Descending Mist

Posted on 16/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

Having started my walk this week in the forest at the foot of Mynydd Rugog, I clambered out of the woods and onto the side of the mountain to find mist slowly descending from the summit. I followed and old fence and wall directly up to the track that zig zags up from a farm down by the road and though as long as I can clearly see the path I’ll carry on.

Mist descended

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old fence wire

rust coloured stone

Descending mist

Thistle

mountain wildflowers

Mountain mist

Mist and grass

Leaving the Beach and Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 07/08/201602/08/2016 by Alastair

Reviewing my walk this week I realise that the railway line running across this bridge separates not only the beach from the town, but also something of the wind as well. The beach at Colwyn Bay in North Wales is a wide open expanse across which the wind can blow unimpeded until it reaches the railway embankment above the promenade. However, this barrier does not run the full length of the bay by any means and so I imagine, like Swansea’s seafront in the south of the country, the sand gets blown far into the streets nearby.

The soundscape below illustrates the point at which the wind starts blowing – just as I cross the road to the promenade at the pedestrian crossing. My favourite sound in this soundscape is towards the end – the rhythmic rattle of metal on metal in the wind before I return to the road.

Leaving the beach

Colwyn Bay Soundscape

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Glimpse of the bay

Running into the wind

Crossing to the sea

Colours in the Sky

Paragliders in the surf

Paragliders

Wild and Windy

Looking out to sea

Wind blown sand

Sand Drift

Sand Haze

Sand and Tide

Dark Sea and Weathered Fence

Pier Structure

Dark Sea and Weathered Fence

Posted on 06/08/201601/08/2016 by Alastair

With the wild wind and dark sea on my walk along the beach at Colwyn Bay this week, it was with some relief that I finally passed alongside the safety fence around the dilapidated pier and up off the beach. In fact the weather was exhilarating, all the more so because it didn’t rain and wasn’t so rough as to make it too difficult to contend with.

Dark Sea and Weathered Fence

Colwyn Bay Wind Clatter

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Dark Sea and Weathered Fence

Triple Columns

Pier Structure

Fence Structure

Beach Exit

Tilting at the Wind

Posted on 03/08/201601/08/2016 by Alastair

No tilting at windmills here – just tilting at the wind as I nearly get blown off my feet. The power of the wind and the sea is not imaginary and it is remarkable that the youngest member of the family looking out to the horizon in the second image below isn’t being rolled up the beach like the foam of the waves.

On the gentle incline of Colwyn Bay beach the waves may not be very big, but that doesn’t mean the weather is any less wild. A number of the photos I took that day had an horizon line in danger of falling off the edge but whilst it is easy enough to correct this, leaving the first image below as it is helped to emphasise the nature of that environment at that time.

Tilting to the Wind

Looking out to sea

Sea foam

Paragliders – Colours in the Sky

Posted on 02/08/201630/07/2016 by Alastair

It was a perfect day for my walk this week at Colwyn Bay . . . if you like the wind! There are those that will take full advantage of the wind every time, such as paragliders. I spotted these two the moment I stepped onto the seafront and as I walked towards them, it was difficult to pay attention to the rest of my surroundings. The mesmerising entertainment of their aerial acrobatics was quite a distraction.

Colours in the Sky

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Paragliders

Colours in the Sky

Paraglider

Paragliders

Paragliders in the surf

Water in Turmoil – Looking Upstream

Posted on 29/07/201625/07/2016 by Alastair

It is difficult to tell in this first image whether you are looking upstream or down. The water is in such turmoil that its direction seems to be every which way.

It wasn’t raining on my walk this week around Corris in the Welsh mountains but the memory of it was fresh in my mind when I looked down at the Afon Deri flowing under the small main road through the village.

I’m sorry now that I didn’t record any of the sounds of the village – I think I was focusing more on the potential sounds of the StillWalks production walk up the mountain that I was going to take later in the morning.

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Corris river – Afon Deri

Corris

railing decoration

Magical Calm Before the Storm

Posted on 15/06/201612/06/2016 by Alastair

I have said that the weather was kind to us on my walk this week. It can be seen here on the expansive beach at Whitford, that there was the potential to be caught by an impending storm. Fortunately the wind favoured us and took this huge bank of dark cloud off to the north east.

calm before the storm

The scene felt other worldly with the calm humidity and the simplicity of the open space. The haze blurred the details of what land could be seen and the “canvas” was reduced to indistinct sea and sky in muted colours. The old Victorian iron built Whitford Lighthouse was an enticing object just out of reach in the water and a small flock of one of my favourite birds flew as if in slow motion along the length of shore, mixing their calls with the skylarks. It was magical!

Larks and Oystercatchers

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Still beach scene

calm before the storm

Oystercatchers

Whitford Lighthouse

Dark Clouds and Sunlight

Posted on 19/05/201618/05/2016 by Alastair

We were very lucky with the weather on the Taste of Gower walk at Weobley Castle. It can be seen below that there was bad weather nearby, but the trees at the edge of the salt marshes show that on north Gower at least, we also had sunlight.