overhanging

Tree Ghoul in the Gloom

The darkness of my walk this week in the rain provided me with a creepy atmosphere from time to time. This tree was one of those  presenting itself as a ghoul in the gloom of the woodland as I climbed the footpath to Swiss Valley Reservoir.

Tree Ghoul in the Gloom

Even the more open areas of the valley floor were gloomy and what light there was created and aged effect on the subtly coloured branches of an orchard.Continue reading

river rapids

My Walk this Week – Rushing Through Swiss Valley

My walk this week, my first for 2018, shows the madly rushing water of the Afon Lliedi as it flows down from Swiss Valley Reservoir on a very wet and gloomy afternoon.

Swiss Valley

The rain was falling but you can only allow bad weather to stop you going out for so long before it becomes a necessity for both body and mind to free itself from the confines of buildings.Continue reading

December - Winter Sunrise

Reviewing the Year – 2017

At the end of this first week of 2018 I have selected one image from each month of 2017 plus the featured image on the StillWalks blog page.

I thoroughly enjoyed all my walks in 2017 and look forward to posting about more walks in the coming year. However, I may need to cut down on the number of posts. As much as I enjoy doing the photography, field recording and writing, there will be a distinct pressure on my time in 2018 and cutting to one post per week may be one of the solutions to this problem. I will do my best and we shall see how it goes – either way, unlike this week, future posts will include soundscapes as well as images.

I would like to thank everyone for following the StillWalks blog in 2017 and I look forward to reading all your posts in the coming year. I hope it will be a very productive one for all of us. Happy New Year!

September - Bishopston Valley

July To September – Reviewing the Third Quarter

For this first week of 2018 I have picked out some of my preferred shots taken on the many walks I enjoyed last year. Today I am looking at a few of my favoured photos from July to September 2017 and if you want to see more of them, just select the posts from the monthly archive on the blog page.

April - Woodland

April To May – Reviewing the Second Quarter

For this first week of 2018 I have picked out some of my preferred shots taken on the many walks I enjoyed last year. Today I am looking at a few of my favoured photos from April to June 2017 and if you want to see more of them, just select the posts from the monthly archive on the blog page.

March - Cwm Dulais Dew

January to March – Reviewing the First Quarter

Happy New Year! For this first week of 2018 I have picked out some of my preferred shots taken on the many walks I enjoyed last year. Today I am looking at a few of my favoured photos from January to March 2017 and if you want to see more of them, just select the posts from the monthly archive on the blog page.

Valley mist

Valley Frost Revealed – Reviewing the Walk

When I arrived at this viewpoint near the start of my walk this week, the valley was filled with a thick fog. Now, having had a peaceful walk through the forest, the valley is revealed, and it is cold with frost.

Valley frost

In a couple of my posts about this walk I have described the woodland as peaceful, and indeed it was. The background sound of traffic on the motorway is almost always there but there are a few pockets of peacefulness that allow virtually complete escape from that sound.Continue reading

sheep and frost

Open Landscape and Under Cover

Reaching the highest point on my walk this week allowed me to look out across the open landscape to towards the Gower Peninsula. Every time I stand in this spot I take a couple of photos and on this occasion I was also tempted by the rising sunlight and pale frost covered fields to capture the fence heading off in perspective to be silhouetted against the sky.

Open perspective

Heading back under cover of the woodland my aural experience was still and peaceful and I tried to keep it that way by taking careful footsteps on the soft ground – not so easy when the ground is covered in crisp leaves from Autumn, but straightforward enough when on the thick carpet of pine needles and moss. Tomorrow I’ll post my short soundscape for the walk.