My Walk this Week 249 – Altered View

Posted on 19/03/202115/03/2021 by Alastair

On my walk this week I had an altered view of my surroundings and the differences can be seen in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th images below.

I had been to the ophthalmologist for an eye check up following laser treatment and, as always, they put drops in my eyes to open the pupils as wide as possible. The result of this is that a lot more light gets in and this can be difficult to cope with. But I had my sunglasses with me so that when I went for a walk in the park afterwards the sunny day was not a problem but I had to rely on my iPhone to set itself correctly for the photos I took.

The photos below are what the camera saw except for numbers two and three. No.2 is an approximation of what I could see through my shades and No.3 is what I would have seen without the shades.

Sight, however, is not needed for sound and so I was able to capture snippets of conversation, the birds and the children, with only a small distortion from the wind which I was able to deal with in post production.

I must say that it was frustrating not to be able to see properly on my walk but that did not stop me focusing on some of the things I find interesting there – the “Whomping willow”, the shrub hugging the balustrade, the textures, if not the colours (which were distorted), and it’s good to see the effects of light and shade in the photos, albeit after the fact so to speak.

My Walk this Week 218 – Botanical

Posted on 31/07/202031/07/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is in the recently re-opened Swansea Botanic Garden and Singleton Park. The Botanic Garden is within the park and had been closed for the coronavirus lockdown.

And thinking of lockdowns and locks, the sound of a garden attendant locking up at an earlier time than would normally be the case, is featured in the soundscape below and took us a little by surprise. We had not been there very long but enjoyed continuing our walk in the park, taking a different route from that on our last visit.

The garden and park were looking beautiful with so many flowers on display, it was a real pleasure to be there and sit quietly for a short while looking at all the colours and listening to the birds and ambience of the area.

What would we do without these natural (albeit cultivated) spaces in our urban landscapes?

Botanic Soundscape

botanic garden approach

red

Yellow

blue

red and bee

like a lantern

Swansea Botanic Garden

more red

deep borders

orange

pale yellow

sunlit

lily pond

lily pond 2

reflection

leaves and water

peaceful park

My Walk this Week 214 – Park Positive

Posted on 03/07/202002/07/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is in Singleton Park, Swansea and took advantage of the slight relaxation in the Covid-19 lockdown measures. Whether it was right or not to do this with regard to the coronavirus pandemic, it was a very positive thing to do for the sake of my mental wellbeing.

Sheltering under the trees from the rain I took advantage of the pause in our walk and snapped a shot or two, including the crushed wild garlic that was giving off a wonderfully powerful scent.

Once the sun reappeared the clover shone like jewels in the open grassland of this expansive urban park. While the botanic garden was closed due to the difficulty of distancing, the rest of the park-scape caused no problems in this respect and everyone there respected the social distancing advice.

In the smaller Brynmill Park on our return, this was a little more problematic, but people mostly did what they could to maintain a distance and the lake there is a popular attraction.

Park-scape Sound Clip

I have not called the audio above a soundscape because recording on my iPhone as I was and that not taking well to the wind, I did not capture as much sound as I would have liked.

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

Leaving the Park – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 06/05/201705/05/2017 by Alastair

Leaving Singleton Park in Swansea at the end of my walk this week around the botanic and ornamental gardens, we exited by the north entrance gates and found as much green growth on them as everywhere else in the park.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Botanic Colour

Posted on 01/05/201728/04/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week is perhaps less of a walk and more of a showcase. We had a slow amble round Swansea’s botanic gardens in Singleton Park on a day that was dry but could have been brighter. Well, I say brighter but I mean sunnier as there was plenty of brightness Continue reading→

Pink – Botanic Gardens, Swansea

Posted on 27/10/201327/10/2013 by Alastair

More questions of identity – I knew the yellow flowers in yesterday’s post from the Botanic Gardens in Swansea, but I do not know any of these. I am sure I have seen them all before but do not know their names. Somebody help, please!

You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Autumn Lakeside Walk” from Gnoll Park, Neath, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video.

Yellow – Botanic Gardens, Swansea

Posted on 26/10/201326/10/2013 by Alastair

These are for my daughter who is 22 today! Happy Birthday Ellen 🙂

Identity – Unlike yesterday’s post, I know these flowers in the Botanic Gardens in Swansea, at least generally if not specifically! The first is a Day Lily, the third, a Rose and the last a Japanese Anemone.

And the second? An Aster I think! Can anyone confirm that and / or identify the Rose or the Lily?

Botanic Gardens, Swansea – Textures and Patterns

Posted on 25/10/201325/10/2013 by Alastair

It seems I have a Swansea Parks theme this week! Following my visit to Cwmdonkin Park, I went down to the Botanic Gardens in Singleton Park. I had gone there to attend a Walking Forum meeting but arrived early. I had my camera with me and so took a few shots of some of the flowers in their various stages for the current season.

I am embarrassed to say I do not know the names of these particular plants – embarrassed because I probably could have made a note of them in the gardens at the time. Also because I have not been able to identify them since as I don’t have enough visual information. The photos are all details of the heads and not the foliage or the rest of the plant, making it difficult to see the context in which the plant is growing.

Being more interested in the patterns and textures than the plant identification at the time of photography, it is not the first time I have not considered that I may be curious about this later on or, indeed, require it for a blog post such as this.

If anyone can identify these two plants, I would be very grateful.