Such as it is the StillWalks website is back online albeit through WordPress. So check the blog menu for all that is StillWalks. There will be lots of further developments in the New Year.
In the meantime, here are a couple of Christmas tunes from our town band – i.e in the background along with the birds and the rain!
Or listen via SoundCloud below.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone.
Walking out along the Loughor Estuary last Sunday morning, the weather was still but overcast and the sound of the M4 motorway was even more evident than usual. I love the marshes on the estuary and the old St Teilo’s churchyard, and I normally find that I suppress the sound of traffic in my head and listen instead to the birds, sheep, cattle and wind along with the sound of my footsteps in the grass or mud and the rustling of the reeds.
These are some of the sounds recorded in the StillWalks I have produced here. I did not do any sound recording on Sunday but I got a few shots of the area and thought about how much the sounds we hear are so unique to the time and place we are in. They are the result of things like the weather conditions before and during our visit as well as the activities of others, like driving along the motorway on a Sunday morning to go shopping or visit family or whatever. Twenty five years ago there was virtually no Sunday morning traffic on the M4 but even now the traffic sound can seem distant if the wind is in the right direction or other environmental aspects such as a high tide, rain or time of year change the conditions.
This is something we’ll be looking at on the Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project which you can find out about here or follow on Facebook.
The StillWalks website is offline at the moment due to malicious hackers but you can see 480p versions of two StillWalks from the Loughor Estuary on Vimeo – After the Tide and the Old Churchyard Walk. They will be available to buy in full HD when the site is back up and running.
Here are some photos of the Loughor Estuary and the marshes. Image prints can be purchase at PhotoBox.
Here we go then, as promised, some photos from Hereford Cathedral which we visited last Saturday. We must go again to see more, particularly the Mappa Mundi. It was frustrating not to have more time.
The “Corona” above the altar – designed and made by Simon Beer, Siversmith, of Lewes in Sussex and paid for by the Friends of Hereford Cathedral. It was assembled on the crossing floor in late 1992 and dedicated in December.
Tapestries by John Piper
One of the boilers / radiators, an effective way to heat such a building.
One of the amazing organs.
First I must tell everyone that the StillWalks website is currently offline due to a hacking attack. 🙁 I hope to have it back up and running by the end of the week. This blog is still going as is the Facebook page and Flickr.
Another trip to a new place – this time to visit Hereford College of Art with my daughter who will be starting a degree in applied arts next year.
The college was very good and the lecturers very enthusiastic. Hereford was a great place too. We visited the Museum and Art Gallery and the cathedral and were very impressed. The gallery had an exhibition on called Emerge from the Made in the Middle organisation and the cathedral was a fascinating place. We will have to visit again.
Here are some pics from the exhibition – tomorrow I’ll put some up from the cathedral, all taken on my iPhone!
Here are some photos from last weekend’s Green Fayre at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. They can also be seen on Flickr.
All in all the fair went well but I look forward to a weekend off sometime. Not this weekend though as we are off to Hereford tomorrow for a College of Art open day and exhibition – not a bad way to be busy 😉 It’s another place I have never been so I’m looking forward to it – I should probably take my camera!
This weekend StillWalks will be at the Green Fayre in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Organised by Swansea Environment Centre and next to the Winter Wonderland Christmas Fair with its Big Wheel and ice skating rink, to say nothing of the attraction of the museum itself, it should prove to be a busy weekend – fingers crossed again!
We will be showing the full StillWalks video range on HDTV and will be selling
Lizard Point again – In my last post I said I was going to put up some more images from Lizard Point this week but I have been so busy with project work, I have not managed it. Below are some photos from my daughter, Hannah, that I have picked out from those she took at Lizard Point and I think they’re great 😉 She has done her Photography A level, is now doing Foundation Art and is looking at universities for next year. Her own blog can be found at hduncanphotography.wordpress.com
Looking out at the Lizard
Over the edge at the Lizard
Peeping out at the Lizard
Caught in the act
Travelling down to Falmouth last Friday was difficult and disappointing – there was mist all the way and so, as we crossed Bodmin Moor, we could see nothing of it. We were visiting Falmouth University with my daughter who thought the place was great.
Falmouth, despite the weather, was clearly a very attractive town. We had a walk about after our tour of the Tremough Campus and then enjoyed fish and chips for tea.
Staying overnight at Lizard Point Youth Hostel was fun! “It was a dark and stormy night” as we approached The Lizard along roads that became increasingly narrow and dark. It was only the light from the lighthouse (and the foghorn) that finally guided us to our destination. We kept our fingers crossed that the weather would improve by morning and in the meantime I enjoyed recording the foghorn.
If you don’t see the sound clips below because you’re viewing this in an email, then click the title to go to the blog or the individual links to listen to the Lizard Point set on SoundCloud.
Saturday morning did reveal much better weather which improved through the day. I had never been to this part of Britain before and enjoyed it immensely! I have included a few images below but there are 31 in all on Flickr all of which are available to purchase through the StillWalks PhotoBox site.
Lizard Lighthouse-1
Lizard Point Youth Hostel
A View from Lizard Point
Taking a Bow at Lizard Point
I might put a few more up in the next day or two 🙂
When I arrived at corporate entrance to the National Botanic Garden of Wales today for the Christmas Gift Fair, I was met by Paxton’s Tower looming out of the mist across the valley. I got a quick pic and went on to set up the StillWalks stall.
The day went well, i.e. it didn’t rain, and subsequently there were visitors. I not only had a lot of interest but also made reasonable sales which is great as I had no high expectations.
I’m looking forward to the 2nd day tomorrow (Sunday) – anyone coming? 😉
Here is Paxton’s Tower and a few other photos I snapped during a quiet moment or two.
Careful placing of the stalls kept most of us gratefully warm on a bright but cold day.
