My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Llanmadoc

Posted on 13/06/201611/06/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is another Taste of Gower walk organised by Steve Lancey with the Gower Landscapes Partnership. The walk started from the village of Llanmadoc on the northern tip of the Gower Peninsula. The weather was fine and still but with storms threatening.

We headed down to the beach which took us past the woodland we would return through and the dramatic rock outcrops that are a feature of the place – worth climbing too, but not today.

I’ll get onto the beach in tomorrow’s post but in the meantime I have included a short sound clip of a blackbird and a cockerel welcoming us on this typical Gower lane.

Morning Cockerel

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Riverside Trees and Buidlings

Posted on 25/05/201624/05/2016 by Alastair

Trees and buildings, urban sounds and natural sounds, those are the defining features of my walk this week. The buildings were always there but were often well hidden by the trees.

The birds were always there but they too were well hidden in the trees. People and dogs were evident as well but until writing this post I had not included them in the images I selected for any of my posts this week – what does that say about me?

There were walkers (adults and children), dog walkers, joggers and cyclists using the footpath and as can be seen in the one photo I have now included with people, they are very conscientious dog owners who have all cleared up after their dogs..

Walking the Dogs

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Weobley Landscape – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 22/05/201620/05/2016 by Alastair

Back at the starting point of my walk this week and standing in front of Weobley Castle on the Gower, the view out over the salt marshes towards Burry Port and Carmarthenshire in South Wales was accompanied by a very blustery wind.

We had been very lucky with the weather – the wind had been kind to us in making sure the rain fell on those across the other side of the Loughor estuary.

These Taste of Gower walks take place each month and I am looking forward to the next one next week which will be at Llanmadoc and heading for Whitford. Fingers crossed for good weather again.

Listen to the soundscape and click on the first thumbnail below to view selected images from the walk in sequence.

Weobley Walk Soundscape

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Weobley Walkers

Posted on 21/05/201620/05/2016 by Alastair

Towards the end of our Taste of Gower circular walk at Weobley Castle on the Gower we had one last area of open field to cross before the incline back up to the castle.

My parents used to go on many walks with a group that called themselves jokingly “The Wobbly Walkers”. This was a reference to their average age I guess, but the group of walkers at Weobley Castle, which could perhaps be called the Weobley Walkers, has quite a wide age range, with people joining in from many different walking clubs and other community groups of people sometimes described as “hard to reach”.

The Taste of Gower programme of walks organised by Steve Lancey from the Gower Landscape Partnership and Mike Aspland, has done an excellent job of encouraging people to get out and explore a part of the Swansea area in South Wales that, though well known, can be hard to reach for some people. To this end there is also an excellent bus service that is specifically aimed at enabling access to this Area of Natural Beauty (AoNB) and its Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as well as encouraging walking, cycling, etc. in other areas of Swansea Bay.

Walking and Talking

Posted on 20/05/201619/05/2016 by Alastair

Having left the fields and re-entered the woodland on this Taste of Gower walk at Weobley Castle on north Gower, we encountered yet more gates. There were many more gates and stiles on this walk than I have shown and this can sometimes cause delays if the group of walkers is large, but on this occasion it did not seem to be a problem.

Of course it may have been an issue of which I was unaware, hanging back from the main group as I was and taking photos of the conversations ahead of me as well as the colours, textures and patterns of different gates and mossy walls.

The soundscape below features a number of the gates on this walk. They do not appear in the clip in real time, instead I have composed this piece to emphasise the different sounds of the gates on the walk – its as though they have their own language.

Weobley Gates

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Dark Clouds and Sunlight

Posted on 19/05/201618/05/2016 by Alastair

We were very lucky with the weather on the Taste of Gower walk at Weobley Castle. It can be seen below that there was bad weather nearby, but the trees at the edge of the salt marshes show that on north Gower at least, we also had sunlight.

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Descending Through the Wild Woods

Posted on 18/05/201613/05/2016 by Alastair

Descending from the hill at Weobley Castle to the level of the salt marshes on my circular walk this week on the northern edge of the Gower Peninsula, we passed through some woodland which was filled with wild flowers.

It is always good to see bluebells and it is also good to see wild garlic. Even though the scent can be almost overwhelming at times, I love both the sight and the smell garlic in the woods.

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Alpacas Looking On

Posted on 17/05/201613/05/2016 by Alastair

Having crossed the first couple of fields on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers at Weobley Castle, we came upon one with three very curious and stylish looking alpacas. I am familiar with the curiosity of alpacas from my visits to The Waterside, but these three were no less entertaining for that.

Alpacas

The Taste of Gower walks are well organised and usually have three walk leaders making sure that everyone is accounted for. As the organiser of the walks, Steve Lancey was sharing his lead with both mid-group and back markers and though trailing a bit at times in order to do some field recording, I managed to remain close to the slower members of the group.

Gates, Wind and Walking