There Boats – No Men

No men in these boats, but then there wouldn’t be at this time of tide! The tide goes out a long way in the Loughor Estuary but that just means it covers a lot of ground in a relatively short space of time.

Boat at low tide

Boat at low tide

boats at low tide

Monochrome Estuary

The river Lliw reaches the sea in the Loughor Estuary. The photos I took below were of course originally in colour. On the day they were taken, however, the weather was such that the colour of the landscape did not reveal itself much from this particular angle  shot. All hues were muted and yet there was plenty of contrast between land and sky.

More “Monochrome Madness” can be seen on Leanne Cole’s photography blog.

Loughor Estuary

River Lliw

Downstream

Following the Lliw downstream from its source on the Mawr, the first village the river flows through is Felindre.

Situated below the Lliw Lower and Upper Reservoirs in South Wales, it is not known for year round sunshine. There have been a good number of sunny days in 2014 but, as can be seen in the photos, this was not one of them!

River Lliw

River Lliw

Lonely Road to the Source

The source of the river Lliw lies in the upland area of the Mawr in Swansea. To get there requires a short hike across the hills from a road that feels like it is in the middle of nowhere.

This beautiful environment is not far from civilisation and the ease with which I can get from the hubbub of society to these wonderful areas is one of the good aspects of Wales.

Mawr Landscape

Source of the Lliw River

Starting at the Source

Looking for the source of the River Lliw on the Mawr upland area of Swansea, we started our search near another source. This is a beautiful area of  South Wales where there are a few quiet, still days in the year but mostly it is windy.

Mawr Upland

wind turbine

Seeing the Sea Wall – A Confusion of Scale

The scale of the sea wall separating Swansea beach and Swansea harbour can be seen here without to much ambiguity. However, when looking from the top end, at its lowest point to the ground, a confusion of scale becomes apparent.

While it seems from the top of the beach that the wall doesn’t “grow” in size much at all, as you walk towards the sea beside the wall, it becomes gradually apparent, until, at its highest point, you realise the true scale of it towering above you. The same effect of space distorted can be seen if you approach the wall “broadside” from a distance along the beach.

It doesn’t matter that I know the scale of the wall and have approached it in this way many time, that strange confusion of scale does its trick on my perception of it every time.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of spacial effect here or anywhere else?

Sea Wall rusty sea wall

Painting a Picture – Web in the Foreground

Sitting on the edge of the pier wall in Swansea docks, eating my lunch and enjoying the amazingly still day during the Mission Gallery Walk and Draw I went on last week, this spider web caught my eye.

There being hardly a breath of wind allowed me the opportunity to get a photo of it with the blurred colours of dockland buildings in the background. I really like those blurred colours – they make me think of this as a piece of abstract painting, perhaps one that has been sitting around in the attic for a few years.

Considering the number of paintings and pictures we have in our attic, that vision of this image doesn’t take much imagination. What’s in your attic?

spider web

Strange Eggs, Public Art or Floats

These strange egg like objects are of course dockland floats. It looks as though it is some time since they were used and they look almost like pieces of abstract public art as they lie there between the marina and the docks. If they were eggs, I wonder what their mother would look like?

giant floats