swamp pond surface

My Walk this Week 208 – Compare and Contrast

My walk this week is green and luscious and through something of a swamp! It is one I have only done once before and that was during an icy winter, so I wanted to compare and contrast the two seasons.

green walk

I don’t think I need to say much about the differences as they can be seen in the galleries below, but one of the most interesting to me is the is the water surface in the swamp/pond. In winter it was covered in thick, dark, opaque ice with a dusting of snow while on this more recent walk it is covered in thousands of catkins and algae.

The soundscapes are different as well, and again, I don’t think I need say much. The strange “groaning” sound in the Spring soundscape may be a distant goods train as there is a railway track nearby, but I cannot be certain.

Gorseinon Walk Soundscape and Images

The soundscape media player does not show on the WordPress Reader, please visit the website to listen to the soundscape and view the images at the same time.

Winter Walk Soundscape and Images

bending lines

My Walk this Week 195 – Station Stroll

My walk this week is more of a stroll along my local railway station and is another short walk fitted in between other things going on in my day.

tunnel and light

Having to wait for something or other, I took a wander down there knowing that, as stations go, it is quite an attractive one. The thick carpet of moss on the unused section of the bending platform was luxurious to say the least – it felt wonderful to walk on! When I turned round to face the sunshine, I could see the light, not at the end of the tunnel but at its far side. Powerful and bright in the distance, it was a classic effect of the conditions.

One of the other noticeable things about the station was the number of bright-sounding birds – I wasn’t the only one enjoying a brief respite from the wind and rain of one storm following directly on from another. And if you listen, you will here amongst them one of our local song thrushes 🙂Continue reading

River rapids

My Walk this Week 190 – River Ely

My walk this week was a short one by the River Ely on the edge of Cardiff and slotted in between the rain and meetings. The profusion of recent rain was showing its effect on the river, though I am sure this is nothing compared to other areas of the country.

Natural casualties

The sights and sounds of the river rushing and gurgling along during lunchtime break in a nearby school (you can hear the children in the playground) was intermittently overlaid by the speeding by of  local and intercity trains.Continue reading

Distant Gower from The Mawr

My Walk this Week 141 – Exploring Down from The Mawr

On my walk this week I went exploring a footpath I have passed on top of The Mawr on many occasions but never stopped for a closer look – until now.

Woodland ravine path

Looking across to the Gower Peninsula in the distance, I stood and enjoyed the wind as it gently swirled around me and brought the sound of skylarks to my ears. Setting off down an old moss covered farm track, it wasn’t longContinue reading

tree reflection

My Walk this Week 139 – Christmas Day Walk

My walk this week was taken in our local park on Christmas Day when the park was almost empty of other people but lively with the sound of birds. I had the idea that the birds thought it might be Spring, perhaps influenced by the warm weather.

Trees and geese

Whatever time of year they thought it was, the geese were in flight, but I only spotted them in the photograph above after I got home again.

This was an impromptu walk and as such all the photos and sound recording I did was on my phone, and that is OK, thoughContinue reading

Pembrey Floral Walk

In May 2013 I did a StillWalks production walk at Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The production followed what Pembrey calls its Floral Walk.

The photos I am posting this week are from this StillWalks production which, as yet, has not been post-produced or published. I won’t bother going into the reasons for this but hope that you enjoy a Welsh woodland floral week on the blog.

Pembrey Catkins

Pembrey Catkins

Pembrey Catkins