My Walk this Week 252 – A Walk Up the Valley

Posted on 09/04/202105/04/2021 by Alastair

On my walk this week I didn’t attempt to document my walk up the valley – I went for the walk and nothing else. But then, as so often happens, I got distracted by all the wonderful aspects of there environment around me – in particular the river.

So I took some video showing various elements of the water flow and the changing associated sounds and then continued on my way.

The mossy dead tree below points the way of the river flow (just in case you weren’t sure), but it wasn’t until I climbed up the eastern slope of Cefn Drum that I took one or two more snaps on my phone. These include the curious object I found lying at the track side – does anyone have any idea what it may once have been.

My Walk this Week 237 – Detail and Nuance

Posted on 18/12/202017/12/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week returns to some detail and nuance from this time two years ago – which tells you I have run short of time this week!

The image above seems an appropriate one for the time of year but it is not any association with Christmas decorations that interests me, but rather the natural outline the holly leaves have. Is it a lightening of the pigment in the leaf or simply the effect of light on its edges. Does nature have a sense of design?

It’s all in the detail they say (whoever they are) – I prefer to think of the detail as nuance. But nuance is only apparent when you look at, or listen to, the details. The changing frequencies of the quarry ambience and the flow of the river in the soundscape below or the patterns and textures of the various foliage and frilly fungi in the images.

These are a selection of the photos I took in this place two years ago and it looks and sounds as though that year was as wet as this one. Now I want to go back there and look again, not to compare but simply to enjoy the privacy of the space and the secrets it holds.

Old Quarry Soundscape

Play the soundscape and click through the carousel of images as you listen.

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

Dark Still Mirror and Expanding Ripples

Posted on 29/11/201727/11/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week took me under and over a number of structures spanning the Tennant Canal – railway track, vehicle track, road, motorway, footbridge and gantry. Underneath these the sound changed and the dark mirror that was the still water of the canal was broken by expanding ripples as drips dripped from the structures above.

Walking over the gantry and footbridge gave me a slightly elevated view of the of the woodland reflections in the dark water. That does not mean the water was dark, in fact it was beautifully clear.Continue reading→

Bright Yellow Buttercups – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 26/06/201621/06/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week started with the birth of an alpaca – a Spring / early Summertime event that was reflected in all that surrounded me on this walk, including these bright yellow buttercups on the banks of the lake at The Waterside. A place I will be visiting again next week so I guess I will get to see how the little ‘un is getting on and may even meet another newborn from what I have heard.

buttercups in the valley

Listen to the soundscape and take a loo at the image sequence at the same time

The Waterside Walk Soundscape

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

new born alpaca

Tadpoles

Foxgloves

Thistle

Bullrushes by the lake

Stepping Up

Mother and Child

A Sparkle of Sunlight

Riverlight 1

Focusing minds, making connections

Lakeside reeds

stallion and mare

waterflow

buttercups in the valley

Two of a Trio – Unexpected Horses

Posted on 25/06/201620/06/2016 by Alastair

Almost full circle on my walk this week and I get to meet two of the trio of horses mentioned at the start of this week. There is no equine element to The Waterside so I was surprised to be met by this pair.

It turned out that they had wandered here from several miles away and had to be rounded up at the crack of dawn. The owners were eventually rounded up as well but although they arrived in time to witness the birth of the new alpaca (see Monday’s post), they were not able to arrange for the horses to be collected until the end of the day. This was perhaps most significant for the mare (on the left) as the stallion . . . well, I will leave that to your imagination!

horses grazing