Broken Fence

Along Cougar Creek, up on the side of the hill is a pathway for hikers. Below that a rail track along which trains come at a remarkable and sometimes surprising speed. Then there is a boggy section, the creek itself and another then walkway and last a fence. There is also the highway that cuts through the area crossing the Fraser River, elevated at a tremendous hight. The fence is there to protect the industrial area under the highway but itches now breached in so many places by fallen trees and here and there accidentally backed over by trucks being backed up to the edge of the greenway to be put into storage that is seems to be more symbolic than useful. Underneath all of this is the usual pipeline, here a large city sewage pipe, aromatic in the worse way. The real reason any of these trees are here, or the hiking paths and creek survive, is that the sewage pipe is there. This ribbon of trees, birds, beavers (always flooding the bog by blocking the creek), ducks, heron and I guess once some cougars, is that this sewage pipe. Anywhere within the city limits I find nature seemingly winning a struggle against human occupation it usually is due to a sewerage pipe, oil pipeline or high pressure gas line buried under a few feet of dirt. I wish for once a greenways seemed to be there because we realised in time we needed a greenway.

The Fence That Divides Purposes

This image is from a more recent project focused on a small bit of land, on the map called a “nature reserve,” which lies between residential housing and a fairly heavily industrialised area. A fence divides these two, broken in many places and overgrown by saplings that have disrupted its order and continuity. Besides the pathway, creek and fence running through this “natural” area is a freight line. Trains cross the creek, and loudly rumble through the bog and adjacent woodlands. There is no warning except signs telling you not to cross the tracks even though the pathway is clearly marked with steps and elevated boardwalk. An area of many contradictions.

The Creek Running Through Town.

The streams, which last year had trimmed pathways on one side, have been allowed to return to their old nature, with overgrowth so high it’s now impossible to follow the creek.

The fort at the Edge of the Forest.

This fort has stood at the edge of the forest, now for over three years. 20 feet in one direction, new homes. 20 feet in the other, bears.

Smith College Conservatory, Northampton, Massachusetts

Through the Doorway, Jim Roche © 2022 all rights reserved. Vancouver based visual artist and photographer, from my recent travels to the east coast. The conservatory there is one of several gardens that have been the focus of a long term project.