Category Archives: Walks

Yellow flowering broom

A Glimpse of the Past – Copperopolis Part 1c

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Ending my observations on this first part of my walk around one of the old industrial sites of Swansea’s Copperopolis history, you only get a glimpse of that industrial past. The abandoned metal swizzle below is not necessarily a part of that past but it was there and made me think of some of the natural forms to be seen in the nature that is gradually taking over here.

abandone twizzle

The natural twizzles had in fact almost completed unfurled themselves in the new growth of yellow broom or green ferns growingContinue reading→

hidden buildings

The Nature of Copperopolis – Part 1b

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Exploring one of Swansea’s old industrial areas on my walk this week, I am focused on how nature continues to take over Copperopolis. The old Hafod-Morfa Copperworks has plants growing out of its walls now – it closed down in 1980 and nature seems to be doing a fairly efficient job of reclamation as 1980 doesn’t seem all that long ago to me (I must be getting old!).

footpath to history

But the wall plants weren’t the only things of interest as the shapes, patterns and textures of the old walls were also caught my eye. From theContinue reading→

ruins 1

My Walk this Week – Old Copperopolis Part 1a and an Argument For Nature

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My walk this week is the first stage of my visual exploration of local nature and an old and world renown aspect of Swansea’s history – Copperopolis. Click the link if you would like to know more about that history. In the past I have only photographed elements of this industrial history and the nature overtaking it from across the River Tawe and it was good to take the opportunity to look a bit closer at how nature takes over all that we leave behind.

through the trees

It is good to see how little impact we have on the the natural world, at least in the longer term of our lifespans – even multiple generations of our lives are only a snippet of time in the life of the planet or universe. It is also excitingContinue reading→

weeping willows

River Nene Reflections

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The last part of my walk this week is looking at the River Nene as it flows past Beckets Park in Northampton. Swans, Canada Geese and Mallards were the order of the day.

swan and reflection

Reflections were also an expected theme of the day – not only in the river and marina water, but also looking back at the trip at the end of the day. The time spentContinue reading→

bullrush

Nature on the Banks of an Inland Marina

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I was slightly surprised on my walk this week in Northampton to find a marina – Northampton is land locked and not far off the centre of England. However, this inland marina was not for sailing and motor boats, it was for canal boats and there were plenty of them.

River Nene lock gate

The photo above shows one of the locks on the River Nene. I thought the sepia treatment of the image added some character to what was otherwise a fairly ordinary feature. What I really enjoyed about these water ways wasContinue reading→

twisting footbridge

My Walk this Week – A Day in Northampton

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My walk this week is from a day trip we had to Northampton a few weeks ago. We were there for the opening of an exhibition in which my daughter (Hannah Duncan Creations) had be invited to take part – Enamel Today by the British Society of Enamellers. The exhibition is at 78 Derngate, the only Charles Rennie Mackintosh house in England.

Beckets Park

Apart from the obvious interest I have in my daughter’s work I also had an interest in the Northampton architecture, and not just the Rennie mackintosh house.Continue reading→

Park path and wildflowers

Enjoying the Springtime Morning Chorus

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My walk this week through the woodland of my local park was early in the morning and the Springtime birds were still singing their morning chorus. The sun was up and the day was bright and there is nothing like woodland sights and sounds to lift the heart.

Across the pond

As I circled round the far side of the pond and approached the children’s playground the birds and squirrels were going crazy. There were no children up early to play on the hoops and bridges, swings and slides of the playground, but a Blue Tit hopped around the bright painted apparatus andContinue reading→

blue woodland

The Temptation of Bluebells

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One reason for my walk this week through the woodland of my local park was to see the Bluebells that have grown up profusely in the past few years since the park has been managed by the Friends of Coedbach with the support of the council’s Parks Department. The temptation with bluebells when photographing them is to exaggerate the saturation of colour in an effort to replicate the impact a carpet of blue in woodland has on our senses as we walk amongst the trees.

woodland colour

They are amazing but however anyone processes or presents a photograph of them, the reality is that, at best, the image will provide a good memory of the last time you saw bluebells in the real world. I have tried to avoid exaggerating the colour in my photography of this phenomenon but looked instead for anglesContinue reading→