My Walk this Week 254 – Changes

Posted on 23/04/202121/04/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week sees some changes to a local urban nature route I have not walked for a couple of years. In recent years there has been a tremendous amount of new house building going on in our area and so it was no surprise to find almost every last nook and cranny filled with new homes when I reached the top of a local hill where there had been a few plots still vacant at my last visit.

The climb up there is short but steep and I enjoy the vigorous energy needed to ascend at the start of the day as well as the views to be found along the way. Or at least that is what I thought! Not only has there been more building but also the fencing off of once open fields from which views in all directions were possible.

But the small wood with big trees is still there and the sound of birds at this time of year dominates everything else.

You cannot beat nature and why we try is beyond me! People do though – trying to tame and take control – but nature will always win out in the end and there is a good example of this below in the image of the tree having “eaten” the barbed wire of a fence.

But now I have a question – can anyone tell me what the species of almost luminous green moss / mould / fungi / lichen is on the old tree stump in image 8 below?

Campus Walk Sun Rays and Soundscape

Posted on 26/01/201824/01/2018 by Alastair

I finished my walk this week with the sun shining out from behind the clouds and the seagulls wheeling as though this was a revelation – and indeed, when this happens it can feel like that! On this occasion the event was perhaps less dramatic than it can be sometimes, but suffering from the cold, biting wind as I was, it was good to see the gulls enjoying themselves, though they are not a feature of the soundscape.

As I walked back through the university’s Bay Campus the construction of new buildings continued, but the lads playing basketball paid no heed to the skeletal buildings, the noise of cranes and jack hammers or the biting windContinue reading→

Natural and Man-Made

Posted on 24/01/201822/01/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week took me through Swansea University’s Bay Campus to the open view it has of the expansive Swansea Bay. The combination of the natural and man-made had a number of crossover points – one of these was how cold it was with the wind chill coming off the sea, exposed as I was both in the open and amongst the buildings.

Other overlaps of the natural and man made came in the birdlife and young trees planted around the buildings, the moat-like sea defences (I suspect that, one day, these will not be enough), the rusting structure of an old disused outlet pipe onto the beach, and the industrial view looking east to Port Talbot.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – An Angle on Nature and Construction

Posted on 22/01/201819/01/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week was slightly unexpected. I had gone to explore the docks area in Swansea Bay but found no access due to gates and security fencing. However, as I moved on I found a footpath edging a part of Swansea University Bay Campus still under construction. On one side of the path I enjoyed the effect of perspective on the site fence, while on the other the textures I found in the bare nature of the season.

So while I had expected an industrial walk in the docks, instead I got a mixture of nature and man made construction. The nature was partly in the form of a bitterly cold wind for whichContinue reading→

Building Blocks

Posted on 06/05/201605/05/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week around Swansea University’s Bay Campus suggested to me that there were limited materials to work with when designing the place. I imagine that this was indeed the case with regard to finance (it always is), but it seems there may have been a restriction on the shapes that could be used as well.

From my criticism of the architecture used, it might sound as though I don’t like the campus, but in fact in some ways I do. I enjoy the regular rows of dark rectangles set into the alternating colours of brickwork. I like the reflections of light in some of the glass fronts (see tomorrow’s post),Continue reading→

Building Materials – Bronze and Slate

Posted on 23/10/201423/10/2014 by Alastair

The materials used in the building of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay are not the only impressive aspect of this piece of architecture. The design by Jonathan Adams seems to defy gravity with the impression of a huge overhanging weight at the front of the building.

The contrasting materials of bronze and slate complement each other beautifully both in colour and texture. The setting within the “arena” at the centre of Cardiff Bay allows enough space for the scale and for people to stand back and take in what makes for a great piece of architectural art.

Abandoned in a Field

Posted on 23/07/201423/07/2014 by Alastair

It wasn’t just thistles in this field (see previous post). This abandoned and burnt out building held one or two surprises.

A tangled mass of rusty corrugated iron was the first.

Constructing and Constructed Architecture

Posted on 03/07/201403/07/2014 by Alastair

I love the complex patterns created by the scaffolding on this construction site in Swansea. I have no idea what the new building will look like but it will be sitting beside the interesting patterns to be seen in the design of the BT tower across the road.

The BT tower is not a particularly attractive building – it looks a bit like something you would need to plug in for your phone. There are, however, many fascinating shapes, patterns, reflections to be seen in its surfaces and structure.