Walking To Fall Bay

Posted on 28/10/201528/10/2015 by Alastair

The Walking Forum Tastes of Gower walk at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsula took us round from the Worm’s Head to Fall Bay, a place I had not been to for many years. Being a beautiful day there were inevitably more people than us out for a walk, but even though I prefer a solitary walk to a group walk generally speaking, Fall Bay is secluded enough to enjoy in almost any circumstances.

The series of cliffs that form the south Gower coastline are particularly impressive at Fall Bay. This is enhanced by the fact that you can approach them from the seaward side as the land curves around towards the Worm’s Head which is behind us in this first photo.

Cliff Walk Views

Posted on 26/10/201526/10/2015 by Alastair

My posts this week are about a recent walk along the cliffs at the end of the Gower Peninsula. Gower Landscapes Partnership and Swansea Walking Forum have been organising a series of walks on the Gower peninsula this year. As a member of the Walking Forum I have been taking part in these Tastes of Gower walks. The most recent was at Rhosilli where the Worm’s Head spits out into the sea.

It was a very enjoyable walk on a beautiful day. Walking out from Rhosilli to the tip of the peninsula and the Worm’s Head, we had spectacular views from the cliffs over Rhosilli Bay. People and dogs on the beach looked smaller than ants!

We didn’t venture onto the Worm’s Head, though the tide times on that day would have allowed it. The tide times are shown on a large notice at the start of the path to the Head but despite this many people get caught out and end up stranded on the island. Many of these, so I am told, are from China and don’t speak English, yet it has not occurred to the Coast Guard that has top go and fetch them by boat, to put up a similar notice in Chinese (and other languages).

Cardiff Bay Walk and Reviewing the Week 42

Posted on 25/10/201525/10/2015 by Alastair

The fountains across the road from the Wales Millennium Centre were at the end of our walk along Cardiff Bay barrage.

Click the first thumbnail image below to view the photos from this week’s walk in sequence (plus a couple of extras).

Autumn Leaf and Reviewing the Week 41

Posted on 18/10/201518/10/2015 by Alastair

It seems the sweet chestnut is one of the trees that sheds its leaves earliest in Autumn. This one is on its way but the stage I like these leaves best, after they have fallen, is probably into the Spring when they have been lying on the ground for months and have gone thin and papery. Their structure breaks down and their colour becomes pale, almost bleached. I have photographed them like this in the past and you can see the results in one of my previous posts here.

Event, Horizon – Sunrise

Posted on 15/10/201515/10/2015 by Alastair

I don’t think this can be described as an event horizon, but it is definitely an event taking place on the horizon! Of course the actual light in the sky at this point (as in the previous post) is greater than is shown here but the photographs being somewhat underexposed represent more accurately the sense of drama, the emotion of the event as it happens in real life.

The horizon is that of Cefn Drum, one side of Cwmdulais, the small river valley just to the east and a tributary of the river Loughor. Cefn Drum and its neighbour Graig Fawr are two more walks I would count among my favourites in this area.

Almost There

Posted on 14/10/201514/10/2015 by Alastair

Almost there! No, I’m not talking about the imminent arrival of planes at Cardiff or London or wherever they are going – I’m talking about the sunrise which the passengers will have seen significantly before I did.

Early morning inbound flights can be quite a nuisance when field recording if you happen to be on one of the main flight paths for Wales and southern UK but I guess they are a fact of life these days. On this occasion they were not particularly noticeable and that would be due to some of the other sounds of the morning (traffic) and also the atmospheric conditions – wind direction etc. I never cease to marvel at the difference in the environmental sounds around me which are the result of different conditions from morning to morning.

On a positive note, the sketches on the sky drawn by the airplanes can bring something extra to a composition (disregarding the pollution of course).

Ghostly Mist and Trees

Posted on 13/10/201513/10/2015 by Alastair

Looking over my local South Wales landscape during my morning walk to the woods, the dawn light gradually brightens and the mist lying along the river Loughor gives the trees a ghostly appearance.

Dawn Walk

Posted on 12/10/201512/10/2015 by Alastair

During the nice weather at the end of September I made a point of going for a morning walk slightly earlier than usual in order to catch the rising sun. The sky was just beginning to lighten when I arrived at my viewing point and the atmosphere with the clouds and mist lying along the valley floor and amongst the trees was almost eerie.

Looking north up the river Loughor valley the distant Betws wind farm could be seen through a gap in the clouds while looking east across the valley the sun is clearly on its way as proven by the vapour trail glinting in the lightening sky.

You will also be able to see the second photo in monotone on Wednesday at Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post – Monochrome Madness 2-28

Tag Archives: landscape