My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Heritage Centre

Posted on 22/08/201620/08/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is another Taste of Gower walk organised by Steve Lancey for the Gower Landscapes Partnership. This time we set off from the Gower Heritage Centre at Parkmill and of course returned there for tea and bite to eat later on. Steve worked hard to get everyone to sign the register and then we set off up the road to Cwm Green and the “Giant’s Grave”. This is a neolithic chambered tomb which Helen and Charlotte, from Gower Unearthed, told us all about – fascinating stuff about which you can find out more here.

The cwm was busy with many scout troops camping but from here some of the group returned to the Heritage Centre while others of us carried on through the woods behind Parc Le Breos House.

The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 – details here.

Gower Heritage Centre

Taste of Gower Walkers at Gower Heritage Centre

Helen and Charlotte from Gower Unearthed

Giant’s Grave

My Walk this Week – Misty Mountains

Posted on 15/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

On this first day of my walk this week the mountain mist does not come down to this level – the sun was even shining at times. I had hoped for reasonable weather for my StillWalks production walk up Mynydd Rugog, a mountain just south of Cadair Idris and overlooking Tal-y-Llyn in the mountains north of Aberystwyth in Wales.

A style of gate

There had been a lot of rain over the previous couple of days and the rivers running through the forest were in spate.

Mountain Woodland Wind and Water

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

A style of gate

Foxgloves by the footpath

stone edge

stone at entrance (to forest)

Rushing Woodland River

My Walk this Week – Swansea Bay 360

Posted on 08/08/201606/08/2016 by Alastair

My walk this weak is in Swansea Bay on the beach in front of Crymlin Burrows and Swansea Uni Bay Campus will reveal what may be turning into an obsession with sand.

The tide was as far out as I have ever seen it and as I stood in the middle of its seemingly vast expanse and turned around the full 360 degrees I could see that the sand in this part of the bay is much more sculpted by the tide than it is in front of the city itself. This is not revealed much in these panoramic shots but I will post some of the patterns created in the sand through the week.

The soundscape of the beach is quite different to the wild blast of wind blowing on Colwyn Bay in my walk last week. Listen below to the ambience with the occasional distant sound of birds or voices from a small group of people and the faint backdrop of traffic.

Swansea Bay Ambience

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Swansea Bay – Mumbles

Swansea Bay – Hills

Swansea Bay Campus

Swansea Bay – Port Talbot

My Walk this Week – Windy Day in Colwyn Bay

Posted on 01/08/201630/07/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week takes me back a couple of months to a working visit to Colwyn Bay on the north coast of Wales. It was a fresh Spring day and the wind was blowing strong. I think the image below describes the conditions perfectly.

Whether or not I develop a StillWalks video from all the material I recorded on this short walk along the beach remains to be seen. If I do, it will not be one of the relaxing ones – more invigorating I think!

The off shore wind farm seen on the horizon of the first shot below is an interesting feature, sometimes there and sometimes not! Depending on the light (constantly changing on this particular day), the turbines can become almost completely invisible or present complex repeating patterns as they shine with reflected sunlight.

Running into the wind

Windy Day in Colwyn Bay

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Abstract Concrete

Glimpse of the bay

Running into the wind

Crossing to the sea

My Walk this Week – Corris, Welsh Mountain Village

Posted on 25/07/201619/07/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week comes from another visit to North Wales. Having planned a StillWalks production walk as part of the trip, I stayed overnight at a great Youth Hostel in the village of Corris. The village is nestled in the steep sided valleys of the area just south of Cader Idris, in my opinion one of Wales’ most dramatic and interesting mountains.

The drive up north on the previous day had taken me through this area in absolutely foul weather. This cleared by the time I got to Colwyn Bay but on returning that evening nothing had changed and Corris was still suffering an incessant downpour.

It had been my intention to get up early and climb the mountain on the south side of the lake, Talyclun, but when my alarm went at 5.30 I looked out the window and went straight back to bed! Suffice it to say that the rain cleared later on and I was able to do my production walk but before that I took the opportunity to look around the village a little. No sound clips this week though, I’m afraid.

Old School Hostel

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Hostel

Old School Hostel

Corris

Corris street

My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Nicholaston Farm

Posted on 18/07/201618/07/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is the Taste of Gower walk from June. The walk starts at Nicholaston Farm and follows the footpath along the cliffs to Three Cliffs Bay. The walk was led by Steve Lancey who organised it for Gower Landscape Partnership and we had Helen and Charlotte from Gower Unearthed as guides and providers of information on aspects of the walk such as Pen y Crug burial chamber.

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Nicholaston Farm

Taste of Gower walkers at Nicholaston Farm

Oxwich Bay

Nicholaston Walk

My Walk this Week – City Centre Walk

Posted on 11/07/201611/07/2016 by Alastair

Sticking with the urban environment, my walk this week describes aspects of a different city centre to last week. This is Hereford City centre and as Hereford has a cathedral, it can legitimately be described as a city. Strange but true (sort of), though I certainly don’t have a problem with Swansea being called a city even if it does not have a cathedral. Actually that is a little simplistic so here is a Wiki article that will explain in more detail.

All photography for this week’s walk was done on my iPhone.

Hereford City Centre

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

city footpath

Hereford City Centre

city alley

The Grapes

Church Street

My Walk this Week – Street Recce

Posted on 04/07/201603/07/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is along a short street near the centre of town. It could be any street with mostly businesses lining each side in what were once houses. There is plenty of traffic but as I have claimed with StillWalks, there is as much to listen to and hear in an urban setting as there is in a rural one.

The sounds may be different, and it could be argued less attractive, but focusing my attention on different aspects of the soundscape allowed me to hear and see things that I would often pass over unnoticed – colours, patterns, textures to be both seen and heard.

So my walk this week is an exploration of an everyday urban location with the intention of familiarising my self to some of the visual and aural details in preparation for a full StillWalks production walk in the future.

The sound clip below is a bit longer than those I normally post through the week but on this occasion it seemed appropriate. There are many layers of of activities, starting with the sound of me closing the car boot and progressing from the car park onto the street. The sound of a drill as I round a corner is also associated with a smell for me – as I returned to the carpark later on, passing this same spot the pungent smell of sealant was powerful and made me pass by quickly.

Street Walk – Clip 1