Water Under the Bridge

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.

cwm-dulais-16

Water Under the Bridge

A Different Landscape

Having climbed up from the beach via the sand buried steps (see below) on my walk this week at Aberavon, south Wales, I continued east along the promenade path and found a different landscape to that which I had been enjoying down on the sand. The sea fret had lifted slightly as evidenced by a clearer view of the cranes but turning round and looking inland, the mist was still hanging low over the hills and the light, or lack of it, was still apparent and somehow fitting for the old ruined wooden harbour wall and jetties.

old jetty

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Perspective on a Rusty Railing

Having descended from the hills on my walk this week, I came eventually to the River Dulais. The footbridge across the river at this point in the valley is not the most attractive of bridges, being more functional than decorative, but it still has an attraction for me and not least for the old  but solid rusty, mossy colour and texture.river railing

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Horsey Horsey

Climbing to the top of the hill on my walk this week the surface underfoot was stone at one of the steepest parts of the route. As the track is used frequently by horse riders, I have often wondered how the horses cope with this section as it can get slippery when wet (which is often the case in Wales!).

Having reached the top, the friendly horse that currently shares a field with a couple of donkeys, came over to greet me. I enjoy taking a short break in my walk up there where I can take in the landscape around me and it is good to have a quiet conversation with the horse – he really is a lovely animal!

flying mane

Wildness Becalmed

The wind that produced the wildness in the growth of this tree was becalmed on this day of our holiday in Scotland. The wild hawthorn trees that take this form are wonderful descriptions of the weather and the bleak looking hill in the background are not a place you would wish to be in foul weather.

But this day was completely still and everything in the landscape and seascape held a tranquility and peace that for all we knew could have been the precursor to a storm.

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