My Walk this Week 243 – Winter Salt Marsh

Posted on 29/01/202106/02/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week shows my local salt marsh in Winter. I know how much we enjoy and benefit from a bright sky and sunshine, but in Winter we have to, we must, try to see the beauty around us in different conditions. SAD is not a condition you want to fall prey to if it can be avoided.

This week I have video, sound and images to hopefully help you enjoy the relative gloom of overcast and wet conditions on my walk across the salt marsh to the old St Teilo’s churchyard and back to the fast thawing pond in the park.

You can only allow the weather to stop you going out for so long – then it becomes imperative that, regardless of rain or snow, you take the exercise and grab as much light as you can – if you are in a position to do so.

The video above obviously includes sound as well as the soundscape below but which one has the better pictures? That’s just a joke really, but it is certainly true that sound conjures up images for us and in the case of StillWalks® videos the soundscapes are the animator of the still images used – see the example on the website home page (Autumn Lakeside Walk). The home page has now been updated to show a short series of seasonal StillWalks videos.

Salt Marsh Soundscape

My Walk this Week 240 – Forest Morning

Posted on 08/01/202105/01/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week starts in the early morning with the setting moon and the sun rising over the landscape before climbing up through a local forest.

It was my last walk of 2020 and cold! The mist over the winding River Loughor in the valley was very atmospheric and I was in awe (yet again) at the beauty of my surroundings.

It was a very good walk with which to end the year, allowing me not only to enjoy the landscape but also to escape from the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current lockdown. The coniferous section of the woodland has been harvested but I am familiar with that now and even in the middle of Winter can see the changes with a more positive eye.

The pleasure I get from a sunrise or open landscape is equalled by my enjoyment of thick moss in a more enclosed forest environment. A sunrise or sunset is always beautiful, but moss is such fun – I cannot help but smile when I see it in such abundance.

My Walk this Week 230 – Disregarding the Weather

Posted on 30/10/202029/10/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is through my local Coedbach Park and I was disregarding the weather as I set out. Autumn has typically mixed weather but regardless of this, my head as well as my body needs to get out for a walk as regularly as possible.

So when the sun came out around lunchtime I thought Aha! This is a good opportunity for a walk. Of course by the time I had changed my shoes and got a coat on, the sky was darkening again, but I didn’t let that put me off and carried on out the door.

I reached the park before the first drops fell and fortunately I had brought an umbrella but even so I felt it advisable to stand under a tree and wait.

In the short video above, which also acts as my soundscape for this week, I start out in the oak woods where the magnificent trees, undergrowth and footpaths do the best job of calming any turmoil I may be feeling inside. The stress and mental congestion that is there for any number of reasons, but not least our current Covid-19 lockdown and all that goes with that, is handled admirably by nature and the elements, even the rain.

And after the rain comes the sunlight and as I wandered on down towards the salt marshes, the River Loughor was at just the right level to provide me with a beautiful reflection of the sky as the sun pushed through aa little gap in the clouds.

Autumn oak wood footpath

woodland footpath

moss on stump

stream streaming

Towards the salt marsh

Reflected weather

My Walk this Week 194 – The Marsh and Ciara

Posted on 14/02/202016/02/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is another to my local salt marsh, this time during the tail end of Storm Ciara and the wind that was probably worse in other parts of the UK. All the same, we weren’t tempted to venture out in the wild weather.

When crossing the River Loughor on the motorway, I could see that the the tide was high and the marshes were getting there regular dose of salt. But by the time I got down there the sea had retreated and I was able to get to the river bank.

I loitered a bit amongst the trees at the edge of the marsh as the wind was strong and pretty cold and so the photographs I took focus mainly on that view point and some of the lichee details and tree textures around me.

Windy Marsh Soundscape

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The soundscape is a bit shorter than usual and perhaps the main feature of it is the sound of motorway traffic being blown strongly from the southwest. However, if you listen carefully, you will also hear the hissing rustles of the marsh grass which is a sound I love, though less because of the sound itself and more because of the marsh environment it conjures in my mind.

So click the play button to listen while viewing the images below – click the first one and then again to move forward through the carousel.

footpath to the salt marsh

entering the salt marsh

marsh grass

Lichen textures

moss and lichen

tree lichen

branches

trees and marsh grass

footbridges

sea water

marsh and river

grass and grass

Tide and wind

churning patterns

River Loughor

My Walk this Week 191 – Frost and a Songthrush

Posted on 24/01/202003/02/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week features frost and a song thrush who seemed oblivious to the cold and sang in the sunshine as though it were already Spring.

It isn’t Spring yet by any means, but there are signs that it will follow on eventually and it is so good to hear the birds singing on a bright day.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 – Sunset On the Water

Posted on 30/04/201829/04/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is from my local marshes with a beautiful evening stroll in the sunset reflected on the high tide water in the river.

I don’t think I need say any more – enjoy! 🙂

: Marsh Evening

: Marsh Evening-2

: Marsh Evening silhouette

: Evening Waterscape

: Sunset Silhouette

Watching the River

Posted on 27/10/201721/10/2017 by Alastair

The third of my local walks this week is along the banks of our main local river – the River Loughor. I fought my way across the marsh and through dense brambles and knotweed on one side to reach a point on the eastern bank I hadn’t stood at before.

On finding I wasn’t able to get far along the river due to the brambles, I retraced my steps and crossed the bridge to explore along the western bank at another part of the river I had only seen before, but not walked along.Continue reading→

Tag Archives: river loughor