Footsteps on the Boardwalk

This week’s featured StillWalks video is “Winter Lakeside Walk”. It shows Llyn Llech Owain Country Park in Carmarthenshire, SW Wales. The video was produced last Winter. This year we have not had any cold weather (yet) and so I have not been able to enjoy the sound of my footsteps on the creaking boardwalk as it shifts on its struts in the frozen water in the marshes around the lake . . . but you can hear those sounds in this video.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Winter Lakeside Walk” which features Llyn Llech Owain Country Park in Carmartheshire. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Posts in the Lake

There are posts . . . and then there are posts. Today’s post is about the posts in Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough, NE England.

Unfortunately there is not a lot I can say about them as I don’t know why they are there. I assume they are the remnants of some past structure such as a platform. There are other fishing platforms around the lake as can be seen in this week’s featured StillWalks video – but in the end, your guess is as good as mine. If anyone does know why they are there, please let me know in the comments.

Hemlington Lake

Hemlington Lake

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Facing Into the Wind

Can anyone tell me if this is something ducks do instinctively? Facing into the wind suggests a desire or need to reduce wind resistance, but considering there are plenty of places on Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough, that they could shelter, why not make use of them rather than facing into the wind?

I suppose they might just not want their feathers ruffled – due to a sense of style?!

 

Ducks on Hemlington Lake

Swans on Hemlington Lake

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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It was a wild and windy day . . .

. . . and it had been a dark and stormy night! But it wasn’t actually rainy when I finally went for a much needed walk around Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day. I did two circuits because one was just not enough and was lucky to get back to my inlaws’ house in the nick of time without getting wet.

I had brought my cameras with me but had not taken them out on the walk and so relied on my iPhone 5c yet again. Watch this week’s featured StillWalks video below to see what the place is like in better weather (albeit Winter).

Hemlington Lake

Hemlington Lake

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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A Tale of Two Cities

Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day is the focus for this week’s posts. Last week I was looking at Belfast on Boxing Day and the lack of human activity there. Middlesbrough, on New Year’s Day, was quiet as well. Two reasons for this could be that people were recovering from the night’s festivities but the other is likely to have been the weather!

The weather on the first day of 2014 in the north east of England (if not the whole of the UK) was miserable, wet and windy. Flood warnings have been regular for many places at the end of one year and the start of the next and I feel sorry for all those who have suffered from these and the accompanying power cuts.

However, the photo below proves that it was not bad weather everywhere all of the time. The sunset reflected in the windows of Middlesbrough Town Hall as seen from MIMA on New Year’s Eve is evidence of that. Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is a fantastic bit of architecture and always has fascinating exhibitions – we make a point of visiting it each time we are staying in the area with family.

The current exhibition by local artist William Tillyer occupies both of MIMA’s main galleries and although there were only about half a dozen works that we personally liked, the whole exhibition was interesting with some of the works being visually quite deceptive. I am not allowed to show photos from the show but you can click the links above to find out more.

Middlesbrough Town Hall

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Autumn Lakeside

Some advance images from next week’s featured StillWalks video – “Autumn Lakeside Walk” from Gnoll Park, Neath, South Wales.

This is the last day for this week’s featured video “Quarry Walk – Autumn Rain”. You can see this at the bottom of this post.

Gnoll Park Lake 1

Gnoll Park Lake 2

Gnoll Park Lake 3

Gnoll Park Lake 6

You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video. Click the image below to watch the video.

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Lakeside Walk

Over the next week I am mostly going to be looking at the National Botanic Garden of Wales or to be more precise, the StillWalks I have produced there.

This is the first of a selection of nine images from the Lakeside Walk and is available through Photo Sales.

If you are not living in Wales, then this would be one amongst many reasons to visit. If you do live in Wales and have not yet visited the gardens, then it’s about time you did 😉

Lakeside Walk

Reflections on the Walk

Still reflecting on the Winter Lakeside Walk, here are two more images from Llyn Llech Owain. You can watch this StillWalk on the website.

How to pronounce Llyn Llech Owain . . . the double “Ll” at the start of Llyn and Llech is pronounced something like the Scottish “ch” in the word “loch”, but in Welsh it comes a bit more from the cheeks and with a lot more spit (saliva)! The “ch” at the end of Llech is pronounced like the Scottish “ch” in loch. In the word “Llyn”, the “yn” is pronounced “een” and in the word “Llech”, the “e” is pronounced “ay”. The name Owain is pronounced “Oh-wine” – Lleen Llaych Oh-wine.

Got all that? Have fun 🙂 If any Welsh out there feel I have got this wrong or can describe the pronunciation more clearly, I would be very happy to hear from you.

Reflections

Reflections

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