On my walk in the woods this week I took a route I have not followed for a long time. I must have known that this weird old rusty abandoned pipe and the farm equipment was there because it has clearly been there for a long time – I guess I’d just forgotten.
Arriving at The Waterside on my walk this week, the rain was coming down but I had managed to do my photography and field recording mostly without it. I was met by a couple of curious alpacas who were also getting wet but as they and I were reasonably protected by suitable clothing, it was not a big problem.
Not only did I enjoy my walk, I then followed it up with good company and a productive day’s creative conversation at The Waterside.
Nearing The Waterside on my walk this week I have arrived at the cascade construction down which the water from a bygone reservoir tumbles and flows. Emerging from a tunnel which would once have been below a dam wall the river flows through the woodland valley on its route down to join the River Lliw.
The Afon Lliw starts in the same area – the uplands north of Swansea known as The Mawr – and is a part of our locality that I love. I produced video of a project a couple of years ago where local school children followed and researched the Lliw from source to sea – you can see the various video chapters here.
Moving on up the lane approaching The Waterside on my walk this week the winter bareness of the trees revealed the natural fractal growth of their branches against the sky. This first image can also be see in full black and white on Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness MM 3-41 blog post.
My walk this week is at a place I have walked at and posted about on a few occasions but until now I have not taken a closer look (and listen) at the the approach to the The Waterside.
Starting just above the school, the lane that leads up to the lakeside where the facilities are in which creative thinking can take place, the wooded valley, while bare of leaves at this time of year, is still green with moss and the damp atmosphere on a day heavy and dark with rain.
My walk this week has been along a very straight footpath that also doubles as a cycle path. I used to cycle a lot but my preference now is for walking – both are excellent forms of exercise and both give you more time and peace to enjoy the sights and sounds of your surroundings so I heartily recommend them to everyone as a means of maintaining health and wellbeing.
My walk this week was longer than I had originally intended and I think that is partly the result of the straight path I was on. Even where the path was not straight, the bend was long and gentle and my memory of it from a number of years ago was not clear enough for me not to want to see round the bend. The result was that the sun was pretty low in the sky on my return.
Along the way of my walk this week in shade from the morning sun, the temperature was still low with some of the plants on top of this old yellow brick moss covered bridge displaying a rim of frost around their edges.
