Lliw Reservoir is a popular place with people of all ages these days. There is evidence below of the fact that it is as popular with children as it is with adults. And the fact that there is a nice cafe there is no doubt an added attraction but many go there for walks and never get a cuppa.
Whether people are there for a walk or a cup of tea is not really important – I simply like the fact that people get out there and enjoy the sights and sounds of the place. It is certainly a change of environment from the city or even to village.
Even towards the end of my walk round Lower Lliw Reservoir, the thaw was minimal. But as the snow gently melted new shapes and patterns were revealed. I particularly like the twisting twiddles of last years bracken.
The woods at this stage of my walk round Lower Lliw Reservoir are not silent as you will hear in the sound clip below. However, with there being no wind, much of the background sound that is often there, is missing. This changes the acoustics of the woodland environment entirely and the soft plop of ice and snow dripping into the reservoir can be clearly heard along with the hollow reverberation of someone’s voice and the raucous call of a crow.
The scene was magical, not least because of the crooked wooden fence that lines the twisting footpath and the soft crunch of my footsteps in the snow.
Peaceful Background
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My winter walk round Lower Lliw Reservoir from a couple of years ago patterns I am not used to seeing. Snow always transforms the landscape but I am more used to seeing it as sheets or blankets of white on fields. More often than not it has melted off the branches of trees before I am in a place to appreciate it. That being the case, I was really excited by the patterns and textures revealed in the woods surrounding the reservoir. I wonder when I will next see this scene?
The first photo can also be seen in Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post Monochrome Madness MM 2-48 – even though it’s not actually in monochrome!
My walk around Lower Lliw Reservoir in the Lliw Valley north of Swansea was indeed an unusually snowy one. The snow sat on the fence and though it melted slightly throughout the day, not so much that there was any less than you see below at there end of my walk.
The sound clip below, from my field recording for the walk, reveals the unique sound of my (few) footsteps in the snow as it was at the time of starting the walk. Even though there was not an appreciable difference in the state of thaw at the end of the walk, I would be willing to bet that had i recorded my footsteps in the same place on the footpath a second time, it would have sounded different. It is surprising just how much difference the state of the snow makes to the sounds that it makes underfoot or indeed the surrounding environment.
Starting Out
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This week I am looking back at a production walk I have presented before, which means you may recognise the photos I post this week. I’m not simply reusing the posts I wrote back then, but using new words with the photos to describe my memories of the walk.
This Winter we have had no snow to speak of at all – the five minute dusting I ran into on top of Graig Fawr on last weeks walk was the sum total of the snow we have had in our immediate vicinity this year. So before we fully engage with Spring and while the temperatures are still low, I thought it would be timely to take a look at what I think of as a proper winter walk.
Lliw Lower Reservoir is a popular place for people visit for a few different walks, all of which, naturally, circumnavigate either the lower reservoir or extend to the upper reservoir. My walk this week took me round the lower one where the footpath is tarmac on the eastern side and then a muddy narrow track back down the western side. However, none of those surfaces can be seen on this walk as the snow and ice were lying thick from start to finish.
My walk this week followed a track up a local hill, Graig Fawr. It is my intention to produce a StillWalks video from the photos and field recording I did on the walk. Below is a selection of images from this weeks posts about this walk as well as a short soundscape of some aural aspects of the walk.
To see all the photos and I have posted about this walk, you will need to look at the individual posts.
Graig Fawr Soundscape
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It could be said that the subject matter of the first two shots below is 1. the whin bush and 2. the grasses in the foreground. This would be a reasonable assumption as these items are in focus whilst the rest of the photo is not.
While this may be true, I think I would argue that if I was interested in taking photos of whin or grass, I could do a much more interesting job, perhaps looking at the sharp thorniness of the whin or the colours and patterns in the grasses.
However, the true subject matter is the story of my walk this week and the purpose of images like these within a sequence is to connect one aspect or stage of a walk with another. Having descended from the higher part of Graig Fawr, I am now approaching civilisation again and this can be seen by the blurred pattern of buildings at the foot of the hill. However, in my mind I am still with the natural landscape, the whin and the grasses and I am not yet ready to dive back into the everyday world of people and work.
A single elderly dog walker provides a gentle re-introduction to society with a brief conversation near the end of my walk about the weather – what else? Listen below.
A Brief Conversation
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