A recent trip to North Wales gave me the opportunity to explore a little of two potential locations for StillWalks productions. The first one wasn’t planned, but I had time after my scheduled meeting at Colwyn Bay to walk down to the expansive beach. The end of day sun was low and contrast and patterns high on the broken pier.
Returning, on my walk this week, from the heights of Llansteffan Castle’s battlements to the beach below led me through the woods and away from my companions on this visit to Carmarthenshire in South Wales. I was able to look down on them just as they reached the beach.
Before we left the castle itself, I stood in the entrance to the castle and although I didn’t have my field recorder with me, still managed to capture something of the aural atmosphere of this calm day.
Listen to the sound clip below and if you are viewing this in an email, you will need to click the post title to see the sound player on the post itself.
Llansteffan Castle Sound Clip
My walk this week is from Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire but I must also bring your attention to the movement of the StillWalks website.
Later this week I will be relaunching the StillWalks website and must ask all followers who wish to continue receiving their daily dose of images and sound from the StillWalks blog, to click the link on Thursday’s post and the following days to relocate with me to the new website.
Thank you to all my existing and new followers.
Along with this relaunch we will be at The Waterside with publisher Management Learning Resources (MLRUK) to promote the new StillWalks package for organisations and individuals. That’s on 7th April from 10 – 12. Details and directions can be found here at The Waterside.
Now on to this week’s walk at Llansteffan. It wasn’t the brightest of days but it was not raining and the atmosphere was quite still. It’s a long time since I was last here but is a place I often think of as an excellent location for walking. It has a large beach, an exciting promontory with a great castle on top and wonderful views.
The turning point for my walk along the ridge of Rhosilli Down was a promontory at the western end from which a spectacular view across Rhosilli Bay towards Tenby which was well and truly hidden in the haze – a haze which was fast becoming mist.
It was a good spot to stop and eat my sandwiches and the sounds of wind and sea were only disturbed by a jet fighter on exercise against the horizon – listen to the sound clips below.
Blustery Wind
Walking and Flying
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
My walk this week features a walk I did exactly a year ago to the week and took me up onto Rhosilli Down at the end of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. It was one of those increasingly rare days in February when the sun shines, albeit through a haze, the weight of which changed with the wind throughout the day.
The track leading up from the village of Rhosilli to the top of the ridge overlooking the bay is quite steep. Whilst ascending this was not a problem, descending it again at the end of the day was most definitely an issue – one which my knees complained about bitterly and had me inching down from the down at a snail’s pace.
The walk, however, was most enjoyable and although I did not find the time in 2015 to post produce this as a StillWalks video, I hope to do so this year and in the meantime bring a sample of the place to my posts throughout this week.
Reasons to visit Swansea beach – none needed, go anyway and enjoy a walk in the sea scented space and listen to the waves as they lap or pound on the sea wall and steps. If the tide is out, then the space is that much greater and you can have the give of the sand under your feet instead of the hard concrete of city streets. Rain or shine, windy or still, the sensations are there for anyone and everyone.
Waves on Promenade Steps
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
I am not often walking on Swansea Bay when the tide is in – for some reason it seems to be out far more often. This must be coincidence but it means that when I am there when the tide is high, it feels new and fresh, a bit like the way snow changes the landscape.
The tide was not particularly high on this occasion but it was still lapping at the foot of the promenade steps and this, for me, is an almost iconic sound of the place. So click the play button below for an aural backdrop to the images posted about my walk this week. Click the first thumbnail image to view them in sequence.
Waves on Promenade Steps
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
Swansea harbour sea wall is, to my mind, an amazing structure. The textures, colours and patterns of this seemingly huge scabrous metal arm that reaches far out into the bay intrigue and fascinate me. I say “seemingly” and “intrigue” because of the deceptive sense of scale that it presents to the walker as you proceed towards it along the beach.
Until you are standing right next to it, you do not realise how much it will tower above you. No doubt this has to do with its length relative to its height – a length that helps guide some of the flotsam and jetsam up to the top of the beach.
