My Walk this Week 206 – I should have been here now

Posted on 08/05/202004/05/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is a re-post of one I made two years ago in the place we should have been now – SW Scotland. But due to the Covid-19 lock down, all holidays were cancelled and so we can only visit virtually.

The evening light in my selected shots of sunsets in SW Scotland show the changing scene from day to day from different viewpoints. Almost all the photos were taken on different evenings but it is easy to take many, many photographs throughout just one evening as the sun sinks down and the light and shade and colours change above in the sky and below in the bay.

Fewer clouds this year might have meant less drama, but I don’t think that is ever the case in this place. The skyscape / landscape / seascape is always mesmerising and holds my attention,
in awe again and again at the yellows and reds, greens and blues, and on one occasion pink and grey. The peacefulness is unparalleled at times like these.

Evening Soundscape

This soundscape is not from the same post but is certainly from the same place.

NB The place we stay with these wonderful views is called High Tide. It has been in my family since my grandfather built it in 1937 and although it is currently closed due to Covid-19, we do accept bookings from people other than family and friends. Watch the website for updates on the situation with regards to booking.

evening light

Low tide and lowering sun

late evening Galloway hills

clear sunset

Sunset Scotland

yellow sky

Golden sea

pink and grey

My Walk this Week 172 – Wandering Round the Garden

Posted on 16/08/201915/08/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week took me wandering round the garden on a bright August day. I was sitting watching the birds flutter and fight over the feeder outside my studio where I was weaving and thinking about the similar aural textures of my activity and that of the birds.

If you listen to the soundscape below you may understand what I mean, but it could just be my imagination. Being able to get out, or at least look at, the natural environments around me is essential to my wellbeing.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 159 – Botanical Beauty

Posted on 17/05/201917/05/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week looks and listens to some botanical beauty in Swansea’s Singleton Park. It is late Spring and new arrangements have been made in the formal garden and the colours abound in the less formal areas.

Swansea Botanic Gardens

The hot-house is exotic with the blooming of enormous bright flowers and the sound of running water accompanies the humidity in one section while fading away in the cactus house. The twisting paths both inside and out give a sense of exploration and discovery as you round a corner or enter a “tunnel” and find another colourful viewpoint or vista.

Swansea Botanic Soundscape

Sitting in the peacefulness of the arranged beds, listening to the birds and the gentle hoeing of the gardeners, Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 142 – Circular Hill Walk

Posted on 18/01/201914/01/2019 by Alastair

For my walk this week I started out early, when it was still quite dark, but this circular hill walk was really very enjoyable, even though the sun never managed to break through and the whole day was dim.

The day was just beginning for birds and builders alike and these start-of-the-day sounds accompanied me as I climbed Graig Fawr. Up on top the wind took over and gently buffeted me as I looked through the grasses and old brown bracken to the Loughor EstuaryContinue reading→

Scottish Skies 2 – Evening Light

Posted on 25/07/201824/07/2018 by Alastair

The Moon and A Mirror

Posted on 04/05/201801/05/2018 by Alastair

I think the shot below is probably my favourite from my walk this week down on our local marshes during the sunset and moon rise. The flat water of the high tide filling the river and reflecting the fading light and lunar crescent like a mirror was so peaceful and calming.

The soundscape for the walk also reflected the evening peace, even with the backdrop of motorway traffic. The birds sang and along with the bubbling of a small stream flowing into the river, they allowed me to ignore the trundle of tyres on tarmac. The soundscape is in three sections – Continue reading→

An Evening with Marsh Grass

Posted on 02/05/201830/04/2018 by Alastair

The tall marsh grass I enjoyed so much on my walk this week was enhanced by the beautiful evening light and the high tide which flows far up the River Loughor from the estuary. On this evening the level was perfect for a walk – not so high as to cover the surrounding marshes, but high enough to make the river brimful.

The result is a smooth mirror in the middle of the landscape, one that reflects all above and around it – the colours of the sunset and the riverside grasses. The surface was broken onlyContinue reading→

My Walk this Week – All A Bit Marshy

Posted on 26/02/201826/02/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is a bit marshy, but not boggy! I hadn’t been down to our local salt marshes on the Loughor Estuary for a while and as the weather was unusually dry, it was an opportunity to see how things had changed as they undoubtedly would have done in some ways.

I never get tired of seeing this environment – it has the quality of peacefulness and tranquility when it is dry even with the motorway traffic in the background. The day was still with little or no movement other than the slow flow of the half full river as the tide receded. The subtle swirls of the current gave a gentle distortion to the reflected pattern of clouds, but there was unquestionable evidence in the form of gaping cracks that there had been slippage of the river bank as a result of high tides and fast flowing water.

A makeshift rusty barrier was constructed as an extension to the wooden fence that prevents cattle reaching an area where the marsh grasses give refuge and residence to some of the birds that enjoy this habitat. I disturbed what I think was a beautiful looking corncrake but wasn’t quick enough with my camera to get a shot of it.