Valley Walk 2 – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 11/03/201712/03/2017 by Alastair

Nearing the end of my walk this week, the second of my walks up Cwm Dulais on consecutive days, I am reminded how different this walk was to the one on the previous day (posted last week). I did not do any field recording on this occasion and so the soundscape below does not reflect the misty atmosphere. However, I didn’t want to leave without an aural experience so I have included an edit of another recent walk in the same place but on a much brighter day.

So remember, if you are listening to the sound file at the same time as viewing the images, the two environmental atmospheres are quite different.

Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Valley Walks 2

Posted on 06/03/201702/03/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week is the second of three valley walks I recently took along the same route up Cwm Dulais. Despite the walks being taken on three consecutive days, the experience was different each time, both visually and aurally.

It is not immediately obvious at this point on the walk that the weather was going to be as misty as it turned out to be. The clues are in the light and the globules of water on the grass in the last shot below.

Continue reading→

Woodland and The Waterside – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 11/02/201705/02/2017 by Alastair

Arriving at The Waterside on my walk this week, the rain was coming down but I had managed to do my photography and field recording mostly without it. I was met by a couple of curious alpacas who were also getting wet but as they and I were reasonably protected by suitable clothing, it was not a big problem.

Not only did I enjoy my walk, I then followed it up with good company and a productive day’s creative conversation at The Waterside.

Continue reading→

Natural Fractal Growth

Posted on 08/02/201704/02/2017 by Alastair

Moving on up the lane approaching The Waterside on my walk this week the winter bareness of the trees revealed the natural fractal growth of their branches against the sky. This first image can also be see in full black and white on Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness MM 3-41 blog post.

Continue reading→

Looking at the Landscape in March

Posted on 21/12/201617/12/2016 by Alastair

Back in March I was enjoying one of my many walks up through the forest and enjoying the sunny views up the valley at the foot of the forest and then again across the Welsh landscape to the Gower Peninsula from the hill at the top of the forest. No camera or sound kit with me, these shots were taken on my iPhone and it seems I did no sound recording there during that month, so no sound clip today.

Edge of the forest in March

View across fields to the Gower from the forest

View up the valley from the foot of the forest

Sheep in the Shade – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 04/12/201628/11/2016 by Alastair

At the end of my walk this week I found myself cold again. Unlike the sheep in the shade of this frosty field, I did not have a thick wooly coat but a few hundred yards earlier I had been hot in the sunshine on top of the hill.

Listen to the soundscape for the walk below and take a look at the image sequence at the same time – I hope find it different to the last time I walked this route in the opposite direction just a few weeks ago.

Continue reading→

Back on the Valley Floor – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 21/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

Back on the valley floor at the mountain centre above Corris where I started of my walk this week in the mountains of Wales, I am very pleased that I carried on in spite of the mist. I am not stupid when it comes to hiking in mountains and had it not been for the fact that I had a clear track to follow, I would have been very hesitant about carrying on when it was obvious that a thick(ish) mist was descending. I got my reward at the top though when the weather cleared.

I will eventually finish the StillWalks video for this walk but in the meantime you can Play the soundscape below and have a look through selected images from my posts this week.

Ty’n y Berth Mountain Centre

Misty Mountain Walk Soundscape

There is an interesting “tinkling” sound in this soundscape at around 3:15 – 3:30 minutes – can anybody guess what it is?

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

A style of gate

stone edge

old fence wire

Descending mist

mountain wildflowers

Mist and grass

Looking down through the mist

Clearing Cloud

Mountain track

Looking over the edge

Light and Shade

Misty Mountain Ridge

Evidence of Sheep

Sheep on mountainside

Valley floor

Evidence of Sheep

Posted on 20/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

You will find sheep on virtually any mountainside in Wales. There have been a few dotted about in the distance in my photos of my walk this week and one or two, along with their bleats, looming out of the mist. In reality there were plenty of them about and the photo below provides some evidence of this.