I know Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea has had some development work done in it recently but I do not know if that work included the flower beds. I wonder what flowers were there when Swansea’s poet, Dylan Thomas, used and wrote about the place.
Echinacea
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Autumn Lakeside Walk” from Gnoll Park, Neath, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video.
Last week I had an unexpected walk around Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea. The park is well known for its association with Swansea’s very own poet Dylan Thomas and it has recently had some work carried out in it with a grant from European funds.
It was a good time to be there as this work had been completed and the colours were changing with the season. The sun was shining and if it hadn’t been for the noise pollution of a park worker blowing leaves away with a noisy machine, it would have been perfect. The noise (which eventually stopped) did not stop me getting a number of photos on my iPhone and I will be posting these here through the week.
This weeks featured StillWalks video can be viewed at the bottom of this post and last week’s video will revert to the sample version.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Autumn Lakeside Walk” from Gnoll Park, Neath, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video.
Some advance images from next week’s featured StillWalks video – “Autumn Lakeside Walk” from Gnoll Park, Neath, South Wales.
This is the last day for this week’s featured video “Quarry Walk – Autumn Rain”. You can see this at the bottom of this post.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.
These thistles are naturally designed for this environment. More than that, they look as if they have been designed full stop! Their colour, pattern, shape, form, texture – all fit perfectly with other aspects of the area, particularly the spikiness of the grass and, of course, the contrast of the soft sand.
You wouldn’t want to sit down on one! Those spikes are mighty sharp and I guess this may be a hazard to be aware of during the Summer months in the Millennium Coastal Park at Llanelli. All photos taken on my iPhone.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.
Autumn is here and posting this image of a mushroom may be appropriate within the order of the seasons, but it was not the first of my varied activities last weekend. In fact, this photo was taken mid week and the mushroom, which was convex in shape last weekend, has now moved on to its concave form that comes relatively quickly for fungi.
Mushroom hunting was the first of my activities last Sunday. The walk through our local woods was organised by the Friends of Coedbach Park and led by Steve Protheroe of Swansea Parks Dept. It was a real eye opener to anyone with an interest but little or no experience. The number and range of mushrooms was unexpected and made for a very gratifying event.
Visit the StillWalks Flickr Photostream to see the other mushrooms we found. Unfortunately, the mushrooms are not yet identified in the image names – Steve, the expert, is currently away – but as soon as I am able, I will update that to provide both common and latin names for each one.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.
More sights and sound from Rhosilli Bay. There is no doubt in my mind that the Oystercatchers enjoy flying across the water of Rhosilli Bay, though I am sure that Chris Packham would tell me there is some specific and logical reason behind it – I am also sure that he is right!
However, I get great pleasure from thinking that they are enjoying themselves in their activity and so, despite all reason, I will continue to believe they are.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.
Rhosilli Bay, at the end of the Gower Peninsula, is a great place to walk. The cliffs above the bay extend out to the Worm’s Head and can get busy on a weekend if the weather is good. The bay, however, like many of the large beaches on the South Wales coast, has the space to cope with a good number of visitors and not feel in the least crowded.
As with any beach, the patterns and textures in the sand change with different conditions and the shells, stones and rivulets underfoot create a range of sounds that all have the aural backdrop of the waves and the wind. The colourful rock of the cliffs (see yesterday’s post) reflect and amplify the sound of the sea but walking away from them allows the nuances of the crunch of tiny shells or the squish of soft wet sand to come through.
And above all that, the birds. Walking back up the cliff, even the smallest of birds can make themselves heard against the sound of the bay. You will need to watch the video at the end of this post to hear and see it all.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.
Following my photo session and field recording (see yesterday’s post) at Cwm Green on the Gower where I heard so many small and large aircraft enjoying a sunny Saturday morning, I went along to Bishops Wood to pay a visit to the seed collecting group which had been organised by Swansea’s Countryside Connections team.
Bishops Wood is just above Caswell Bay on the South Gower coast. I used to walk there regularly but had not been for some time. Both the woods and the bay are beautiful and popular spots on the Gower and as I was in the area, it was no hardship to call by.
On Sunday morning I went on the mushroom and toadstool hunt arranged by the Friends of Coedbach Park in Pontarddulais and in the afternoon we went for a walk along the Millennium Coastal park footpath at Llanelli in Carmarthenshire.
An active weekend all in all and one that has provided me with plenty of material for both blog and StillWalks production!
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. Sticking with the Gower, this weeks featured video is from Rhosilli by the Worm’s Head right at the end of the Gower Peninsula. Click the image below to watch the sample.
