My Walk this Week 254 – Changes

Posted on 23/04/202121/04/2021 by Alastair

My walk this week sees some changes to a local urban nature route I have not walked for a couple of years. In recent years there has been a tremendous amount of new house building going on in our area and so it was no surprise to find almost every last nook and cranny filled with new homes when I reached the top of a local hill where there had been a few plots still vacant at my last visit.

The climb up there is short but steep and I enjoy the vigorous energy needed to ascend at the start of the day as well as the views to be found along the way. Or at least that is what I thought! Not only has there been more building but also the fencing off of once open fields from which views in all directions were possible.

But the small wood with big trees is still there and the sound of birds at this time of year dominates everything else.

You cannot beat nature and why we try is beyond me! People do though – trying to tame and take control – but nature will always win out in the end and there is a good example of this below in the image of the tree having “eaten” the barbed wire of a fence.

But now I have a question – can anyone tell me what the species of almost luminous green moss / mould / fungi / lichen is on the old tree stump in image 8 below?

My Walk this Week 238 – Urban Lakeside

Posted on 26/12/202026/12/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is around an urban lakeside in a brief window of it not raining.

The clouds were threatening, or perhaps I should say promising, to rain – and of course they kept their promise, but not until after my walk.

I was going to say something here about Fendrod Lake in Swansea’s Enterprise Park, but hopefully the video and soundscape above and the images below will give all the information about the value of a place like this in an urban landscape.

It has certainly been valuable to me at this time of tier 4 Covid-19 lockdown just before Christmas. This time at the end of this year is very different to the norm and I am increasingly wondering if the whole thing is a natural warning to us from the planet to wise up and stop being so selfish. An attempt to get through to all of us that we are just a small part of the entire ecosystem and universe. It will be ourselves that we destroy, not the planet, if we carry on disregarding the myriad interconnections we have with all else on Earth and the cosmos. We affect everything and everything affects us. No matter how small or large, our actions individually and collectively have consequences and we had better take note.

OK, that’s the lecture finished – see and hear the sights and sounds both here and around you and enjoy the end of this year as much as you can.

My Walk this Week 229 – Making Use of Cwmdonkin Park Swansea

Posted on 23/10/202022/10/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is in Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea and the Autumn colours were starting to show. Many people were making use of the park on this sunny Sunday afternoon, not least because of impending tightening of coronavirus lockdown measures.

Cwmdonkin Autumn

The coronavirus lockdowns are taking their toll in many ways and most particularly on people’s mental health. It is hardly surprising that so many take the opportunity of a sunny day to get out to local urban oases such as Cwmdonkin Park. For some it is not so simple to get out and about, even without lockdowns, but maybe the short video below can help in some small way.

There is also a full StillWalks® Autumn video on the StillWalks home page if you are interested.

My Walk this week 189 – First of the Decade

Posted on 10/01/202003/02/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week was taken on the first day of January, 2020, and therefore my first of a new year and decade. Being very familiar with the place and the featured suburban lake, I knew that towards the end of a clear day the sun would be low and creating a beautiful, if cold, atmosphere.

The walk was part of a shorter than usual visit to family and I had not brought any of my kit with me – not even my laptop! Both the photos and the sound recording were therefore made on my iPhone. Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 174 – Roath Remembered

Posted on 30/08/201928/08/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is another recap – a September walk round Roath Park in Cardiff in 2016. It is a popular park for humans, dogs and a multitude of birds of many different varieties. Although the shot below is of ordinary pigeons (they are interesting creatures in their own right) the view of them all lined up like spectators on top of the curved fence demanded that I photograph them.

I can’t remember why I was in Cardiff but I can clearly remember being in the park and enjoying the surrounding sights and sounds and the activities of people and birds alike.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 162 – Hampton Court Gardens

Posted on 07/06/201906/06/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week takes an informal look at what would often be described as the formal gardens of Hampton Court. The gardens behind Hampton Court Palace are indeed formal and you only need to look at Google Maps to see that formality of design.

But the Wilderness Garden (above) and the Rose Garden also have a formal layout – it’s just not as noticeable when you look at the individual plants and flowers.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 140 – First Walk of the New Year

Posted on 04/01/201902/01/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week is my first of 2019 and I realised, while walking, that my first walk of every year for the last 18 years or so has been this same walk. Normally it would be with my wife and we would be walking, rather than driving, because I would not have been driving on New Year’s Eve.

My wife didn’t have her walking shoes with her and although I was sorry not to walk with her at the start of the year, this did give me a better opportunity to stop and take photographs and do a little field recording, albeit on my phone.

It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and warm sun (for the time of year) but despite this I decided that some of the images should be monochrome.Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 136 – London Embankment

Posted on 07/12/201804/12/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is along the London Embankment from Tate Britain to Tate Modern. The route is a melting pot of people from everywhere and a multitude of sounds ranging from the lapping of the River Thames following the passage of river boats, to music and talking and footsteps and skateboards and birds and more and more.

But the soundscape was not cacophonous, the streets and walk-ways were (mostly) not overcrowded. While I was amazed at the place, the people, the buildings, the river activity, I was not overwhelmed or oppressed by them. Continue reading→

Tag Archives: urban walks