Time flies

have a habit of setting myself projects that are almost impossible to complete. In 2008 my husband and I had the idea to try to visit and photograph the islands of Great Britain – all 7,747 of them. Less than a year later, we gave up our jobs and set sail on a modern-day exploration of our homeland. In hindsight, it was a crazy thing at the time), and we were lucky to live in East Sussex with the glorious South Downs on our doorstep. But sometimes comfortable just won’t do, so we were soon cramming socks, camera gear and blister plasters into our rucksacks, and boarding the sleeper train to Scotland. In the years that followed we visited 486 islands, and we saw many things for the first time: a waterfall flowing backwards on Canna, adders warming themselves on a rock on Rum, a corncrake throwing its voice among the reed beds of Tiree, to name just a few. We took a big gamble leaving our jobs, our flat and our friends behind, but our lives were enriched by the adventure.