Icons of the Hill and some Pronunciation

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.

bare Graig Fawr tree

bracken

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.

Graig Fawr manhole

Lonesome Tree Pointing The Way

This is not the first shot I have taken of this tree but that is, perhaps, hardly surprising – it is an obvious subject that, standing out against the skyline, almost begs to photographed.

As I approached the top of the hill my walk seemed directed by the tree which appears from this angle to be pointing the way to the cairn in the distance. On the way back down it also seems to be pointing the way whereas unreality it is just telling us the direction of the prevailing wind.

Cefn Drum 3

Cefn Drum 3

Click on the first thumbnail to view larger and in sequence – you can listen to the sound clip above at the same time. It’s the same clip I posted yesterday but as it represents the same section of the walk I thought it the best one to use.

lone tree

Tree and Lake

Two alternative crops of one of the images from the StillWalks video “Winter Lakeside Walk” (see below).

tree and lake

tree and lake

Another from the Garden – Amelanchier

This and yesterday’s photo were actually taken two weeks ago just before we went away for a break. We were hoping that they would still be here for us when we got back. The Cherry and the Amelanchier have got to be two of our favourites in the garden!

Amelanchier

Gnarled and Knuckled – The Determination of Trees

Trees amaze me sometimes with their determination to grow. So often I have seen fallen trees carry on growing regardless. This tree appears to be suffering from arthritis with bones and joints sticking out at awkward angles.

For all I love trees, I am not one to personalise or humanise them, but despite the strange growth patterns on this birch, I do not think it appears uncomfortable in its crooked shape. It seems to have been determined to grow enough to be able to see over those in front of it to the view over the Loughor Estuary and the Gower Peninsula.

Birch tree on Graig Fawr

Birch tree on Graig Fawr

Twisted Birch tree trunk

This week’s featured StillWalks video shows another representation of the woods in the previous featured video – the woods at Fforest in a snowy Winter.

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 – “Forest Walk – Summer” which is at Fforest, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Blown in the Wind

I love this tree! Blown in the wind and standing at one end of the “Show Field” by the marshes near Pontarddulais in South Wales, it is on the route of one of my regular and much loved walks.

Hendy is in the background, just across the other side of the Loughor Estuary. From another angle you could see Graig Fawr but the tree would not have this shape. To see the view of this landscape from Graig Fawr, visit the post from a few days ago – “Looking Over the Landscape”.

The photos were taken and edited on my iPhone using PhotoShop Express with some final adjustments in Adobe Lightroom. Click the images to enlarge.

Pontarddulais Tree

wind blown Tree

Wind blown tree - blue

This week’s featured StillWalks video started out as an experiment to see if I could produce an acceptable video using only my iPhone 4s to take the photos and record the sound. Here is the result – Forest Walk – Summer”

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 – “Forest Walk – Summer” which is at Fforest, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Twisted Details – Oak Trees After Autumn

Zooming in from the Welsh landscape overview in my previous post, I can reveal some of the twisted details of our local park. The oak trees of Coedbach Park in Pontarddulais, are wonderful in all seasons, but when the leaves are gone they truly reveal their twisted, crooked forms.

Twisted Oak Trees

Photo taken on my iPhone 5c. Click the photo to enlarge.

This week’s featured StillWalks video started out as an experiment to see if I could produce an acceptable video using only my iPhone 4s to take the photos and record the sound. Here is the result – Forest Walk – Summer”

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 – “Forest Walk – Summer” which is at Fforest, Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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