Making Connections and Conversations

It could be said that the subject matter of the first two shots below is 1. the whin bush and 2. the grasses in the foreground. This would be a reasonable assumption as these items are in focus whilst the rest of the photo is not.

While this may be true, I think I would argue that if I was interested in taking photos of whin or grass, I could do a much more interesting job, perhaps looking at the sharp thorniness of the whin or the colours and patterns in the grasses.

However, the true subject matter is the story of my walk this week and the purpose of images like these within a sequence is to connect one aspect or stage of a walk with another. Having descended from the higher part of Graig Fawr, I am now approaching civilisation again and this can be seen by the blurred pattern of buildings at the foot of the hill. However, in my mind I am still with the natural landscape, the whin and the grasses and I am not yet ready to dive back into the everyday world of people and work.

A single elderly dog walker provides a gentle re-introduction to society with a brief conversation near the end of my walk about the weather – what else? Listen below.

Graig Fawr Walk-25

grass and trees

A Brief Conversation 

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Graig Fawr Walk-27

 

Observations On My Descent

The sun is back but it is not the only weather that is reflected on the back of this pony which is still wet from the recent snowfall.

Descending Graig Fawr on my return walk the rocks I photographed illustrate my new found knowledge of the geology of the area. Last week I posted photographs of rocks on Rhosilli Down at the end of the Gower Peninsula – and now I can post the photos below with a better understanding of why these show their strata pointing north, and those posted last week show theirs pointing south.

It all goes back 300 million years when the continents were getting squeezed . . . but if you want to know more I can recommend (again) the leaflets produced by Geraint Owen which are mostly available from local libraries or by visiting here and asking for them.

And if you are interested in knowing more still, I can recommend Jessica’s Nature Blog where she presents some wonderful photos and detailed information on the geology of areas of the Gower and Dorset.

pony

Closing Weather

My optimism for a bright day at the start of this hill walk up Graig Fawr meant I was taken by surprise when, as I arrived on the upper reaches of the hill, snow started falling behind me from the west.

I turned to see the clouds fast approaching and the whole atmosphere of the landscape changed. Fortunately it didn’t last long, but even so, I was reminded that this is what you have to watch out for in a landscape like this.

The Mawr uplands may not be very high or large in scale in comparison to many other places, but that does not mean you can’t get disorientated. However well I think I know the place, I would always treat it with respect. It was on a bright sunny day in Summer when I misread the landmarks up here. This didn’t cause a problem but it did mean that we took a different route to that intended.

My nearest landmark, in the form of the triangulation point, was in view through the snow and as it turned out, I only had to wait ten minutes for the sun to came out again and allow me to view the falling rain on the far side of Cwm Dulais.

snow cloud

Icons of the Hill and some Pronunciation

Graig Fawr (pronounced Grige (with both “g”s hard) and Vower (as in power) and translates from the Welsh, more or less, as “big rock”)) . . . and before I forget, Happy St David’s Day from Wales 🙂

My walk up Graig Fawr soon brought me to a few things that seem to me to typify this particular area of my local uplands, the western edge of The Mawr (remember the “Fawr” pronunciation), the upland area north of Swansea.

One is the solitary tree and another is the bracken. There are large areas of bracken on the side of Graig Fawr and its companion hill, Cefn Drum (pronounced with a hard “C” and the “f” as a “v” and Drum is pronounced Drim). The colours and textures of the bracken are always there and now and then you will spot a single small tree growing out of its midst.

I have taken a number of photographs of these “icons” in different conditions and certainly the light is always different, but today the bracken had a particularly strong red tinge to its brown in some areas where it lay with the morning frost gradually thawing.

bare Graig Fawr tree

bracken

And then there was this water system manhole! I am not sure what the underground workings of this system are, but this access point with the slab of concrete and a glass jar laying on top of it and the concrete signage made me think of a grave with its headstone and the last flowers that were left in a jar, now disappeared.

Graig Fawr manhole

Rhosilli Down and Reviewing the Week 59

My walk this week along the ridge of Rhosilli Down at the end of the Gower Peninsula started with a beautiful February day. In spite of the falling rain to be seen in the image below, the weather mostly held bright for me and the walk, aside from a painful descent at the end, was very enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

If your knees, like mine, warn you against it, then I suggest a flatter walk out to the end of the peninsula for a closer look at the Worm’s Head and a more distant look at the Down. You may be able to watch the hang gliders and birds soaring above the hill slope and beach.

In the meantime, listen to the soundscape below and click the first thumbnail image below to view a selection of this weeks walk photos in sequence.

Rain clouds

The soundscape below is, I feel, a little condensed but illustrates the changes in wind, the activities in the sky and the ground underfoot. I expect the StillWalks video to be about twice the length and therefore I will have a bit more flexibility with soundscape for it.

Rhosilli Down Soundscape

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Clinging to the Cliffs

Approaching the steep descent to Rhosilli from up on Rhosilli Down and towards the end of my walk this week on the Gower Peninsula, my knees had just about had enough for the day.

The views had been and still were spectacular but the height I had to climb down from can be seen in the footpath photo below. That is not the path that I would follow as that one descends right down to the beach and Rhosilli itself is at the top of the cliffs from which that path clings. However, the way for me would still be steep and my knees had decided to complain.

I postponed the inevitable and took some more shots of the wall and fence near the start of the downhill track and the distant threatening weather (see tomorrow). Finally, though, I plucked up the courage and began literally inching my way painfully down the slope. My only other option would have been to call for a helicopter and things weren’t so bad to tempt me to suffer that embarrassment.

I reached the bottom eventually and after returning home, spent the next couple of days with my feet up! This is not something that often happens to me but for whatever reason, occasionally my knees protest. Certainly I have always preferred ascent to descent.

Cliff footpath

The wind was quite calm at this point on my walk and so the sound clip below is mostly the continuous motion of the sea. The sound is not rhythmical as you might expect of waves, but it is quite distinct from the sound of the wind.

Sound of the Sea

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Rhosilli Bay

The turning point for my walk along the ridge of Rhosilli Down was a promontory at the western end from which a spectacular view across Rhosilli Bay towards Tenby which was well and truly hidden in the haze – a haze which was fast becoming mist.

It was a good spot to stop and eat my sandwiches and the sounds of wind and sea were only disturbed by a jet fighter on exercise against the horizon – listen to the sound clips below.

Rhosilli Bay

Rhosilli Bay

Blustery Wind

Walking and Flying

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Rhosilli Bay aircraft

Rocks in the Landscape

From this viewpoint on my walk over Rhosilli Down at the end of the Gower Peninsula, I wouldn’t need to do much by way of camouflage to hide the houses of Llangennith, as they already appear to fit so well with the rocks in the landscape.

I recently attended a talk at our local library by Geraint Owen of the geography department at Swansea University. It was a fascinating illustrated talk about the geology of our local area and so I now understand the reasons behind the forms of the rocks in the outcrops in the last couple of photos below.

I am not going to go into the details of this geology but Geraint and his associate Siwan Davies have developed a series of 10 wonderful walking leaflets featuring details of walks and the local geology. Unfortunately a direct link to the website currently reveals it to be under construction, but at least it gives contact details.

Llangennith from Rhosilli Down

There is a fair wind blowing in the sound clip below. The background sound of surf in the sea mingles with it but none of that stops the skylarks singing and there are not in my opinion, many sounds more uplifting than an lark.

Wind, Sea and Larks

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