I said yesterday that my walk along Swansea Bay had changeable weather. I promise it does change – by that, I mean it stops raining! I suspect from the evidence of discarded bottles that it was not raining the previous night.
Tag Archives: sea
Wild Weather Walkers and Reviewing the Week 46
Reaching the end of my wild and windy walk between Southgate and Three Cliffs on the South Gower coast, like these other two intrepid weather walkers, I was huddled over and protecting my camera against the rain.
I have not created a full StillWalks video of this walk using a mixture of still images and video because I am not a great fan of hand held video and I have not had the time. However, the sequence of photos and the sound clip below can be viewed at the same time and if you are interested in the video I took on my iPhone during the walk, this can also be viewed at the end of this post.
Mixing video and stills is something I will continue to experiment with for StillWalks and if I can find the time I will probably work further with this walk in this way. In the meantime I hope you can enjoy all that I have posted this week and don’t end up too breathless or blown off your seat!
Wild Wind
If viewing this in an email, to view the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
When playing the video I recommend you click the HD and full screen buttons.
Gothic Light
Exposed as I was to the weather on my walk at Southgate, I again used less exposure in these shots of the cliffs at Three Cliffs Bay on South Gower than was technically correct. However, as on previous occasions, this was deliberate and the result is definitely more realistic in terms of how it felt than if I had used the correct exposure. The result is quite Gothic in atmosphere.
The second shot is monochrome and can be seen on Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post Monochrome Madness MM 2-34.
There and Back Again – My Walk this Week 9
If my walk last week was peaceful and calm, this weeks walk is quite the opposite! Another Taste of Gower walk organised by Mike Aspland and the Swansea Walking Forum with the support of Gower Landscapes Partnership, this walk along the cliffs at Southgate was bit windy to say the least.
We walked far enough to look down on Three Cliffs Bay (not far) but at that point the leaders decided to turn back. The weather was very wild and as some in the group were struggling with it, it was the right decision and we all headed back to the Three Cliffs Coffee Shop.
In fact some of us took another short walk in the opposite direction and I decided that after eating another great lunch at the cafe, I would venture out again with my recorder and cameras. So I will be able to post about this walk through the coming week as intended – I hope it blows you away – sorry about the pun 😉
Listen below is a short sound clip of the wind.
Wild Wind at Southgate
Walking Across The Salt Marshes
The next stage of my walk this week takes us across the salt marshes next to the Loughor river here in South Wales. I say “walk”, but perhaps I should say paddle as there had been a high tide and significant areas of the marsh and footpath were still draining the sea water. I was determined to carry on and knowing the tide was on the ebb I could be sure the way would only become easier.
Walking To Fall Bay
The Walking Forum Tastes of Gower walk at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsula took us round from the Worm’s Head to Fall Bay, a place I had not been to for many years. Being a beautiful day there were inevitably more people than us out for a walk, but even though I prefer a solitary walk to a group walk generally speaking, Fall Bay is secluded enough to enjoy in almost any circumstances.
The series of cliffs that form the south Gower coastline are particularly impressive at Fall Bay. This is enhanced by the fact that you can approach them from the seaward side as the land curves around towards the Worm’s Head which is behind us in this first photo.
Cliff Walk Views
My posts this week are about a recent walk along the cliffs at the end of the Gower Peninsula. Gower Landscapes Partnership and Swansea Walking Forum have been organising a series of walks on the Gower peninsula this year. As a member of the Walking Forum I have been taking part in these Tastes of Gower walks. The most recent was at Rhosilli where the Worm’s Head spits out into the sea.
It was a very enjoyable walk on a beautiful day. Walking out from Rhosilli to the tip of the peninsula and the Worm’s Head, we had spectacular views from the cliffs over Rhosilli Bay. People and dogs on the beach looked smaller than ants!
We didn’t venture onto the Worm’s Head, though the tide times on that day would have allowed it. The tide times are shown on a large notice at the start of the path to the Head but despite this many people get caught out and end up stranded on the island. Many of these, so I am told, are from China and don’t speak English, yet it has not occurred to the Coast Guard that has top go and fetch them by boat, to put up a similar notice in Chinese (and other languages).
Objects In The Sea
I have no idea what these objects in the sea are! I imagine the distant ones are buoys for shipping. I am pretty sure the larger structure also has something to do with shipping but as it is so close to the Cardiff Bay barrage, where we were walking, I am not sure what its purpose is. It has meteorological equipment on it and clearly it is a convenient pirch for birds – other than that all I can say is that I like the composition of uprights, horizontals and perspective in this shot.
This image can also be seen in black and white on Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post Monochrome Madness 2-29.
The second photo includes Flat Holm and Steep Holm islands in there Bristol Channel.
