My walk this week is one with winter frost and sunshine in abundance – it was very enjoyable. I did not have the inclination to climb on this particular morning and so took to the local park and from there headed down to the river. The tide was not high and there was little or no wind so the river Loughor and its marshy estuary were still and bright.
My walk this week features part of Carmarthen, a market town in West Wales. It is an attractive town with a reasonable connection to the arts through galleries and the College of Art (University of Wales Trinity Saint David – now there’s a mouthful!). There is a lot more to the town than I will be showing on this walk and I have posted in the past about walks along the river Towy on a couple of occasions, but the town is not large and has quite an intimate feel about it with various nooks and crannies to be found along the way.
While away over New Year I enjoyed an exploratory walk around York University campus. This isn’t the campus! I set out rather later in the afternoon than I had realised and it was only seeing how low the sun was in the sky as I walked towards the university that I realised the time.
The low light levels didn’t help my photography but there would be no point in presenting bright shots of a walk in dim light.
My walk this week is the same but different to one I posted about just a couple of weeks ago – I walked the same route but in reverse, starting where I finished previously. This is a simple technique commonly used to provide a different perspective on familiar things, but I am sure you will recognise some of the features.
There were other differences of course – this version of the walk took place on a bright frosty morning whereas previously the light had been more muted. Unfortunately I forgot the windshield for my Edirol sound recorder, so there will be less to a soundscape this time round. However, starting in the valley as I did, there was very little wind anyway.
Starting the Walk – Water and Gate
How early is early? For my walk this week along Aberavon seafront in south Wales, it seemed more like nigh time when I started out – it was certainly dark when I left the house but it wasn’t very early, about 7.45. That is perhaps to be expected at this time of year and I guess the murky weather I met with on arrival at the seafront could also be considered normal in this part of the world.
I wasn’t the only one about though, despite the dark sea fret covering the beach.
Seafret and Bird
My walk this week was not quite circular but the end point at then of this Cwm Dulais track is only a few hundred metres from my starting point for the walk.
Cwm Dulais track
My walk this week is a local circular walk and anyone living in the area should recognise just from the glimpse of the road sign in the first image, exactly where it is. The walk is a very enjoyable one that provides both exertion on the climb uphill and peace and tranquility in the valley return.
As with my StillWalks videos I have not identified where the walk is to anyone who doesn’t already know it because the location is not relevant. It is the sights and sounds and the signs of the season that I enjoy on my walks and in that respect this first post for my walk this week are the walls alongside the footpath that were of particular interest to me.
My walk this week is from a couple of weeks ago when I went to join in the Swansea Health and Wellbeing Walk on the seafront. Starting at the Junction Cafe at Blackpill, it was originally planned to walk to mumbles and back but for whatever reason the route was changed and we walked in the opposite direction dn headed for the 360 Beach and Watersports Centre instead.
It was a short walk, less than four miles there and back but plenty of people came along, some from the Taste of Gower walks but many more besides.
