My Walk this Week 256 – Going Up the Uplands

Posted on 07/05/202105/05/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week is up the uplands, or to give them their local name, The Mawr. I love The Mawr! It is an expansive area of moorland occupied by skylarks, pheasants and judging from this walk, badgers and / or foxes. I am sure there are many, many more creatures living there but one creature that is perhaps there in fewer numbers is human beings. That makes me sound anti-social I guess, but I’m not – perhaps I’m just greedy for space!

Twyn Tyle escarpment

For those locals that may be interested and are under the impression that the escarpment shown in the video above is part of Pontarddulais (or Bont) Mountain, I would like to correct the names being used for this element of our landscape. Thanks to a mistake by GoogleMaps, the names of this small mountain and the one next to it are incorrect. The mountain featured in the video is Twyn Tyle and the one becoming known as Bont Mountain is in fact named Cefn Drum. It seems that only the elders of our community know this but it is something GoogleMaps needs to fix – the names are correct on the Ordnance Survey maps. There now, that’s my short rant over.

I am sure you can see from the photos below what it is I love about this landscape. I am sorry there is no soundscape to accompany the images, but trust me, the sound was there – wind, skylarks, more wind, more skylarks . . . and so on 😉

My Walk this Week 170 – Wind on The Mawr

Posted on 02/08/201901/08/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is back up on top of The Mawr again – this time as a visit to the Awel Aman Tawe Community Wind Farm above Cwmgors. It was a beautiful day and the wind was blowing well, with the result that the turbine blades were turning fast and producing the electricity they were designed for.

This moorland is on the eastern edge The Mawr – in fact I am not even sure if it is considered part of that upland landscape! Whether it is or not, the scenery is beautiful with views over to Pen-y-Fan, the Brecon Beacons highest peak and a peacefulness most of the time that I have spoken of before.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 143 – Up Hill and Down Valley

Posted on 25/01/201924/01/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is another early morning one – the moon was setting as I left the house and as I climbed up hill, the sun was just beginning to show its colours reflected on the clouds. I was on this hill, Cefn Drum, last week but on this occasion I was walking in the opposite direction and returned along its opposite side, looking down on Cwm Dulais.

The day promised to be brighter than last week but the clouds kept intervening and the light kept changing accordingly. It was still a beautiful walk and I had not covered part of the route before. Having always looked at the rocky ridge of Twyn Tyle from the far side of the valley,Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 142 – Circular Hill Walk

Posted on 18/01/201914/01/2019 by Alastair

For my walk this week I started out early, when it was still quite dark, but this circular hill walk was really very enjoyable, even though the sun never managed to break through and the whole day was dim.

The day was just beginning for birds and builders alike and these start-of-the-day sounds accompanied me as I climbed Graig Fawr. Up on top the wind took over and gently buffeted me as I looked through the grasses and old brown bracken to the Loughor EstuaryContinue reading→

Lichen and a Dry Stone Wall

Posted on 14/02/201812/02/2018 by Alastair

Sheltering unsuccessfully from the bitter winter wind by a dry stone wall on the Swansea uplands I took a moment to admire the lichen and thought about how it looks as though someone has illustrated it in pen and ink.

I had been persuaded by a herd of cows to cut across the top of Mynydd Gelli instead of circumnavigating it at a lower contour.Continue reading→

Walking – Cwmdu Walk Part 2, Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 19/08/201712/08/2017 by Alastair

The end of this middle section of my walk above Cwmdu on the hills between the Brecon beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales, showed me a path I could have taken.

However, the pile or cairn of stones in the foreground above also marked the point at which I would leave this path and descend back down into the valley – Cwm Sorgwm. Continue reading→

Following the Footpath

Posted on 18/08/201712/08/2017 by Alastair

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.

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→

My Walk this Week – Weather on The Mawr

Posted on 27/03/201723/03/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week is on the Swansea Uplands again. The weather on The Mawr (pronounced the same as “power”) can be unpredictable, but at least you can be sure that it is unpredictable! Crossing the area on my way home from an unproductive production day, I stopped in a small lay-by and took a walk up the hill to my left. It wasn’t raining or snowing at the time – in fact it had cleared quite nicely and I could see a vague track going straight upwards towards a half hidden way marker.

Continue reading→

Tag Archives: moorland