My walk this week took me to the lower slopes of Cefn Drum where evidence of all the rain we have had recently was clearly to be seen with muddy ruts filled with flowing water.
Starting with a familiar gate and cattle grid, I followed some disgruntled sheep up the track and under the pylons to negotiate a route around deep wet ruts and puddles reflecting the cloud patterns of a clearing sky.Continue reading
On my recce walk this week on the marshes with other project workers, we were told that, basically, we would follow the creek. This turned out to be important!
The creek, although well hidden in the expanse of marshland, is still the only clearly identifiable feature – as long as you stay close to it.Continue reading
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.
To judge by my photos from my forest walks in April, the weather was good that month – at least some of the time. However, evidence both in the puddle below in which the trees are reflected, and the pattern of pine needles on the footpath in shot 3, would suggest that we had plenty of rain in April as well. The sunlight that is prompting the young fern to unfurl in shot 5 proves the advantage of having both light and water.
The puddle below tells the story of the weather and the long horned cows underneath the M4 motorway bridge know that story as well as the farmer and I do. Having constructed a coral for his cattle the farmer has given some convenient shelter to these mothers with their calves and allowed me to walk without fear of being pronged by one of those sharp looking objects.
The railway bridge which also crosses this footpath is made of older material than concrete and the various colours of the stone used create a fascinating pattern within pattern in the construction of the bridge. You will have to watch the video at the end of the week to see more.
Pools of light is a bit more poetic than puddles near Llanrhidian. Living at the northern most point of the Loughor Estuary in South Wales, I can travel up either side of the salt marshes that make up the estuary and get beautiful and spacious views across from either the Gower Peninsula on the eastern edge or the Carmarthenshire shore on the western edge.
I have heard that if any of the ponies that graze there are caught on the marshes when the tide comes in, they simply stand where they are until the tide goes out again because of the danger of falling into one of the gullies or holes.
This week’s featured StillWalks video is set a few weeks ahead of the current date in terms of the time of year but the flowers and activity of the birds celebrate the beautiful sunny weather of Spring with gusto and are a welcome change to the wild, wet and windy weather we had through Winter.
The video above is in 480p quality. You can use the Donate button below to pay however much you want and receive a high quality (720HD) download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Garden Park Walk – Spring” which features Clyne Gardens in Swansea, South Wales. Click the image above to watch the video. DVD Collections are also available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Winter Woodland Walk” which features woods in Forres, North East Scotland. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
The reflections in these puddles and the subject matter of the Cathays Cemetery made me think that while putting the blog posts together for this week, I have mostly been looking back, if only to Saturday – so now to look forward!
Despite the cold on Saturday, I really liked this cemetery and I hope that you can see from the previous images through the week, that it has many different aspects to it. I must visit again in the late Spring or Summer to enjoy it in better conditions.
Cathays Cemetery
Cathays Cemetery
Cathays Cemetery
On a different note – sometimes, as on this occasion, I compile a few posts all at the same time and scheduled them to go out through the week. It was been a pleasure to do so this time to the music of Carla Bley (have fun on her website :-)). Anyone else enjoy her music?