Standing at the water’s edge you get a different perspective on the patterns created by the rippling water and reflection of light.
Tag Archives: ripples
Perspectives Viewpoints and Angles
As I proceeded further along the beach towards Port Talbot on my walk this week, I became more and more excited by the patterns I was seeing. I kept walking backwards and forwards and around in circles to view the patterns of ridges and ripples in the sand from different angles, enjoying them from different viewpoints and finding new perspectives. As I said earlier in the week, I may be becoming obsessed with sand as a natural art form.
Sand Patterns
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Sand bank
Sand Patterns
Sand Patterns
Sand Patterns
Sand Patterns
Patterns in the Sand
I think this is a sand piper!? The name would be appropriate if only for the patterns and colouring of its feathers reflecting as they do, the patters on the beach.
You can see both these birds and the sand patterns on many beaches – I could say any beach but it wouldn’t be true. The patterns of ripple and flow on any part of any beach may have a similar structure but they are all quite unique and dependent on the local surroundings, weather conditions and so much more.
One of the things that appears to influence the patterns on the beach in front of Crymlyn Burrows in Swansea Bay are the sand banks that have built up and no doubt change continually.
Sand Piper
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Sand Piper
Sand Piper
Patterns of Natural Sand Art
The wind on my walk this week on the beach at Colwyn Bay had been going to town (so to speak and literally!) when it comes to creating patterns. Not just the wind of course – its take the combination of wind and sea to create these particular patterns. In the first image they appear to have been brushing each others hair while in the second there has been more apparent friction with the sand ripples developing a multitude of blisters
Sand Hair
Sand Blisters
Definition of Pattern
If the Swansea Uni students using the new Bay Campus have the chance to enjoy the beach in front of them, they will find, as I did on my walk this week, that some of the sand of the beach is made up of what appears to be old coal dust. This is entirely possible of course, given the industrial history of the area.
What I enjoyed about this aspect of the beach was the contrast in colour betweenContinue reading
Back at the Beginning
As I arrived back at the starting point of my walk this week along Swansea Canal, the patterns of rippling water again attracted my attention. I took more shots of them than this but have managed to refrain from posting them.
More images from this walk can be seen on Instagram and/or the StillWalks Facebook page and Twitter.
Spectating a Lock
Swansea Marina has two locks to allow boats access to both the River Tawe and the harbour entrance at the river mouth. Walking from one end to the other provides many opportunities to stop and gaze at the movement of lock gates, water, people and boats.
There is (must be) a patience in the people living here and using the the marina. Whether a walker or a sailor, if you are waiting to cross or go through the lock gates, the mechanism being heavy and slow to operate, means that time slows down and there is no option but to accept it.
The gulls in the last photograph below look as though they have mastered this patient outlook on life as they appear to spectate the relative inactivity in the marina on this day where the sheltered aspect of their position means the greatest movement is in the rhythmical ripples in the water.
Still with the Stillness
Walking on round the corner, away from the turbulence of flowing water in yesterday’s post, I arrived back in a place of stillness. The water was still flowing fast at the overflow to the lake at The Waterside, but the surface was smooth and the ripples clear – no leaping froth and foam here, even if it was just a few yards away.
This was a good place to end my walk and return to the warmth of the lakeside cabins for a coffee and a delicious bite to eat. Until the next First Friday (if not before), thanks very much to Sue and Steve Heatherington at The Waterside.
The full walk sequence and a soundscape will be on tomorrow’s post.
