The route of the River Lliw, from its source in the hills (see other posts this week) to its mouth in the Loughor Estuary, passes through Gorseinon. Here the children from Felindre Primary School are measuring the depth and width of the river as part of the Clear Streams project.
In time they and other schools will be involved in the project, will be making further investigations into the environment of the river from mouth to source to help develop understanding of the benefits of keeping our rivers and streams clean.
It is worth keeping our rivers and streams clean if only for the beautiful effects of sunlight falling on clear water.
The reasoning for the Clear Streams project goes much further than that of course. However, it is still important in my mind, that those taking part in the project appreciate these visual aspects as well as developing their understanding of the environmental aspects.
The orange in the second image was not left in the River Lliw. It was being used as a device for measuring the rate of flow of the river at this second stage through Felindre on its way to the river mouth at Loughor.
The source of the River Lliw is situated up in the hills of the Mawr ward in Swansea, South Wales.
The Clear Streams project being managed by Swansea’s Countryside Connections Team helps people to better understand the responsibility we have towards maintaining the cleanliness of rivers and what we can do maintain them. The project, which I am documenting, is taking school children from four primary schools out to explore the River Lliw from source to mouth. The aim for my part in the project, is to produce a teaching and learning resource for future use by schools and communities.
The scenery at the source is beautiful and so, when the weather is dry, it is a very pleasant work place. The source of the river is not a spring but a point on the hills into which the water of the surrounding slopes drains.
The Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project exhibition opening, which took place last Wednesday, went very well – so well I forgot to get photographs! Never mind, the event was enjoyed by all who came and since then I have had a number of enquiries about the possibility of Tag Along days.
StillWalks Tag Along days would not be about production of a StillWalk®. The bespoke StillWalks produced through project work require greater input than would be practical on a tag along day.
Tag Along days would give a small group of individuals the opportunity to accompany me on a walk with their own cameras (and sound recorders) and discover some aspects of the approach to photography I take for personal use and for StillWalks production.
Field recording – there would also be the opportunity to experience environmental sounds through the high quality StillWalks field recording kit which in itself, can lead to better listening skills – this can be a revelation!
Watch the website for more information and if anyone out there is interested, please contact me.
The seats are empty here but they had been full to overflowing!
Today is Carnival Day in Hendy and Pontarddulais and I am going to try and get some photos and recording of the event.
Everyone not directly involved comes out to watch the parade go past and follow it up to Coedbach Park to enjoy the atmosphere, fancy dress and thematic floats. Come rain or shine, people support the event but it is always better if it is dry and sunny.
Project Exhibition – Some of the children of Pontarddulais Primary School took part in a StillWalks project last Autumn and there is now a full project exhibition in Pontarddulais Mechanic’s Institute (top floor) which can be seen by anyone who cares to climb the stairs or take the lift.
The exhibition will be open throughout Carnival Day and is open Tuesday to Sunday 10 – 5.00 until 10th July.
The project involved the children doing the photography and sound recording to produce a bespoke StillWalk video of a walk through the woods in Coedbach Park. Production Day was a bit wet!
These are just a couple of the photos the children took. The project videos can be seen here.
OK I cheated – it’s not a spring as such and neither is it anything to do with the season but then, that’s why it is an interlude 😉
My daughter has her Foundation Art year show coming up next week and she has been using all sorts of things throughout the year. This copper wire has been sitting on our copper coloured coffee table for a while and when she goes off to uni next September, I know I am going to miss her – especially as that will be both our girls gone.
You can see (and follow) her blogs here and here and you can see more of these copper wire photos on my Flickr site which I have not posted to for some time.
The first photo here is not an exhibit at the second gallery we visited last week – the Howard Garden Gallery at Cardiff Met University. The video below the photo was an installation art work which had to be viewed in a dark room. If you want to be able to see the video, I suspect you will also need to darken your room.
Personally, I liked the crack in the dark by the entrance more than the piece itself but I enjoyed the rest of this exhibition by Avtarjeet Dhanjal. More info on the show can be found here – hmmm, just discovered it finishes today so here is a quote from I’m on that web page.
“When growing up in the Panjab, India, I was not aware there was such a thing called ‘Art’; though my mother decorated our house with beautiful wall murals using clay. It was never called Art. One could find many other examples of beautiful objects of daily use; those enhanced the quality of life. To hold a beautiful object on your hand, or to stand facing a unique work of art, one feels a delight whether one has any formal education in aesthetics or not. This is considered the intrinsic worth of a work of art” – Avtarjeet Dhanjal.
Crack in the Dark
Avtarjeet Dhanjal
Avtarjeet Dhanjal
Avtarjeet Dhanjal
Avtarjeet Dhanjal
This trough was half filled with water but because the blue plastic itself was shiny and reflective, it was almost impossible to see the water. The installation shown in the video above also used “invisible” water.
