Stepping It Up

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.

Swansea Bay Rain

Wintry Walk Soundscape and Reviewing the Week 55

I am ending this week’s walk where I started, amongst the trees of Blaenige at MLRUK in Carmarthenshire. The wind had picked up at this point but as I love the sound of the wind in different trees, I was very happy to record it, albeit on my small Edirol recorder which doesn’t stand up to the wind in the same way my RODE mic does.

There may be some rumble in the soundscape below as a result of the wind, but it does not spoil the memory experience for me, though it does mean I won’t be producing a StillWalks video with it.

As a soundscape rather than a StillWalks video, it is unlikely that the sounds will match the images if you play it at the same time as looking at the photos, but perhaps it will still help to provide a better sense of place.

Trees and Sky

Blaenige Soundscape

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

Thorn and Thaw

Today I am again looking at the textures, patterns and colours I found on my walk this week in Carmarthenshire. They are different to those I enjoyed in the woodland yesterday but the remnants of Autumn seen in the spiky thorns of a bramble and the soggy brown mass of drooping vegetation at the trackside are just as attractive as the woodland.

When I take a closer look at the intricacies within in the forms of these natural objects, I always get excited about the complexity of the world around me and how every aspect of it, including ourselves, is all connected in such a variety of ways.

You can see from the “river” running down the track how fast the snow is melting. I can imagine that the moss that inevitable grows thick in places like this, still enjoys a degree of dampness even in the height of Summer.

Thorns

Returning Steps

I loved the woodland around the old shed I found (see yesterday) on my short walk in Carmarthenshire this week – the density of trees and yet the openness in the winter created a wonderful range of subtle colours, textures and patterns.

The first thing I encountered when starting on my return up the hill, was my own footsteps in the thin snow. The thaw was already in progress at the start of my walk and you can see and hear how fast the snow is melting in the footstep sound clips on Monday’s post – “My Walk this week – First Snow”. It is quite possible that this is not only the first snow but also the last of this winter – we shall just have to wait and see!

Carmarthenshire Woodland

 

My Walk this Week 18 – First Snow

This winter has been so mild it came as a bit of surprise to find myself driving carefully through snow on my way to a meeting in Carmarthenshire. The meeting was at Blaenige, the home of MLR UK with whom I have been working for a while now to develop a StillWalks business package. The meeting finished in good time, and as I had brought most of my kit with me, I took the opportunity to go for a short walk down one of the steep hillside tracks through the farmland and woods.

There wasn’t a lot of snow and it was already melting during my walk but considering I hadn’t expected to see any this year, it wasn’t unwelcome and as the sky was partially blue, my walk this week, though short, was quite exhilarating.

Blaenige, Carmarthenshire

One aspect of the walk which is changed with the snow is the environmental sound. Below I have included three sound clips of my footsteps in the changing snow. How much difference can you hear in them.

Crunchy Snow

Deeper Snow

Wet Snow

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

Goodnight Belfast and Reviewing the Week 54

My city walk was taken through the day but this photo looks across the River Lagan in Belfast later that same evening. The horizontal line of lights in the dark are christmas lights running along the crane featured near the start of the walk.

This was a Winter city walk taken on Boxing day a few years ago. There is only frost on the riverside footpath at the walk and the bare branches of trees by the crane to prove the season. However, a couple of days later the river was frozen over and covered in snow, but we had left to return to mainland Britain by that time!

Belfast Glow

Click the sound clip play button below and then the first thumbnail image to view the walk images in sequence.

City Ambience

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

My Walk this Week 17 – City Walk

My walk this week moves from a suburban location (see the last two weeks posts) to the inner city location of Belfast in Northern Ireland. The first two images below may not look like the inner city but you don’t have to walk far up the river Lagan to reach this point on its route into Belfast. Perhaps the construction crane in the third image comes closer to proving the city location.

Frozen Footpath

River Lagan Cormorant

Belfast Crane

Suburban Lakeside Soundscape and Reviewing the Week 52

While my walk this week has not appeared very wintry, the photos were taken and the sound recorded in January and though there is no ice or snow to be seen, it seems that mild winters are now a feature of the seasons in many parts of Britain.

I hope you have enjoyed the first of my walks in 2016 and I look forward to posting many more this year.

Hemlington Lake

Try listening to the soundscape of the walk while viewing the images in sequence – click the play button and then the first thumbnail below.

Suburban Lakeside Soundscape Sample

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.