Natural Pattern and the Convenience of Stiles

Posted on 23/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

Natural pattern can be seen all over the place, nature is full of it. The natural pattern for me, perhaps I should say rhythm, of a Taste of Gower walk is one of regular pauses followed by a rush to catch up with the group. My pauses are taken in order to do some photography and field recording but as a result, I inevitably need to catch up to the rest of the group. And that is why it is so convenient to have one or two stiles along the footpath route. The palaver of a group of people climbing over a stile or going through a kissing gate individually provides me with all the time I need to cover the ground between us.

Natural pattern

Bird and Gate

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Natural pattern

Taking It All In – Looking All Around

Posted on 22/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

On the Taste of Gower walks people don’t usually stop to look and listen to their surroundings. However, once we got up on top of the hill above Penclawdd, the views are in almost all directions are wonderful and the group could help but stop and gather to take it all in.

On a clear day like this, looking south and south west you can see the rest of the Gower Peninsula and across the Burry Inlet to Pembrokeshire in the distance. Looking west you see Llanelli, Burry Port and Carmarthenshire and looking north and north west you see as far as The Black Mountain.

Taste of Gower walkers

Closer to hand were other sights such as a circling buzzard and evidence that the tide was coming in rather than ebbing – the birds on the sand bank in the middle of the estuary were getting more and more crowded as we continued on our walk.

Overlooking Penclawdd

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The Black Mountain

sandbank and birds

Gower and the Burry Inlet

Taste of Gower walkers

sandbank and birds

buzzard

Following the Footpath

Posted on 21/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

Following the footpath on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers took us up the hill above the village and between houses which, when we rose above them, revealed views of the Penclawdd vista over the Loughor Estuary.

There were plenty of details to see along the way with both man made and natural antenna presenting themselves in the forms of a radio ham aerial and the long pink arms of abundant rosebay willow herb.

Penclawdd vista

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Following the Footpath

Rosebay Willow Herb

radio ham aerial

Penclawdd roofs

Penclawdd vista

One Man and His Dog

Posted on 20/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

On my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers there were quite a sizeable group of people. This made one man and his dog out walking on the marshes all the more noticable.

I have commented before on my interest in texture (it comes from my original training in tapestry weaving – see my other website here) and it is perhaps this interest that makes me notice and photograph the patterns of grass or wood as I have in the images below.

One man and his dog

I also enjoy the aural textures and patterns that surround us in any environment but I was amused by the rhythm of walking that can be heard in the sound clip below.

Squeaky Shoes

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Taste of Gower walkers

Welsh Poppy

One man and his dog

salt marsh grasses

stile post

salt marsh fence

My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Penclawdd

Posted on 19/09/201601/09/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is from the last Taste of Gower walk that took place at Penclawdd on the North Gower coast overlooking the Loughor Estuary, its salt marshes and Burry Inlet.

As can be seen in the first image below, it was a beautiful day. Starting from the car park overlooking the salt marshes with the tide out, we were guided on the walk by Rod Cooper who talked to us about the industrial history of Penclawdd and its heyday with the copper works. The river Loughor apparently takes a different route now to what it did in the days of the copper works. At that time there was a harbour at Penclawdd which would have been necessary for the industry. That was back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Now it is all salt marsh and of course the benefit of that is the salt marsh lamb that is so tasty.

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Taste of Gower walkers

Salt Marshes

Rod Cooper

Old copperworks wall

Exiting the Park – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 18/09/201631/08/2016 by Alastair

Exiting Brynmill Park in Swansea the same way I came in on my walk this week, there seemed more people around than ever. There may be some evidence of this lacking in some of the photos I took but the soundscape tells another story. It is a small but beautiful city park which is clearly very popular not only for the people living next door to it but for others as well.

Brynmill Park Walk Soundscape

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Fuchsia

Day Lily

Playing in the Park

Posted on 17/09/201631/08/2016 by Alastair

More people in the park! Playing and cycling and walking their dogs, skateboarding and scootering – so many activities, and that’s only a part of it. Walking around the lake with my cameras and fluffy microphone, mostly people took little notice. They were pre-occupied with their own interests but there was one character who took an interest and gave me the funniest of looks – namely, the dog!

Scooters and Skateboards

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Ducks and People

Posted on 16/09/201631/08/2016 by Alastair

Parks always have duck – yes? Parks with a pond do anyway. My walk this week around Brynmill Park in Swansea has not, until now, revealed either ducks or people other than aurally. So here is the visual proof . . . and a bit more sound to accompany it.

duck