Pen Allt-Mawr

Cwmdu Walk Part 3 – Reviewing the Walk

Back where I started by the farm and spinning/weaving workshop where my daughter was learning how to use a spinning wheel and on time for the end of her day at All In a Spin.

track fence

The three stages of this walk – up the valley (Cwm Sorgwm), across the top (Mynydd Llangorse), and down into the valley again will be edited as a StillWalks video. As the existing selected images and soundscapes would make the video last about 20 minutes, I will have to re-edit and select these to bring the video length down to about 9 or 10 minutes. Continue reading

makeshift gate

For the Love of Gates

On this last section of the third part of my walk above Cwmdu in Wales I had the enjoyment of going back through the gates I had passed through on my ascent of the valley – Cwm Sorgwm which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains.

gate

I am sure there must be psychological significance to my enjoyment of gates (symbolic opportunities perhaps?), but one thing seems sure – Continue reading

bracken detail

The Density of Bracken

The density of the bracken on the steep hillside down which I was climbing cautiously, is common on the open commons of the Welsh landscape. While bright green in the Spring and Summer, it changes the hills to bright red in the Autumn when the light is right.

Beneath the bracken

We are having August weather this year as if we were already in Autumn and the bracken is now beginning to change colour. However, it was still bright and thick on this walk back at the end of June. My poor knees were aching from the steep descent (I much prefer climbing) and I had to sit down to give them a break half way down the slope. Continue reading

Welsh landscape

My Walk this Week – Cwmdu Walk Part 3

My walk this week shows the third and final section of my walk near Cwmdu which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales. The route, shortened due to lack of time as a result of StillWalks production work along the way, provided me with a steep descent back to the valley floor.

steep hillside footpath

Although the footpath was dry, it was still slippery with stones as will be evident in the soundscape to be posted later in the week. The hillside being steep meant that I had some great views Continue reading

Walking – Cwmdu Walk Part 2, Reviewing the Walk

The end of this middle section of my walk above Cwmdu on the hills between the Brecon beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales, showed me a path I could have taken.

Mynydd Llangorse

However, the pile or cairn of stones in the foreground above also marked the point at which I would leave this path and descend back down into the valley – Cwm Sorgwm. Continue reading

grass in the breeze

Following the Footpath

Once up on top of Mynydd Llangorse the footpath to follow was quite clear across the moorland on my StillWalks production walk above Cwmdu, which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales.

Mynydd Llangorse footpath

There were other people about – a couple of couples passed by and a group of hikers who were camping down by Llangorse Lake. Not so many people to stop me having the place to myself Continue reading

River Loughor

Down By the Riverside

The salt marshes edge the River Loughor as it flows out to the estuary. The footpath down by the riverside is more open now than it was just two or three years ago.

Marsh fence

The tall marsh grasses and reeds are no longer there to the extent they used to be as a result of erosion and the trampling of cows. Continue reading

Marsh grass

Crossing the Marshes

Having left the park on my walk this week across the marshes and down to the river, the wild flowers were out and the birds were singing in the sunshine.

There were the usual items of flotsam as well of course, brought up by the tide – that’s why these are salt marshes. Continue reading