My short walk this week at Blaenige, near Cynwyl Elfed in Carmarthenshire was a mixture of snow, sunshine, wind and a brief spot of rain – in other words, typical for this part of the world. I had to take it carefully down the steep track but on the way I found some great views over the landscape as well as some attractive details in my closer surroundings.
Moving on with my city walk in Belfast I have returned to the River Lagan. There is no frost here as there was at the start of my walk higher up the river but that doesn’t mean the river is any less attractive or interesting.
The Lagan creates its own art in the reflected patterns of railings distorted by ripples or the mirror effect on twigs projecting out of the still water.
The location of this walk and the time of year (a mild winter in Middlesbrough) is the same as the pervious week’s daytime walk, but the sense of it is quite different at night. Once again this is not a StillWalks video, but I hope you can still enjoy listening to the soundscape while viewing the images.
Click the play button below and then the first thumbnail image to view the photos in sequence.
Night Walk Soundscape
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
The footbridge over Bluebell Beck where it feeds into Hemlington Lake has a great sound underfoot. Being a simple metal construction, it produces a kind of hollow echoing sound as you cross it. It is also a good place to stop, look at the details of the surrounding winter vegetation and watch birds approaching the bridge from further up the beck.
You can hear this sound below and again in this Sunday’s soundscape from part of the StillWalks sequence.
Footsteps on Footbridge
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
Walking round this suburban lake during the winter months can be very entertaining for many reasons. The main performers providing the entertainment are of course our feathered friends, the local avian residents. The variety of birds here may be common but are of no less interest for that.
Judging by the shot below it seems that size is relevant, with the small gulls waiting patiently and hopefully for a share of the fare on offer.
The entertainment is not only in the shape, colour and behaviour of the birds – it also comes in the form of sound. Listen to the sound clip below for a taste of the calls and conversations in the bird community at the lakeside.
Suburban Lakeside Birds
If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.
This visual evidence of the prevailing wind on the South Gower coast with its effect on the hawthorn trees produces wonderful natural sculptures typical of Britain’s coastline. There are probably not many trees like the hawthorn or blackthorn with their ability to survive and thrive in the rugged conditions that come with the Autumn and Winter seasons here.
That’s not say that we have particularly harsh winters, but they still have to cope with the strong winds and sea salty air and I know plenty of other species of tree that do not welcome this sort of situation at all. I love these trees and I also love the equally hardy whin or gorse and, in this case, their silhouette against the dark grey horizon line of sea and sky.
On many of the walks I take I rarely see many other people – one or two at most. However, there is always evidence that others walk the same routes. In this case, apart from the fact that the footpath is well trodden anyway, there were cycle tracks, footprints, trampled mushrooms and the hoof prints of horses.
There are almost always the sounds of human activity in the background and this walk was no exception. The sound clip on this post has the sound of farm machinery in the background along with the twitter and caws of birds. The ambient sound is partly made up of the distant motorway but more noticeable is the constant “flicker” of the electricity pylons under which I was standing. And then there is a human/canine encounter as well.
Cefn Drum 4
This is not the first shot I have taken of this tree but that is, perhaps, hardly surprising – it is an obvious subject that, standing out against the skyline, almost begs to photographed.
As I approached the top of the hill my walk seemed directed by the tree which appears from this angle to be pointing the way to the cairn in the distance. On the way back down it also seems to be pointing the way whereas unreality it is just telling us the direction of the prevailing wind.
Cefn Drum 3
Click on the first thumbnail to view larger and in sequence – you can listen to the sound clip above at the same time. It’s the same clip I posted yesterday but as it represents the same section of the walk I thought it the best one to use.
