Category Archives: Soundscape

weather coming in

My Walk this Week 129 – Down from Rhossili Down

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Climbing up the Down from the village of Rhossili on my walk this week at the end of the Gower Peninsula, was not a problem – it’s fairly steep but I like climbing. Less so do I like coming back down again and on this occasion my knees had decided they had had enough.

Rhossili Bay beach path

This has happened on one or two occasions when walking but I have never let it stop me. I do, however, need to pace myself and not go rushing off at the start of a walk. Descending from the Down four years ago is one of my clearest memories of the walk. Continue reading→

Rowntree Park, York

My Walk this Week 128 – Rowntree Park Soundscape

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The soundscape for my walk this week in Rowntree Park in York, is formed by buggies and bicycles, footsteps and wheelchairs, skateboards and birds, children and adults – all enjoying the mid afternoon sunshine and warmth.

tall grasses

The sound file below describes and refers to the images in this and the two previous posts for this walk but does not say anything about the strange object amongst the trees that I noticed in the shadows from a distance. I couldn’t figure out what it was until I reached its other side – I assume it refers to an aspect of York’s history but as there was no information on it I cannot say for sure.

I did not explore the whole park on my walk but enjoyed every minute of it from the pergola to the ponds, the gates to the grasses, and all the activities of calm relaxation surrounding me. I like the gates to the park’s southern entrance, and their shadows, but have only just realised how closely they match the pattern of growth in my photo of tall grasses below!

Rowntree Park Soundscape

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strange object
texture and colour
It’s a giant helmet!
Relaxing in Rowntree Park
tall grasses
shady woodland
Rowntree Park, York
Rowntree gates
exit shadow pattern
overgrown gate

My Walk this Week 127 – Forest Passage and Soundscape

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My passage through the forest on my walk this week took me from one half concealed entrance to another, past open field and marshland, along ageing track and abandoned rusty objects.

out of the woods

My entrance to the woods was through a rapidly disintegrating wooden passage (see the first post for this week) and my exit was through a small iron gate so rusty and covered in ivy that it was only possible to sidle round it rather than through.

My first photo of this gate was underexposed but I decided to keep itContinue reading→

holey tree

My Walk this Week 126 – Woodland Wonders

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The wonders of the woodland, the lakes, the colours and the soundscape . . . and the textures and the bird life and the patterns and the fact that the rain held off for me on my walk this week around Gnoll Estate Country Park in Neath, South Wales – these are some of the things that I enjoyed about this walk.

Early Autumn colour

One thing I did not remember from previous visits (going back a few years) was the oak tree with a huge hole through its trunk. Clearly the park authorities felt it was a wonder worth preserving and have reinforced the natural structure with metal rods.Continue reading→

ripples

Scottish Seas 3 – The Subtleties of Surface

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The surface of the sea is constantly changing – colour, pattern, texture – it all depends, from moment to moment, on the changing conditions of light, wind, currents and the pull of the sun and moon.

surface colour

However rough or calm the sea is, the changing patterns on the surface of the water can hold my attention for a long time. The longer I look, the more subtleties I see and although there is an overall rhythm to the motion, that too changes gradually as the tide gently rises and falls against the rocks and seaweed – see the video below.

The longer you sit quietly, the less you are noticed byContinue reading→

sunset silhouette

Scottish Skies 3 – Sunset Silhouettes and Impressions

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The silhouettes of stacked and jagged rocks and dark hills give a realistic impression of the scene they describe, but it is an impression. The camera (without any filters) provides more contrast than is there in reality and there have been occasions when I have increased that contrast further in order to provide a better sense of what the scene felt like.

sunset sentinel

The Impressionists did a similar thing in painting scenes that, while not perhaps accurately or photographically depicted, gave a more accurate impression or sense of life. Photorealism in paintingContinue reading→

kissing gate 1

Eight Gates and A Churchyard

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My walk this week included nine gates, not eight, but the gate to the old churchyard on my local marshes was open and so is not included in the soundscape below.

Churchyard gate

The old St Teilo’s churchyard is a fabulous place and the walk across the marshes, alongside the River Loughor is also a local route I enjoy immensely. If doing a linear walk rather than the circular route,Continue reading→

lambs looking back

Looking Back Down the Hill

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Looking down isn’t always the best thing to do – certainly not if you want to see where you are going – but it is also necessary if you want to be able to see the details underfoot of where you are. In the case of the lambs in today’s featured image, looking back down the hill at me is a matter of curiosity, the curiosity of the young.

dewey web detail

Their mothers had led them up the hill away from me as I approached on the descending lane, but they halted half way up to check me out. I too halted many times on my walk, first to look andContinue reading→