Weobley Walkers

Posted on 21/05/201620/05/2016 by Alastair

Towards the end of our Taste of Gower circular walk at Weobley Castle on the Gower we had one last area of open field to cross before the incline back up to the castle.

My parents used to go on many walks with a group that called themselves jokingly “The Wobbly Walkers”. This was a reference to their average age I guess, but the group of walkers at Weobley Castle, which could perhaps be called the Weobley Walkers, has quite a wide age range, with people joining in from many different walking clubs and other community groups of people sometimes described as “hard to reach”.

The Taste of Gower programme of walks organised by Steve Lancey from the Gower Landscape Partnership and Mike Aspland, has done an excellent job of encouraging people to get out and explore a part of the Swansea area in South Wales that, though well known, can be hard to reach for some people. To this end there is also an excellent bus service that is specifically aimed at enabling access to this Area of Natural Beauty (AoNB) and its Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as well as encouraging walking, cycling, etc. in other areas of Swansea Bay.

My Walk this Week – Bay Campus

Posted on 02/05/201623/04/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week took me round Swansea University’s new Bay Campus on the seafront along the eastern approach to Swansea. It was a sunny(ish) Saturday morning and the place was fairly quiet. As I strolled through the large open spaces between the buildings I thought “this is very nice and new in the sunshine, but they’re not going to like it much when the bad weather blows in!”

I started my photography of the walk on the seaward side of the campus and found, down on the beach looking out across Continue reading→

Canal People

Posted on 16/03/201616/03/2016 by Alastair

There are many people that use Swansea Canal – perhaps not on the canal itself, but alongside it on the towpath. Walkers, joggers and cyclists – adults and children alike enjoy many aspects of the canal. And then of course there are the birds, ducks, dogs and cats and no doubt a million insects too.

The Swansea Canal Society clearly do an excellent job of taking care of the canal as well as restoring it where possible.

At this point on my walk this week, I was passing Coed Gwilym Park. The canal has left the industrial area of Clydach with The Mond Nickel Works and is heading up the valley towards Pontardawe. The houses and gardens have changed, Spring is starting to show and the canal society is advertising itself and looking for new members.

Canal Sounds

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

The Textures of Swansea Canal

Posted on 15/03/201615/03/2016 by Alastair

From liquid smooth through crusty and tatty to razor sharp, the range of textures I spotted on my walk along Swansea canal was wide, to say nothing of the colour and pattern, light and shade that created a natural art exhibition for me.

The water of the canal may have reflected the colour in the sky on this beautiful morning, but it certainly did not reflect the texture of the barbed wire fence round the Mond Nickel Works.

And there was pattern to be seen in the reflection of light from the water under one of the bridges and a very crusty texture on the pipe structures also crossing the canal.

My Walk this Week – Along the Canal

Posted on 14/03/201614/03/2016 by Alastair

Since visiting various sections of Swansea Canal a couple of years ago, I have meant to return to the section which runs through Clydach, just a few miles from Swansea in South Wales. Finally getting a convenient opportunity, I took one of my cameras and my small recorder and though of my walk as a recce for a StillWalks production in the future.

My walk this week illustrates this recce walk – where necessary I used my iPhone with its wider angle lens.

The walk starts by the canal where it meets a loop of the River Tawe. However, the first shot below shows the water of the canal flowing into the Clydach river before it joins the Tawe on the other side of the canal and flows on down to Swansea.

Closing Weather

Posted on 03/03/201603/03/2016 by Alastair

My optimism for a bright day at the start of this hill walk up Graig Fawr meant I was taken by surprise when, as I arrived on the upper reaches of the hill, snow started falling behind me from the west.

I turned to see the clouds fast approaching and the whole atmosphere of the landscape changed. Fortunately it didn’t last long, but even so, I was reminded that this is what you have to watch out for in a landscape like this.

The Mawr uplands may not be very high or large in scale in comparison to many other places, but that does not mean you can’t get disorientated. However well I think I know the place, I would always treat it with respect. It was on a bright sunny day in Summer when I misread the landmarks up here. This didn’t cause a problem but it did mean that we took a different route to that intended.

My nearest landmark, in the form of the triangulation point, was in view through the snow and as it turned out, I only had to wait ten minutes for the sun to came out again and allow me to view the falling rain on the far side of Cwm Dulais.

Icons of the Hill and some Pronunciation

Posted on 01/03/201601/03/2016 by Alastair

Graig Fawr (pronounced Grige (with both “g”s hard) and Vower (as in power) and translates from the Welsh, more or less, as “big rock”)) . . . and before I forget, Happy St David’s Day from Wales 🙂

My walk up Graig Fawr soon brought me to a few things that seem to me to typify this particular area of my local uplands, the western edge of The Mawr (remember the “Fawr” pronunciation), the upland area north of Swansea.

One is the solitary tree and another is the bracken. There are large areas of bracken on the side of Graig Fawr and its companion hill, Cefn Drum (pronounced with a hard “C” and the “f” as a “v” and Drum is pronounced Drim). The colours and textures of the bracken are always there and now and then you will spot a single small tree growing out of its midst.

I have taken a number of photographs of these “icons” in different conditions and certainly the light is always different, but today the bracken had a particularly strong red tinge to its brown in some areas where it lay with the morning frost gradually thawing.

And then there was this water system manhole! I am not sure what the underground workings of this system are, but this access point with the slab of concrete and a glass jar laying on top of it and the concrete signage made me think of a grave with its headstone and the last flowers that were left in a jar, now disappeared.

Recognition

Posted on 18/02/201618/02/2016 by Alastair

The word “recognition” has two senses to it and they are both relevant to this post and my walk through Swansea Marina. Firstly, I recognise, in particular the old pump house on the left, the Seamen’s Chapel (Mission Gallery – see below) on the right and, most significantly to me, the building in which my wife and I had a studio which looked out over the marina as it changed from disused docks to the flourishing Maritime Quarter.

My wife, Ceramic Artist Julie Brunskill, will be Maker in Focus at the Mission Gallery from Tuesday 23rd February – 2nd April. Don’t miss it!

Recognition can also mean an acknowledgement of remembrance and in the photos below you will see black flags flying from some of the boats. Their ragged appearance has a haunting effect in amongst all the masts and rigging. My assumption is that they were there in recognition of David Bowie’s death a week earlier. That was just over a month ago now – R.I.P. David Bowie, I have enjoyed your music throughout my life.

Tag Archives: Swansea