Flowers and Water

Posted on 03/11/201503/11/2015 by Alastair

When visiting the Botanic Gardens (NBGW) the natural course to take on a walk is up the main path from the entrance towards the fountain at the end of a small lake. From here you have a number of options in terms of direction but if you have children with you (or even if you haven’t), the temptation is then to follow the twisting miniature stream set into the centre of the walkway.

Eventually, at the top of the path, you reach the simple but attractive water feature that feeds the meandering stream and you can look back down the way you have come and scan some of the other areas of the gardens.

All but one of the photos I am posting this week are from our walk here near the end of September. However, I had to look to my archives for a shot of the twisting footpath stream and this one is from June 2011. My youngest daughter once said a few years after the gardens opened in 2000 that this was her favourite place in Wales – I am sure that this magical twisting trickle had something to do with it.

A Visit To The NBGW

Posted on 02/11/201502/11/2015 by Alastair

Towards the end of September we visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) – it is a place we go whenever the opportunity arises as it is so beautiful and has a wide range of environments. The weather was excellent on this particular day, so I hope that you will join me on this week’s walk posts and enjoy some of the details of the gardens.

The gardens are visited by many photographers, professional and amateur alike, as it gives such a good opportunity to photograph the wide range of plants both in the grounds and in the Great Glass House. My photos this week are a selection of those I took on this September visit and although they are mostly shots of plants and flowers, you can see a wider view of the gardens through their film or virtual tour on their website.

Don’t Jump and Reviewing the Week 43

Posted on 01/11/201501/11/2015 by Alastair

Don’t worry, they didn’t! I am not one for heights – much as I would like to, I just can’t go close to cliff edges or onto the top of tall buildings. It is very frustrating but seems to be something over which I have no control. Even watching others do this sort of thing freaks me out especially if it is a family member.

Click the first thumbnail image below to view photos from the weeks walk in sequence.

Walking and a True Sense of Scale

Posted on 29/10/201529/10/2015 by Alastair

Having completed the circular walk from Rhosilli with Swansea Walking Forum and enjoyed the food at the Bay Bistro courtesy of the Gower Landscapes Partnership “Tastes of Gower “project, I walked down the steep footpath to Rhosilli beach. On the way down I could see in the distance a couple walking out along the beach. By the time I was down on the beach and had taken some sandy photos (to be posted on Saturday), they were heading back towards me.

There is nothing like people in a scene like this to give a true sense of scale!

Walking To Fall Bay

Posted on 28/10/201528/10/2015 by Alastair

The Walking Forum Tastes of Gower walk at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsula took us round from the Worm’s Head to Fall Bay, a place I had not been to for many years. Being a beautiful day there were inevitably more people than us out for a walk, but even though I prefer a solitary walk to a group walk generally speaking, Fall Bay is secluded enough to enjoy in almost any circumstances.

The series of cliffs that form the south Gower coastline are particularly impressive at Fall Bay. This is enhanced by the fact that you can approach them from the seaward side as the land curves around towards the Worm’s Head which is behind us in this first photo.

Cliff Walk Views

Posted on 26/10/201526/10/2015 by Alastair

My posts this week are about a recent walk along the cliffs at the end of the Gower Peninsula. Gower Landscapes Partnership and Swansea Walking Forum have been organising a series of walks on the Gower peninsula this year. As a member of the Walking Forum I have been taking part in these Tastes of Gower walks. The most recent was at Rhosilli where the Worm’s Head spits out into the sea.

It was a very enjoyable walk on a beautiful day. Walking out from Rhosilli to the tip of the peninsula and the Worm’s Head, we had spectacular views from the cliffs over Rhosilli Bay. People and dogs on the beach looked smaller than ants!

We didn’t venture onto the Worm’s Head, though the tide times on that day would have allowed it. The tide times are shown on a large notice at the start of the path to the Head but despite this many people get caught out and end up stranded on the island. Many of these, so I am told, are from China and don’t speak English, yet it has not occurred to the Coast Guard that has top go and fetch them by boat, to put up a similar notice in Chinese (and other languages).

Cardiff Bay Walk and Reviewing the Week 42

Posted on 25/10/201525/10/2015 by Alastair

The fountains across the road from the Wales Millennium Centre were at the end of our walk along Cardiff Bay barrage.

Click the first thumbnail image below to view the photos from this week’s walk in sequence (plus a couple of extras).

Walking Across The Bay

Posted on 22/10/201522/10/2015 by Alastair

We didn’t take the water bus but walked across Cardiff Bay on the barrage instead. The view across the water shows the bronze roof of the Millennium Centre glinting in the sun and the red terracotta ceramic surface of the Pierhead building in front of it.

Category Archives: Travel