Looking south from Pen y Fan

My Walk this Week 146 – Looking Back at the Mountains

My walk this week is one from the past and came to mind because the Welsh mountains it illustrates came up in a recent conversation. I hope to visit Pen-y Fan in the Brecon Beacons again later this year – or if not that mountain, perhaps a less busy location nearby. The images and sound clip were originally posted in May 2016.

Original Brecon Road

The sounds in the clip below are classic for this mountain area, and that includes the voices of other people. Pen-y Fan, being the highest of the Brecon Beacons and fairly accessible, attracts a lot of visitors, both local and from further afield. Continue reading

Pen Allt-Mawr

Cwmdu Walk Part 3 – Reviewing the Walk

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.

track fence

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

makeshift gate

For the Love of Gates

On this last section of the third part of my walk above Cwmdu in Wales I had the enjoyment of going back through the gates I had passed through on my ascent of the valley – Cwm Sorgwm which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains.

gate

I am sure there must be psychological significance to my enjoyment of gates (symbolic opportunities perhaps?), but one thing seems sure – Continue reading

Welsh landscape

My Walk this Week – Cwmdu Walk Part 3

My walk this week shows the third and final section of my walk near Cwmdu which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales. The route, shortened due to lack of time as a result of StillWalks production work along the way, provided me with a steep descent back to the valley floor.

steep hillside footpath

Although the footpath was dry, it was still slippery with stones as will be evident in the soundscape to be posted later in the week. The hillside being steep meant that I had some great views Continue reading

Walking – Cwmdu Walk Part 2, Reviewing the Walk

The end of this middle section of my walk above Cwmdu on the hills between the Brecon beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales, showed me a path I could have taken.

Mynydd Llangorse

However, the pile or cairn of stones in the foreground above also marked the point at which I would leave this path and descend back down into the valley – Cwm Sorgwm. Continue reading

grass in the breeze

Following the Footpath

Once up on top of Mynydd Llangorse the footpath to follow was quite clear across the moorland on my StillWalks production walk above Cwmdu, which lies between the Brecon Beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales.

Mynydd Llangorse footpath

There were other people about – a couple of couples passed by and a group of hikers who were camping down by Llangorse Lake. Not so many people to stop me having the place to myself Continue reading

Brecon Beacons

Welsh Vista – Reviewing the Walk Part One

Reaching the shoulder between Mynydd Llangorse and Mynydd Troed on my walk this week, gave me wonderful views of a welsh vista overlooking the pattern of fields an hedgerows towards the Brecon Beacons.

Welsh fields

I took a short rest at this point of my walk and absorbed the peaceful day – yes, peaceful in spite of all those international flights I mentioned in my previous post. Continue reading

Wild Welsh Ponies

Wild Welsh Ponies

My walk this week is from a production walk I did in June. In this first part of it I have been climbing up the Cwm Sorgwm valley above Cwmdu just below the Brecon Beacons, and enemy way I met not only cautious sheep (see previous post), but also some cautious wild Welsh ponies.

There was a whole herd of them and this include a number of foals. They were not the only ones being cautious – after all, mothers can be very protective and rightly so. Continue reading