sheep and frost

Open Landscape and Under Cover

Reaching the highest point on my walk this week allowed me to look out across the open landscape to towards the Gower Peninsula. Every time I stand in this spot I take a couple of photos and on this occasion I was also tempted by the rising sunlight and pale frost covered fields to capture the fence heading off in perspective to be silhouetted against the sky.

Open perspective

Heading back under cover of the woodland my aural experience was still and peaceful and I tried to keep it that way by taking careful footsteps on the soft ground – not so easy when the ground is covered in crisp leaves from Autumn, but straightforward enough when on the thick carpet of pine needles and moss. Tomorrow I’ll post my short soundscape for the walk.

bracken detail

The Density of Bracken

The density of the bracken on the steep hillside down which I was climbing cautiously, is common on the open commons of the Welsh landscape. While bright green in the Spring and Summer, it changes the hills to bright red in the Autumn when the light is right.

Beneath the bracken

We are having August weather this year as if we were already in Autumn and the bracken is now beginning to change colour. However, it was still bright and thick on this walk back at the end of June. My poor knees were aching from the steep descent (I much prefer climbing) and I had to sit down to give them a break half way down the slope. Continue reading

Walking – Cwmdu Walk Part 2, Reviewing the Walk

The end of this middle section of my walk above Cwmdu on the hills between the Brecon beacons and The Black Mountains in Wales, showed me a path I could have taken.

Mynydd Llangorse

However, the pile or cairn of stones in the foreground above also marked the point at which I would leave this path and descend back down into the valley – Cwm Sorgwm. Continue reading

Cwmdu Walk Part 2

My Walk this Week – Cwmdu Walk Part Two

The second part of my circular walk from the valley above Cwmdu near Crickhowell in Wales, took me up to the top of Mynydd Llangorse.

rude sheep

En route I met a sheep that stuck its tongue out at me! Having climbed up the valley, Cwm Sorgwm, to the shoulder between Mynydd Troed and Mynydd Llangorse, I rested for a few moments before climbing the steep section up to what I thought was the top. Continue reading

thistles

Colour in the Valley and Some Cautious Sheep

Colour and sheep were significant features of this first part of my Cwmdu walk up Cwm Sorgwm between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains in Wales.

Gate and foxgloves

The colour was largely the vast array of greens common to the Welsh countryside and hills, but also other colours such as the purples of thistles and foxgloves. The sheep too,Continue reading

Following the Wind – Reviewing the Walk

water falling over weir

On this walk I was following the wind and focused more on that than anything else. The soundscape below along with the images will hopefully help you to accompany me on this walk during that day of Storm Doris.

I ended the documentation of the walk at the weir on the Afon Dulais river where the roar of water collected by the river overnight overwhelmed any amount of noise the wind was making.

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Rising Wind

hilltop view of 11 arched bridge

Rising slightly higher on my third walk up above the valley I began to get better views across the estuary. As this was the day of Storm Doris (Doris Day!), the wind was also rising or at least it sounded like it was.

The trees clustered round the phone mast on the top of Goppa hill are mostly coniferous and I have noted in the past that a different sound is created by the wind blowing through these rather than deciduous, broad leaved trees.

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My Walk this Week – Valley Walks 3, Storm Doris

Trees in wind

My walk this week is the third of my walks on consecutive days in my local valley, Cwm Dulais. Where the previous day was misty, this walk was windy – in fact I did this walk on the day of Storm Doris. We did not have the strength of wind that some other parts of the country received but it was notable all the same.

The most interesting aspect of the walk was the sound and how it changed at different stages of the walk – see (listen) below.

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