Gaining the top of the hill on my walk this week from fog to sunlight, I was followed by a flock of hopeful sheep looking expectantly at me – I suspect the farmer was due or perhaps the sheep though he was overdue!
My route took me past familiar objects both natural and man made. The rhododendrons perhaps have an element of both – they are natural but not native to the UK and can take over a whole hillside as they have in this location.Continue reading
Back where I started by the farm and spinning/weaving workshop where my daughter was learning how to use a spinning wheel and on time for the end of her day at All In a Spin.
The three stages of this walk – up the valley (Cwm Sorgwm), across the top (Mynydd Llangorse), and down into the valley again will be edited as a StillWalks video. As the existing selected images and soundscapes would make the video last about 20 minutes, I will have to re-edit and select these to bring the video length down to about 9 or 10 minutes. Continue reading
The density of the bracken on the steep hillside down which I was climbing cautiously, is common on the open commons of the Welsh landscape. While bright green in the Spring and Summer, it changes the hills to bright red in the Autumn when the light is right.
We are having August weather this year as if we were already in Autumn and the bracken is now beginning to change colour. However, it was still bright and thick on this walk back at the end of June. My poor knees were aching from the steep descent (I much prefer climbing) and I had to sit down to give them a break half way down the slope. Continue reading
On this first of three consecutive walks in my local valley of Cwm Dulais, as I returned down one of the lanes towards home, there was what I can only describe as a solar attempt. The sun tried repeatedly to break through the clouds that had blown in gradually as I continued my walk, but alas, was unable to make a lasting impression and it was only by diligent timing and patience that I managed to get this shot.
The old iron railing on the footbridge which I crossed on my walk this week will be familiar to those who saw my posts a couple of weeks ago about my previous walk on this route. I wasn’t originally going to include the sound clip below because it’s just water flowing under the bridge – but then on listening to it again, I changed my mind!
The sounds of that flow have three distinct stages: the first part has a lot of bubbly texture to it, including trickles and tickles, gloops and bloops, splashes and plashes (in preference to more technical language), the second is more even with those highlights less noticeable, and the ambience of the third stage has greater weight on the right hand speaker but with a gloopy base returning in the background – and then the sound fades to my footsteps climbing a dry leafy slope.
Water Under the Bridge
Climbing on up to the top of the hill on my walk this week naturally changed the views of the landscape again. Having done this walk four or five times in the week, you can see the changing weather from day to day.
Through the recent weeks of Winter the changeable weather within one day, or even within an hour, might have accounted for all these photos. The last week or two, however, have been much drier and whilst still changeable, it is a welcome break from so much rain and hints at the season changing to Spring.
The sound clip below illustrates something of the current weather both in the birdsong and also in the crunch of the bracken underfoot as I walk across the hill to another viewpoint.
Birds and Bracken
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
Even towards the end of my walk round Lower Lliw Reservoir, the thaw was minimal. But as the snow gently melted new shapes and patterns were revealed. I particularly like the twisting twiddles of last years bracken.
My walk this week followed a track up a local hill, Graig Fawr. It is my intention to produce a StillWalks video from the photos and field recording I did on the walk. Below is a selection of images from this weeks posts about this walk as well as a short soundscape of some aural aspects of the walk.
To see all the photos and I have posted about this walk, you will need to look at the individual posts.
Graig Fawr Soundscape
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.