A Pattern of Poo . . . sheep poo!

Posted on 04/10/201304/10/2013 by Alastair

Here are the culprits enjoying a mid morning meal in the old St Teilo’s Churchyard down on the marshes on the Loughour Estuary.

Walking along the old footpath beside the River Loughor last Sunday morning, I followed one of the gullies made by the flooding tide – the marshes are tidal and the salt marsh lamb that is produced as a result is very tasty indeed!

The gullies fill regularly with the tide but not all the way to the top except at those times of year when the spring tides occur. This means that the upper part of the gullies tend to be shallower and the mud exposed for longer periods.

Not just the mud of course – the sheep poo as well! You may not agree with me, but at the time of my walk, I was fascinated by the patterns left in the gullies by the mixture of mud and sheep poo drying out in the sun – a kind of burst bubble effect. Go on, say it . . . “simple things amuse simple minds”, to which I would answer, “to each their own” or “live and let live”. Don’t think of it as poo, just as pattern.

You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks, pay what you want and receive a download of this week’s featured StillWalks video “Troserch Woodland Walk“, click the image below to watch the sample.

A Pair of Ponies

Posted on 03/10/201303/10/2013 by Alastair

I regularly walk down on the marshes by the River Loughor near my home but do not often meet others doing so. The path is well worn, so there must be more people using it than I meet there.

Earlier this year the route of the footpath had to be changed slightly to take it a little further back from the river bank. The evidence of erosion can be seen in the photos of fences in yesterday’s post. The new route runs through a field or two near the old St Teilo’s Churchyard and the fields are normally empty of animals. Sometimes there are sheep there but on this occasion there were two new occupants. They seemed friendly and pleased to see me.

I just have one question about the piebald one – could he be described as dappled on this occasion? 😉

Featuring Fallen Fences

Posted on 02/10/201302/10/2013 by Alastair

Last Sunday morning I went to the park thinking I was going to be late to join the Friends of Coedbach Park on a hunt for mushrooms and toadstools. There was a great deal of activity in the park with two football and matches and a rugby game going on and others waiting in the wing.

I walked around the woods but could find nobody looking for mushrooms or fungi of any sort – I found some mushrooms though – you can see them on Instagram! I should have checked my diary, I would have found the event is down for next Sunday, so I won’t miss it after all.

In the meantime I carried on with my walk and took the opportunity to focus on fences instead and here are a few of the shots I took.

Further Fences

Posted on 28/09/201328/09/2013 by Alastair

OK, a fence and a gate 🙂 both from that second part of the Troserch Woodland Walk which follows the Morlais River out of the woods. I don’t think I’ll be using the fence shot in the StillWalks video but gates are useful in so far as they provide a key sound within the audio track that acts like a way marker and helps to provide progression in describing the walk.

Fencing the Footpath

Posted on 27/09/201327/09/2013 by Alastair

Following the woodland walk I have been posting about recently, these photos are from the second part of that production day walk.

Troserch Woodland Walk (Part 1)

Posted on 26/09/201326/09/2013 by Alastair

At last, here is the StillWalks video I have been working on – a little reminder of the recent Summer. Sometimes I find that a walk can be split into two separate videos and that is the case on this occasion. This first part goes through the woods as the title suggests. The second one will have a different title and will be alongside the Morlais river which flows from the woodland down towards Llangennech and the Loughor Estuary.

Click the image to play the video.

Update – this video is now sample size and length only. Please see the post about the Donate button for further information.

Selected still photos from this video are now available on the StillWalks Photography website.