Gateway on Gower

Posted on 24/08/201620/08/2016 by Alastair

Leaving the woodland by a kissing gate on my walk this week held the Taste of Gower group of walkers up enough for me to catch up with them . . . momentarily! It wasn’t long before their conversation became a murmur in the distance and the quietening ambience took over in this area between the woodland and the sea of the Bristol Channel.

The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 – details here.

Quietening Ambience

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Across the Water – Bristol Channel

Notthill – National Trust

coastal wildflowers

Walking with Woodland Wildflowers

Posted on 23/08/201620/08/2016 by Alastair

There were many more wildflowers than these on my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers. As we passed through the woodland behind Parc Le Breos House the main group of walkers were all chatting away and I could only keep my fingers crossed that they were also taking in their surroundings and enjoying the colours and sounds of the environment.

I love the range of sounds to be heard on any walk and in this instance I include in that enjoyment the sound of people ahead of me talking in the distance.

The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 – details here.

Woodland wildflowers

Distant Voices in the Woods

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Taste of Gower Walkers

Woodland wildflowers

Woodland Wildflowers

My Walk this Week – Taste of Gower, Heritage Centre

Posted on 22/08/201620/08/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is another Taste of Gower walk organised by Steve Lancey for the Gower Landscapes Partnership. This time we set off from the Gower Heritage Centre at Parkmill and of course returned there for tea and bite to eat later on. Steve worked hard to get everyone to sign the register and then we set off up the road to Cwm Green and the “Giant’s Grave”. This is a neolithic chambered tomb which Helen and Charlotte, from Gower Unearthed, told us all about – fascinating stuff about which you can find out more here.

The cwm was busy with many scout troops camping but from here some of the group returned to the Heritage Centre while others of us carried on through the woods behind Parc Le Breos House.

The next Taste of Gower walk will be this coming Friday 26/08/17 – details here.

Gower Heritage Centre

Taste of Gower Walkers at Gower Heritage Centre

Helen and Charlotte from Gower Unearthed

Giant’s Grave

Back on the Valley Floor – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 21/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

Back on the valley floor at the mountain centre above Corris where I started of my walk this week in the mountains of Wales, I am very pleased that I carried on in spite of the mist. I am not stupid when it comes to hiking in mountains and had it not been for the fact that I had a clear track to follow, I would have been very hesitant about carrying on when it was obvious that a thick(ish) mist was descending. I got my reward at the top though when the weather cleared.

I will eventually finish the StillWalks video for this walk but in the meantime you can Play the soundscape below and have a look through selected images from my posts this week.

Ty’n y Berth Mountain Centre

Misty Mountain Walk Soundscape

There is an interesting “tinkling” sound in this soundscape at around 3:15 – 3:30 minutes – can anybody guess what it is?

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A style of gate

stone edge

old fence wire

Descending mist

mountain wildflowers

Mist and grass

Looking down through the mist

Clearing Cloud

Mountain track

Looking over the edge

Light and Shade

Misty Mountain Ridge

Evidence of Sheep

Sheep on mountainside

Valley floor

Evidence of Sheep

Posted on 20/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

You will find sheep on virtually any mountainside in Wales. There have been a few dotted about in the distance in my photos of my walk this week and one or two, along with their bleats, looming out of the mist. In reality there were plenty of them about and the photo below provides some evidence of this.

Evidence of Sheep

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Evidence of Sheep

Fence posts

Sheep on mountainside

Mountain Landscape

Valley floor

Misty Mountain Ridge

Posted on 19/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

So on my walk this week the Welsh mountains were revealed to me, but not all of a sudden. It took time for the cloud to clear but gradually, bit by bit, the details of the mountains could be seen

Misty Mountain Ridge

Mountainside Farm

Light and Shade

Mountain and Cloud

Misty Mountain Ridge

Clearing Cloud – Revealing the Landscape

Posted on 18/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

Clearing cloud – yes! Just as I started to head back down the mountain, having decided that the mist was not going to lift and my walk this week would not have the potential views of Wales’ mountains and valleys that I had hoped for, the sun broke through and the scene below me was revealed. I was so pleased 🙂 and in awe at the views.

The walk / climb to this point had been . . . mmm . . . atmospheric. However, despite the mist it had still been very enjoyable. But to be able to look at the other mountains around me and the valleys below is always a wonder that cannot be experienced on a screen. Having said that I will of course endeavour to produce a StillWalks video from this walk that goes some way to presenting the experience and hopefully draws people in to join me in my memories of it.

Clearing Cloud

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Clearing Cloud

Mountain track

Mountain and Cloud

Monochrome Mountain and Cloud

Mountainside

Looking over the edge

Tal-y-Clun

Ascending Further

Posted on 17/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

Ascending further along my misty mountain route on my walk this week, the landscape below me may have been obscured but the colours and patterns in the path-side rocks could still clearly be seen, albeit less bright than would have been the case in sunshine.

Almost at the top I sheltered from the wild wind in a hollow at the side of the mountain track and recorded the blustering wind and the plaintive bleats of distant sheep and began to despair at the possibility of getting the views I had hoped for.