A towpath runs alongside the Lee Navigation from the lock at Bromley-by-Bow all the way to Hertford, sometimes changing from one bank to the other.
Most of my colour pictures from the early 1980s were taken from this towpath, either looking at the buildings on the opposite bank or at details beside the path on the side I was walking. Other pictures were taken in the streets close to the navigation.
The colour images I made then were taken on transparency film, on a range of films including Kodachrome, Agfachrome, Ektachrome and other E6 emulsions. Because the slides produced were stored individually rather than as whole films (as with negatives), precise location details are often missing from these images, although these can often be identified either from memory or, more reliably, by reference to black and white negatives shot at the same time.
Although a great deal of the navigation runs through open land, with some fine trees, I concentrated on the many factories and other man-made structures along the river, seldom picturing the more open landscapes.
Most of my work from the 1980s was taken within Greater London, as a part of my increasing focus on the city at that time. I followed the Lea up into Hertfordshire and also made a trip with friends from Group Six to the source of the river in Leagrave, on the outskirts of Luton.
1980-92 b/w
1980s colour (this page)
2000 to date colour
All photographs on this site are
© 1980-2010 Peter Marshall.
Pictures are available for commercial use - please email me, for terms.
Permission is normally granted for suitable non-commercial use without cost - please email the above address. I also welcome comments and questions about the work.
The ground was deep in sawdust around these large blocks
used to support trunks. Edmonton.
A black sided factory building along the navigation at Ponders End proved
difficult to photograph.
You can see more or less the complete set of colour pictures I took in 1982-3 in two galleries. The selected pictures on these pages are included there.