My Walk this Week 150 – Weathering at the Botanic Gardens

Posted on 15/03/201913/03/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is at the National Botanic Garden of Wales where there was some weathering they could not control. Outside the Great Glasshouse the sun and rain, heat and cold have taken their toll on this metal plant label and the paint has cracked and peeled into a most interesting, map-like pattern.

Inside the Great Glasshouse they can and do control the weather conditions for the different parts of the world represented there. So while there are times of year when everything in there seems so busy with growth, there are always fantastic colours, patterns and textures to enjoy whatever the time of year.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 148 – Summer in Winter on the South Coast

Posted on 01/03/201927/02/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week takes place on a Summer day in Winter on the south coast of England. It was mid-February but the temperature reached over 20 degrees celsius!

Staying overnight on the seafront in Worthing, we awoke to a beautiful, bright day and took time for a walk along the stony beach with its ageing, bleached wood groynes. The garish colours of a multi-storey car park on the road side were followed through and improvedContinue reading→

My Walk this Week 146 – Looking Back at the Mountains

Posted on 15/02/201921/02/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is one from the past and came to mind because the Welsh mountains it illustrates came up in a recent conversation. I hope to visit Pen-y Fan in the Brecon Beacons again later this year – or if not that mountain, perhaps a less busy location nearby. The images and sound clip were originally posted in May 2016.

The sounds in the clip below are classic for this mountain area, and that includes the voices of other people. Pen-y Fan, being the highest of the Brecon Beacons and fairly accessible, attracts a lot of visitors, both local and from further afield. Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 145 – West Wales Winter Wander

Posted on 08/02/201905/02/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is a Winter wander in the West Wales countryside around Narberth. There had been a layer of snow in the morning but by the time I was able to explore this footpath from the town, the sun had all but cleared it and the only evidence was a thin strip or two in the lee of lane-side hedges.

I have visited the attractive town of Narberth on a number of occasions and the purpose of going has mostly been to view the exhibitions held in the excellent Oriel Q Gallery in the Queens Hall. I had a small exhibition of my tapestry weaving there atContinue 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→

My Walk this Week 141 – Exploring Down from The Mawr

Posted on 11/01/201910/01/2019 by Alastair

On my walk this week I went exploring a footpath I have passed on top of The Mawr on many occasions but never stopped for a closer look – until now.

Looking across to the Gower Peninsula in the distance, I stood and enjoyed the wind as it gently swirled around me and brought the sound of skylarks to my ears. Setting off down an old moss covered farm track, it wasn’t longContinue reading→

My Walk this Week 140 – First Walk of the New Year

Posted on 04/01/201902/01/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is my first of 2019 and I realised, while walking, that my first walk of every year for the last 18 years or so has been this same walk. Normally it would be with my wife and we would be walking, rather than driving, because I would not have been driving on New Year’s Eve.

My wife didn’t have her walking shoes with her and although I was sorry not to walk with her at the start of the year, this did give me a better opportunity to stop and take photographs and do a little field recording, albeit on my phone.

It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and warm sun (for the time of year) but despite this I decided that some of the images should be monochrome.Continue reading→

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