherwise unaffected so far. But all of us being so distant from Dad was hard. I'm hoping Australia can continue to maintain tight control on the coronavirus and avoid that happening again.
On the upside, it meant Dad and I had long meandering conversations on both serious and frivolous subjects once or twice a week on Skype most of the year.
The wonderful nursing home staff made it possible to Skype with Mum on her occasional good days.
Instant group messaging has also been a saviour, especially in times of family medical emergencies.
New discoveries I made in 2020:
Being an introvert has its advantages during a pandemic, going in and out of lockdown.
I have some lovely neighbours, and we're actually a pretty strong community in my street and others nearby.
Watching friends and acquaintances get caught up in conspiracy theories is not helpful for my mental health.
There are some tasty no and low alcohol ciders out there. (Though why are they often as or more expensive than full strength ones? And when will cider makers start selling 10 can cases of them rather than individual bottles?)
While I'm definitely still a dog person, maybe cats have a certain charm.
Looking forward to it (whatever it is)
Though there’s a great deal of uncertainty ahead, I’m still optimistic for 2021. Not like “this will be my best year ever”, just a cautious optimism for now.
I’m not overly hopeful for much travel this year. I’ll settle for a weekend away somewhere within the UK at some stage. We’ll have to see what the latter half of the year brings.
Maybe vaccinations will open the country up faster than we expect. I’m not counting chickens yet though…
I’m hoping Simon and I can make a home together.
And I’m also hoping I can build on the work I’ve done over the past nine months to head closer to self-employment through my photography, writing and other endeavours. Not least due to the ongoing pandemic, I’m keen to be more self-sufficient in terms of my income.
Patronise me
If you'd like to help me with that there's a smorgasbord of ways:
Buy my work! Contact me directly for print purchases. I hope to get my store online soon.
Buy my products through RedBubble.
Commission some work: photographs, collages, writing. Let’s chat!
Hire me for some photography (not weddings, sorry!), writing, design and/or digital marketing.
Got something else you think I'd be perfect for? Hit me up!
Thank you to my wonderful patrons, my print customers and those who used my marketing and website expertise in 2020.
I hope this year turns out better for all of us than we might expect and I send you love. x