Having first visited Nash Point Lighthouse on my walk this week, we actually started our circular walk at site of the StillWalks production “Breakers Walk”. From there we walked along the cliff tops back towards the Nash Point. The tide was out and the view over the wave platforms of this stretch of the South Wales coast were incredible. The patterns of those waves of stone were so clear – it was as though time had frozen still and allowed the structures to form in an instant.
My walk this week is from Nash Point on the South Wales coast. It is a place that holds memories for me, not least of which is a schools / RNLI project I did with HyperAction some years ago – “Launch the Lifeboats, Stories of Wreck and Rescue in the Bristol Channel”. Other memories are of the cliff lined, wave platform shoreline between Nash Point and Monknash where I produced the StillWalks video “Breakers Walk” for CARIAD, the research unit at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
The lighthouse, its foghorn (no longer used but listen below) and the cliffs with the wave platform at their foot makes this a truly amazing place.
Nash Point Lighthouse
It was pretty windy when we were there and I did not get much done in the way of field recording. – that is not what we were there for. I didn’t even take my camera so all photography for my walk this week was done on my iPhone.
I recorded the clip below on the “Lifeboats” project and you will be able to hear the wind between the blasts of the fog horn if you are not too blown away by the horn itself!
Spot the pirate in this final image from my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers. It seems Gower Heritage Centre had a pirate thing going on that day as was apparent from the staff costumes and various other piratical objects around the place once we had been served with our teas and coffees etc. and sat down in the cafe.
It was a great walk – the weather stayed more or less fine for us and I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t love Three Cliffs Bay. By this time we will have done the next Taste of Gower walk at Penclawdd on North Gower and I will be posting about that in two three weeks time.
Gower Heritage Centre
Taste of Gower Heritage Centre Walk Soundscape
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The last stage of this circular Taste of Gower walk is enjoyable for the same kind of reason as the stepping stones are when crossing Pennard Pill (river) in Three Cliffs Bay – it’s fun, a novelty, a change underfoot from the normal footpath surface, not only in feel but also in sound.
Doing the Boardwalk
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These stones arranged in circles at Three Cliffs Bay on South Gower have been there as long as I can remember (which is not necessarily all that long!), but I don’t think they go back to neolithic times. People’s footsteps have worn the ground down over time as they walk around the pattern and if it is a construction of modern times, then it is perhaps remarkable that it has remained without damage or rearrangement for so long. Is this a sign of our respect for our ancient past, even though it may be an installation of modern times, or do we just like and respond to the pattern and texture of the arrangement.
And thinking of textures and patterns, I was taken with the grasses growing alongside Pennard Pill as it twists down the valley to the bay. The subtly changing flow of the grasses in the wind, their hues of blues, yellows and greens and the dots of white and buff grass seeds and flowers remind me of the circles of stones, at least when viewed in monochrome.
Stones in Circles
Those changing textures and patterns can also be perceived in sound. The clip below presents the susurrus (there’s that word again) of my footsteps, firstly in soft sand and then through flickering, tickering grasses as my feet brush through them on my way to catch up with the other walkers.
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As we were stepping out across the stepping stones at Three Cliffs Bay on this Taste of Gower circular walk fro the Gower Heritage Centre, I noted the different ambient sound.
It may be expected that the sound of the sea will be different to that of a woodland but the susurration of the wind in trees is not so very different to that of a gentle sea as it washes distantly over a sandy beach. It is different though – the open space seems to me to be one of the greatest influencing factors and with eyes closed or not knowing where you are, these different ambient sounds would give you a pretty good clue as to your surroundings.
The next Taste of Gower walk will be tomorrow 26/08/17 –details here.
Stepping Stones
If you ignore the sound of footsteps in the sound clips below, perhaps you will agree that the word susurrus could be used to describe the background ambience of both soundscapes. According to the dictionary I could also have used the word to describe what I called the murmur of voices as the walking group disappeared off into the distance in previous posts on my walk this week, but personally I prefer the onomatopoeia of “murmur” for voices and “susurrus” for the wind or sea. What do you think?
Sound of the Sea
Walking in the Woods
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Leaving the woodland by a kissing gate on my walk this week held the Taste of Gower group of walkers up enough for me to catch up with them . . . momentarily! It wasn’t long before their conversation became a murmur in the distance and the quietening ambience took over in this area between the woodland and the sea of the Bristol Channel.
The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 –details here.
Quietening Ambience
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There were many more wildflowers than these on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers. As we passed through the woodland behind Parc Le Breos House the main group of walkers were all chatting away and I could only keep my fingers crossed that they were also taking in their surroundings and enjoying the colours and sounds of the environment.
I love the range of sounds to be heard on any walk and in this instance I include in that enjoyment the sound of people ahead of me talking in the distance.
The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 –details here.
Woodland wildflowers
Distant Voices in the Woods
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