Another thing that struck me about Essex from the air was just how green it was. I've lived in suburbia all my life and apart from the odd country park you could walk across in half an hour outside town, we always travelled hundreds of miles to reach the proper countryside (Dartmoor in Devon, and the North York moors). But from several thousand feet up, you see just how much open space and countryside there is surrounding Southend, and even (as you can see in other shots) how barren parts of Essex are. This photo here is from the very edge of Southend, I think, heading past Hadleigh, but to be honest, most of Essex looks like this from up above. Just beyond the suburbs are miles and miles of open fields.