dry grass

Low Flow and the Colour of Grass

The low flow of rivers and the colour of the grass has changed the landscape in the UK. Hosepipe bans are coming to the north and without sustained rainfall in the near future in the south, I can imagine that we will have them too.

low river

The river above is normally raging over the weir but with the reduced flow the soundscape is changed as well as the landscape. I haven’t produced a soundscape again this week butContinue reading

My Walk this Week – Parched Paths

My walk this week shows the changes that have taken place in this location since six weeks ago – the ground is now parched where it had been lush and green. The character of the landscape has changed and presents a greater sense of the mediterranean than Wales.

parched path

In Wales we say it either was, is, or is going to rain, and it is true that we get what some would say was more than our fair share of it. However, it is also true that we get dry spells (from time to time), but not usually with the heat that we have been experiencing all over Britain for a few weeks now.Continue reading

rusty fence

Local Viewpoint and Not Being Lost

I was asked twice on this walk if I was lost! I know the viewpoint well and the various routes to it but this was clearly not evident to those asking the question and I can only wonder what expression I had on my face to prompt it.

Local viewpoint

This viewpoint looks over my local landscape to the Loughor Estuary and the Gower Peninsula. As with the other local hills, it is a great place to climb to if you feel the need to rise above things rather than explore the more enclosed environment of the forest. 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

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

Cwmdu Walk Part 2

My Walk this Week – Cwmdu Walk Part Two

The second part of my circular walk from the valley above Cwmdu near Crickhowell in Wales, took me up to the top of Mynydd Llangorse.

rude sheep

En route I met a sheep that stuck its tongue out at me! Having climbed up the valley, Cwm Sorgwm, to the shoulder between Mynydd Troed and Mynydd Llangorse, I rested for a few moments before climbing the steep section up to what I thought was the top. 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