Up Close and Grassy

marsh grass patterns

One of the main features on my walks on our local salt marsh back in 2010 was the marsh grass, their profusion and tallness. As mentioned in my previous walk here from the past (Past Walks 4), the grasses were all trampled to nothing by cows in the years between then and now. Hopefully they will return permanently to their former glory. Continue reading

My Walk this Week – Approaching The Waterside

My walk this week is at a place I have walked at and posted about on a few occasions but until now I have not taken a closer look (and listen) at the the approach to the The Waterside.

Starting just above the school, the lane that leads up to the lakeside where the facilities are in which creative thinking can take place, the wooded valley, while bare of leaves at this time of year, is still green with moss and the damp atmosphere on a day heavy and dark with rain.

wooden gate and lane

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My Walk this Week – Childhood Memory Walk

My walk in this first week of the new year is a childhood memory walk. That does not mean memories of my childhood but instead memories of a walk I used to take when my daughter was at dance class. I would drop her off at the class venue and take an enjoyable hour long walk in the locality. It was not perhaps the sort of place I would normally walk – it is straight (more or less), flat and suburban – but it is also very attractive in its own way. It is quite a long time now since my daughter attended the dance class but taking the walk reminded me strongly of that time.

telegraph poles

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A Field of Fog and Fences

When I arrived at the highest point of my walk this week and rose above the fog, I was taken completely by surprise. Despite having walked through the mist, I hadn’t expected to see such a solid looking wall of it completely blocking the view I would normally have over the Loughor estuary and beyond to the Gower peninsula.

field of fog

However, on turning my eyes to the north, the scene was clearer and the last wisps of mist were Continue reading

Up On the Hill

The sheep and their lambs (and a goat) have a good view over the landscape from their vantage point near the top of the hill I’ve been climbing in my walk this week.

Whether looking north with the scene framed by ruins or south across the Loughor Estuary towards the Gower Peninsula, the animals here probably don’t care a jot for any view other than that of the grass on the other side of the fence.

sheep and lambGoppa Lamb and Sheep

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Working Patterns

Pattern is all around us but sometimes it is more noticeable than others. Earlier on my walk this week I focused on the textures around me. However, it was the patterns that were in my sights for these shots.

You may think that I have an unnatural interest in barbed wire – and you may be right! If you would like to see where this interest comes from, please visit the fibre page on my other website – alastair-duncan.com (There is something weird going on with the home page menu on this site which I will sort out asap).

More images from this walk can be seen on Instagram and/or the StillWalks Facebook page and Twitter.

Swansea Canal-30

The Textures of Swansea Canal

From liquid smooth through crusty and tatty to razor sharp, the range of textures I spotted on my walk along Swansea canal was wide,  to say nothing of the colour and pattern, light and shade that created a natural art exhibition for me.

The water of the canal may have reflected the colour in the sky on this beautiful morning, but it certainly did not reflect the texture of the barbed wire fence round the Mond Nickel Works.

And there was pattern to be seen in the reflection of light from the water under one of the bridges and a very crusty texture on the pipe structures also crossing the canal.

Canal Reflection