A Well Kept Secret – Exploring Tennant Canal

The Tennant Canal at Jersey Marine is just a few miles from the centre of Swansea. The area is surrounded by works and roads, developments and housing, but before you reach any of those things, you would have to climb over the small hills that surround Pant-y-Sais Fen alongside which the canal flows.

This haven of (relative) peace and nature is like a well kept secret – if you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t think to take a look. The M4 motorway twists past at one end and there is currently a major development for Swansea University being carried out on the seaward side. But the sound of this activity is not to be heard such is the noise absorbing effect of the topography along with trees and other vegetation. The wind in the reeds and the more noticeable and pleasurable sound.

Complementary images are posted on Instagram through the week and can also be seen on the sidebar of the StillWalks blog.

Tennant Canal Swansea

Pant-y-Sais Fen, Jersey Marine

Tennant Canal-3

Caption Required

What might these inquisitive alpacas be saying / thinking? Suggestions in the comments please or email me at ad@stillwalks.com

Alpacas

Alpacas

Welsh Valleys Alpaca Farm

Reviewing the Week 2

The last of my images for this week is a final view of Penarth Pier against the rising sun on a grey day. Also featured is a slideshow of the images I have posted through the week. I would also like to connect to another blog this week – that of Lightscapes Nature Photography. I get frustrated when I see overworked photography with that slickly unreal appearance and no texture – it seems to be used a lot commercially. However, that is not the case with Kerry Mark Leibowitz’s photography of landscapes and on top of that, there is good reading and advice to had as well.

Penarth Pier against the morning sun

Repeating Pattern and Railing Art

You can find these railings with their reflection of wave forms and froth in front of the Italian Gardens on Penarth Esplanade in South Wales – a pleasant place to sit with a good view of the Bristol Channel.

Railing Art

Railing Art

Concertina Effect

As Penarth Pier stretches out into the sea the structure of stanchions that hold it up have an interesting concertina effect towards the end. I can’t be sure but I like to think (for some weird reason), that this is partly the result of perspective and not just the fact that there are more stanchions closer together where the end of the pier widens to a viewing (and fishing) platform.

Penarth Pier

Morning Light

The early morning light on Penarth Pier is not so unusual but the mixture of colours in the sky looking out from Penarth seafront towards Flat Holm and Sleep Holm Islands in the Bristol Channel did strike me as quite weird.

Morning Light

Sea and Sky