Flight Paths

Today's image was taken in the nearby small market town of West Malling. I called the image Flight Paths as I was just imaging the dove taking flight as the vapour trail from the aircraft swept by.
The sculpture, made of bronze, is actually called "Hope" and is by the artist Sarah Cunnington - it was her first large commission and was inspired by knowing and loving West Malling since her childhood growing up in Kent. It was commissioned by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and was unveiled on 7th July 2001.
It depicts the figure of the running woman which represents the present moment in time, caught for an instant in it's ceaseless forward movement (part of which I have tried to capture in my extra).
The rich tapestry of West Malling's past is shown on the back of the cloak that billows out behind her (some of which can be seen in my main image), the future is still to happen, the dove has yet to take flight and when it does, it will carry with it all our "hopes and prayers for ourselves", our community and the world.
The back of the cloak has eight panels depicting representations of the past and present of West Malling:

1. It's thriving community
2. West Malling Airfield - where Mosquito squadrons were based during the Second World War
3. It's rich agricultural tradition - including hop gardens and orchards
4. In 1704 the first ever game of cricket was played in West Malling
5. It's thriving market which lasted for many hundreds of years
6. Wyatt's rebellion against Mary Tudor was crushed by troops loyal to the queen, who were stationed in West Malling, prior to Wyatt being executed in 1554
7. Scenes from the Black Death (1348-49), when it was the site of mass graves or plague pits
8. The founding of the community of Benedictine nuns by Bishop Gundulph in 1090

What a lot of history recorded on the back of one statue! A massive shout out to The Malling Society for collating and recording all this history.

Watched a really touching tribute on i Player to the German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, who died in March aged 51 after a four year battle with cancer. She appeared on Top Gear on and off over a period of over 10 years.
I've always watched Top Gear but can find it to be very blokey but Sabine's appearances always stood out - she lit up the screen and had such a sense of fun and pure joy at what she did. She also consistently outperformed the men.  My favourite tribute was from one of the current presenters, Paddy McGuinness, "Brilliantly bonkers and an amazing human being".
I think everyone should try to be a bit more Sabine.