Tag Archives: North Wales

Running into the wind

My Walk this Week 205 – Memories of North Wales

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My walk this week is from the archives with memories of North Wales and a windy visit to Colwyn Bay.

Paraglider and rainbow

Some were taking advantage of the wind in a colourful way and the sky just wanted to join in by throwing out a rainbow to accompany the wind surfing paraglider, while other like myself were getting rather more battered by it. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable walk and thrilling to be entertained by those men and their “flying machines”.

The patterns and colours of sand and wind, rust and fencing, waves and water effects in what appears to have been a changeable day are a good reminder of the experience. The soundscape also serves as an excellent transportation device to take me back there with the images – I can almost feel and smell the sea spray!

Colwyn Bay Soundscape

The soundscape media player does not show on the WordPress Reader, please visit the website to listen to the soundscape and look at the images at the same time.

Colwyn Bay and pier
Colwyn Bay and pier
Colwyn Bay Pier
Colwyn Bay Pier
Crossing to the sea
Crossing to the sea
Colwyn Bay fencing
Colwyn Bay fencing
fence reflections
Colwyn Bay Reflections
Seaweed on fence
Seaweed on fence
Fence focus 2
Fence focus 2
Colwyn Bay Crustaceans
Colwyn Bay Crustaceans
Under the pier
Under the pier
sand patterns
sand patterns
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay
Paragliders
Paragliders
Paragliders
Paragliders
Paraglider and rainbow
Colours in the Sky
Paragliders in the surf
Paragliders in the surf
Wild and Windy
Wild and Windy
Dark Sea and Weathered Fence
Dark Sea and Weathered Fence
Running into the wind
Running into the wind
Wind blown sand
Wind blown sand
Sand Drift
Sand Drift
Sand Haze
Sand Haze
Pier Structure
Pier Structure

Leaving the Beach and Reviewing the Walk

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Reviewing my walk this week I realise that the railway line running across this bridge separates not only the beach from the town, but also something of the wind as well. The beach at Colwyn Bay in North Wales is a wide open expanse across which the wind can blow unimpeded until it reaches the railway embankment above the promenade. However, this barrier does not run the full length of the bay by any means and so I imagine, like Swansea’s seafront in the south of the country, the sand gets blown far into the streets nearby.

The soundscape below illustrates the point at which the wind starts blowing – just as I cross the road to the promenade at the pedestrian crossing. My favourite sound in this soundscape is towards the end – the rhythmic rattle of metal on metal in the wind before I return to the road.

Leaving the beach

Leaving the beach

Colwyn Bay Soundscape

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Glimpse of the bay
Running into the wind
Crossing to the sea
Colours in the Sky
Paragliders in the surf
Paragliders
Wild and Windy
Looking out to sea
Wind blown sand
Sand Drift
Sand Haze
Sand and Tide
Dark Sea and Weathered Fence
Pier Structure

My Walk this Week – Windy Day in Colwyn Bay

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My walk this week takes me back a couple of months to a working visit to Colwyn Bay on the north coast of Wales. It was a fresh Spring day and the wind was blowing strong. I think the image below describes the conditions perfectly.

Whether or not I develop a StillWalks video from all the material I recorded on this short walk along the beach remains to be seen. If I do, it will not be one of the relaxing ones – more invigorating I think!

The off shore wind farm seen on the horizon of the first shot below is an interesting feature, sometimes there and sometimes not! Depending on the light (constantly changing on this particular day), the turbines can become almost completely invisible or present complex repeating patterns as they shine with reflected sunlight.

Running into the wind

Running into the wind

Windy Day in Colwyn Bay

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Abstract Concrete
Glimpse of the bay
Running into the wind
Crossing to the sea

Reviewing the Walk – Snowdonia Recce

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This was one of my last views on my recce walk through the Lledr Valley in Snowdonia, North Wales. I didn’t manage to do any field recording on this walk so I am afraid there is no soundscape again this week, but a sequence of selected photos from through the week can be viewed below.

Lledr Valley Mist

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Downhill Through the Woods

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Returning to the car on my recce walk this week took me through a section of pinewoods and is not the planned return route for the production walk I hope to do next week. See the event on the website for details of the walk if you are going to be in the area.

Lledr Valley Forest

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The Route to Come

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These three photos were taken at the end of my recce walk in the Lledr Valley in Snowdonia, North Wales. They were all taken on my iPhone but I can’t remember why! I processed the second shot in monochrome because it seemed to better represent the wildness of the place as I perceived it in the worsening weather.

Lledr Valley, Snowdonia

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Vague Vista

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As I climbed above the valley floor along a moss-lined lane, it would have been good to get a better view of the distant mountains around Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. Alas, on a day such as this, that was never going to be possible.

Lledr Valley

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Arrivals from the Blackness

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Before climbing to a higher position on my walk this week in the Lledr Valley in North wales, I called into Pont-y-Pant station. This was prompted by the shot below and a sense of wonder at the effort and engineering that is required to create a tunnel through such solid material.

railway tunnel

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