Descending from the hill at Weobley Castle to the level of the salt marshes on my circular walk this week on the northern edge of the Gower Peninsula, we passed through some woodland which was filled with wild flowers.
It is always good to see bluebells and it is also good to see wild garlic. Even though the scent can be almost overwhelming at times, I love both the sight and the smell garlic in the woods.
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Having crossed the first couple of fields on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers at Weobley Castle, we came upon one with three very curious and stylish looking alpacas. I am familiar with the curiosity of alpacas from my visits to The Waterside, but these three were no less entertaining for that.
The Taste of Gower walks are well organised and usually have three walk leaders making sure that everyone is accounted for. As the organiser of the walks, Steve Lancey was sharing his lead with both mid-group and back markers and though trailing a bit at times in order to do some field recording, I managed to remain close to the slower members of the group.
Gates, Wind and Walking
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My walk this week follows the first of the Taste of Gower walks for 2016 organised by Gower Landscapes Partnership. The same walk was done last year but this time round I have recorded the full walk and will present it here throughout this week.
The walk was circular, starting at Weobley Castle and farm where not only did we have the chance to look round the castle, we also got to see the lambing shed – there was a lot of bleating!
The weather was very good and the views across the salt marshes of Loughor Estuary and Burry Inlet were excellent.
Seemingly the sheep know to go in and out with the tide and it is the mixture of grasses and herbs that grow on the marshes that give the salt marsh lamb its unique taste.
Lambing Shed
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The A470 main road runs more or less parallel to this, the original road to Brecon, the regional town of the Brecon Beacons. I suspect it was relatively busy in its day but perhaps a little quieter than the current road.
There may have been quite a lot of people on my walk this week but I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.
Pen y Fan Voices
Taf Fechan
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Backwards and forwards, looking up and looking down, these photos from my walk this week up Pen y Fan with the Living Taff group, show how clearly defined the footpath is and the sort of surface it has. I understand that the laying of the path started in the 1990s as a result of the ground getting mashed up by so many people doing the climb.
Having already walked in the Brecon Beacons for a few years, I think it was about 1989 or 1990 that I first climbed these particular peaks – Corn Du and Pen y Fan. That was before they started laying the path and I remember being lucky enough to have chosen a time that allowed me to have the place almost to myself.
The last shot below shows just a fraction of the parked cars on the main route through the Beacons on the A470 near the Storey Arms Outdoor Education Centre. There are other routes to climb these mountains but my favourite walks are further west by Fan Nedd and Fan Gyhirych.
Having complained about the crowds, I should say that I also think it is wonderful that so many people from all walks of life are keen to do this walk – it can only do them good, both physically and mentally and with hard wearing paths laid to protect the ground from so many feet, it is a win win situation.
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Walking with the Living Taff group, our mini expedition to find the two sources of the River Taff, or Afon Taf, on the slopes of Pen y Fan and Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons, we took a short cut across open grassland to the second and larger source of the river, the Taf Fawr.
“Fawr” meaning big, the source was indeed larger than the previous one round the other side of the mountain, but the river at this stage of its life is still quite small as you would expect.
Walking through the dry, scratchy, springy grass was a very pleasant sensation. We listened to the sound of our footsteps and thought about its texture and colour and the peacefulness of this part of our walk.
I managed to record a small snippet of this part of our walk and whilst the soft murmur of voices from the rest of the group is still in the background, there is also the gentle flow of this youngest stage of the river accompanied by the flow of a warm breeze through the grass and across the shoulder of the hill. We had enjoyed the skylarks too but at the point of recording, they had decided to keep quiet.
Taf Fawr
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The view looking east from Pen y Fan on my walk this week was as spectacular as it was in every other direction from this viewpoint. As can be seen from the shots below, there were plenty of people enjoying the vista from the peak of Corn Du too.
I am not a great fan of camera filters but there are definitely occasions when they can be useful – if only I had had a one with me!
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This small group of people climbing the upper slopes of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, represent the Living Taff group with whom I was walking to find the sources of the River Taff. We are almost at the point where one of the highest trickles contributing to the river surfaces.
On our way there we passed others climbing the final stage of Corn Du, the peak next to Pen y Fan and another popular outing for people to take on a sunny Sunday in South Wales.
Having got the evidence, so to speak, we climbed back down this steepest part of the climb to the footpath and continue on round between the two peaks to look for the second source of the river, the Taf Fawr.
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