Lockdown Walks

With the lockdown, I realized that I don't need the busy life of a city. All I need is a huge park where I can be with my thoughts. This book, with its breathtaking photographs, made me happy and showed me that I am not alone. Lovely work!

Earlier this year a friend made a photo book and sent it to those to whom she feels close. Spring was depicted therein and offered a verdant reminder that nature and life were going on during the pandemic. As soon as my local botanical garden allowed visits, I began going there and have taken so many photos as the seasons have evolved. Netty Cracknell also took photos, lots of them, during Covid as she reactivated an old hobby. This collection of photos of her corner of England is the result.

This is a lovely book to look at in many sections but also one that is sad at times. To get the sadness out of the way, Ms. Cracknell captures the deserted high streets and more urban locations with no one there, providing a poignant remainder of the emptiness of the pandemic. However, she also has gorgeous photos of canal boats, locks, bridges, sunrises, trees, swans and more. For those who enjoy photography and want to remember this time or just enjoy the scenes, I recommend this title.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This is not a book about walking in lockdown.

This is a collection of framed and considered snapshots taken by a keen amateur photographer during the first few weeks of total lockdown.

There is a joy in these images; a progression of skill, aptitude and ambition with each captured scene. A sense of recording a different world while taking advantage of a moment which few have had to themselves, since long forgotten school holidays in teenage years.

In lockdown we were like contestants in I’m a celebrity or Big Brother during their first series of shows. We didn’t know how always to make use of our isolation, free time and removal of the normal. Some went inside themselves, others binged watched series, Zoom and Tik Tok were embraced and others still, rediscovered themselves, former hobbies or dormant passions and interests.

Thankfully Netty knew where her camera was and found time not just to take photos but to catalogue them, productively recording her local environment and neighbourhood while exposing both her rusty eye for a Kodak moment and an incomplete skill set. Obliviously, pursuing her interest, refining a teenage love of taking photos and improving her technique along the way.

The constant of lockdown was another day in the house; no-one voting you out other than some inner motivation to redeem the time. Netty fell back in love with nature, saw new beauty in her streets and footpaths and recorded her “journey” which for our benefit became this little book of moments in time.

I am so pleased she was encouraged to share these pictures. They give insight into the art of taking a good picture with a camera other than just a point and shoot one. I also have been looking for books that show a positive amid this pandemic and so much negative news agenda. This book deserves to be considered example from this rotten year. A joyful reminder of life within our grasps, of simple pleasures and interests we can share with others and be more than a career.

Finally it has perhaps shown me that care is er part of a ‘career’ for everyone, not just lexicon lovers. But we perhaps have set aside care in the process of ‘refining’ ourselves, our roles and motivations.

We need to care for our local community.

We need to care for others.

We need to embrace self-care and promote time to be safe and secure as who we are.

What is our new normal career?
It hasn’t got a snazzy job title, but it translates as being human.
It has less to do with what job I hold, more about who I am.

This book has gone a long way to helping me in this regard and I hope you too will catch this vibe.

I think the appeal of this book will be different for each person that views it. Photographs have a way of expressing so much in the realm of mood and emotion. Many of the photographs are average snapshots, while others are breathtaking art worthy of framing. I noticed, for me in particular, the movement from peaceful settings to what feels like a desolate, abandoned land as you progress through these images. Then Cracknell brings us back to 'life' with her images of the swans moving through their own unique life stages. I found several of the town/street shots haunting, void of people. This book, is indeed a story, more than a coffee table or art book.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately, I do not have the capability to read protected pdf format. Thank you.

Review to come to blog/Goodreads on Dec 29th.

I received this book from Netgalley/publisher in exchange of an honest review.

So I know that I wasn't in the mood for more Corona books, but this one promised pretty pictures/scenery so in the end I just clicked on the Read Now button! I was curious what someone discovered on their walks. I wish I could be that carefree, and just go outside during the lockdowns, but I just stay inside. Doesn't feel good to go outside. I am too anxious. During each lockdown (we are now at 3) there were still enough people who went on walks or bicycle rides. I know my hubby and I often were surprised at how many people passed by on the streets. I guess maybe if one goes outside during sunrise it is calm, but sorry, I am not a morning person. My body says no to waking up THAT early. :P My hubby does do bicycle rides during the morning (when it is good weather) and he enjoys it. We did try to also do evening bicycle rides during the first lockdown as I despite everything I wanted to try something outside, but evenings were just way TOO busy. We tried it once or twice but had to dodge so many people that it wasn't fun for me at all. Even my hubby wasn't happy about things. I know this isn't part of the book, but I feel it fits with the review regardless!

This book is full of photographs that the author took during her walks (and bicycle rides apparently) outside. We see gorgeous sunrises, lovely and silent sceneries, though at times it really reminded me of Walking Dead or any other apocalypse story. Given how there was really NOTHING there on the roads and streets at her place, it was like humanity had left. It was really startling. I really liked seeing all the various sceneries come by, and I especially loved the swans and their little ones. Those were just so adorable!

Though I have to be honest I barely read the text underneath. I read the first couple of ones and also some later, but most I just skipped. I just wanted the photographs, that is what I came here for.

All in all, a very interesting and pretty photography book and I am very happy I clicked the Read Now and could check out this book.

A personal record of photographs taken on walks and cycle rides in the Essex countryside during Lockdown. There is a mix of rural peace and tranquility alongside some eerily empty streets and roads. I think my favourites are the pictures of the ducks and swans. This book would be of particular interest to people who are familiar with the area but there is much to enjoy for all. Thank you to Netty Cracknell, Net Galley and Troubador Publishing Ltd for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This book is truly beautiful. I was instantly drawn to the cover of this book. The book is nothing like I have read before, all about lockdown but in such a positive way with the beautiful images of nature and life throughout the first lockdown.

Before the pandemic I loved to walk and I have really missed the outdoors, but this book has filled me with such joy and hope that soon I will be able to have a lovely walk again without being anxious.

If you love photography, nature or the outdoors this is definitely a book that you will wholeheartedly enjoy. Thank you Netty Cracknell for bring such a lovely book for 2020.

It is a collection of absolutely wonderful pictures clicked by Author during covid lockdowns.
It showed nature without humans is more beautiful than ever.
Collection of wonderful sunrises to keep her morale high. It certainly contains eye soothing pictures.
A good collection with interesting captions.

I am so pleased this author returned to her old hobby of photography. I loved this book for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are many truly beautiful and relaxing photos ( I particularly liked her river and canal side photos) which I thoroughly enjoyed looking at. Second it is a fascinating record of a very weird time in our history. Those deserted roads and shopping centres are something we would never have imagined happening in our lifetimes and very much hope will soon be over. Thirdly it is interesting to see the development of this lady’s skills. You can see how she improves through the book. The inclusion in her epilogue of some of the very first photos she took many years ago is a revealing comparison and the shots have a great deal of atmosphere to them.
Many people, myself included, have found a great deal of solace and satisfaction in reviving a long lost hobby or taking up a new one during these periods of lockdown. This book shows what great results some people have achieved. As a keepsake of a very strange period of history in the UK and also just as a lovely book of photographs this is worth buying.

Lockdown and 2020 in general has been incredibly hard on people at the best of times, with many of us feeling helpless and at a loss for what to do for most of the year.
Lockdown walks is a book of simple beauty, how one person managed to turn what was a time of uncertainty into one of joy and purpose.

A fantastic collection of photographs, intertwined with a little personal touch is exactly the sort of win to be salvaged from what was altogether a miserable period of existence.

A really lovely idea that would suit people who enjoy photography. The photos really are gorgeous but not being familiar with the area, quite a few of them (the ones surrounding water) seem like normal every day pretty pictures.. I didn't get the lock down feel from them in the same way I did the photos of the empty streets.

I found Lockdown Walks to be a very interesting concept of a book. The author and photographer, Netty Cracknell, took photographs of different places and things during lockdown. Why didn't I think of this! I liked looking at the photographs and reading the descriptions. Some weren't that interesting to me but nevertheless, I still enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

Really enjoyed seeing the photographers town works as she takes is on a tour through her beautiful pictures.The nature pictures are refreshing to see from my lockdown and the stark reality of the empty city streets reveal what life is really like today.The author is very talented and this was a book that kept me company in a very enjoyable way.#netgalley#troubadorbooks

Via her camera, Netty brings us on her walks during the Covid-19 lockdowns, creating a beautiful record of a difficult time. I am grateful to Netty for sharing her talent, and to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing Ltd. for providing me with a digital copy in return for my honest review.

This is a great idea, but the execution needs tweaking, at least in the e-format. The images that downloaded to my iPad were badly distorted

A gorgeous compendium of pictures taken in Lockdown, when the world was first adjusting to the lights of an unknown newly encountered change, the likes of which we’d never seen before.

This charming little book really showcased nature at its finest. The book really encompasses the calming, peaceful effect of nature and I can only imagine the immense pleasure the author got taking these photos and capturing some absolutely stunning and breathtaking scenery. There really is something so cathartic about getting out into nature, armed with your camera and committing that snap in time to film.

I really liked flicking through the photos and reading the little accompanying notes that placed the particular picture at the time. It almost felt like a journey with the author through her photos. Also, it’s so eerie to see previously highly populated places looking like ghost towns which the author captured, which really goes to show the extent of the change we faced. I adored the sunrise pictures coupled with the mist and fog and if there were any pictures I’d wish I could step into, it would be those!

The only reason I gave this 3 stars is I really do think people get more of an enjoyment with taking their own pictures and showing them then people do of looking at other peoples taken photography! Or at least, that is with me anyway. Just a personal preference. It has definitely inspired me though to endeavour to venture into nature more and even though I’m not armed with a fancy camera, a iPhone and a willing attitude is all you need, as demonstrated.

‘Lockdown Walks’ was a great, simple little read which doesn’t take long to flick through and leaves you feeling a little lighter with a spark of happiness and hope that even though the world is going through such great difficulty, nature is still there for us and showing us it’s immense beauty whenever we take the time to notice it.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Lockdown walks is a lovely documented collection of photographs taken by Netty Cracknell (a budding amateur photographer) during the UK's 2020 coronavirus lockdown.
Each of the photographs is accompanied with information about where it was taken along with information about taking the picture itself. All of these photos were taken on the authors doorstep.
During this lockdown period, nature blossomed and thrived in an almost still and quiet, less polluted world around it and the photographer captured lots of this still beauty within this book.