After the Flood – A New StillWalks Video

Posted on 03/03/201403/03/2014 by Alastair

This winter in the UK brought wind and rain.

Again and again and again! We may now be coming out of that wild and windy season but many people are still suffering from the effects of all that water or fallen trees. I am sorry for those people but also glad we were not included amongst them.

StillWalks featured videos are back again this week with “City River Walk – After the Flood”. The city is York, the river is the Ouse and the time is April 2012. The Ouse regularly floods as a result of rain falling higher up the course of the river. I assume that the residents and businesses situated alongside it the river bank are suitably prepared for these events and have systems in place to deal with it.

However, it is when the unexpected occurs that tried and tested systems are put to the test and this Winter they were certainly tried and tested everywhere in the UK. Some systems were satisfactory . . . others were not!

This new StillWalks video will be here to view all week and will then be changed to sample length. I hope you enjoy it and comments are welcome.

You can use the Donate button below to help pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “City River Walk – After the Flood” which features York and the River Ouse. Click the image above to watch the video. DVD Collections are also available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

600 Miles and a Short Walk

Posted on 20/01/201420/01/2014 by Alastair

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from a place approximately 600 miles from where I live. So far, this winter has been very mild and wet in South West Wales. I imagine the season in Forres, North East Scotland, to have been more like that seen in the video.

The video features an area of woodland close to where my sister lives and the production for it was done on the only occasion I have been there (to date). I flew up with my eldest daughter for the funeral of Jane’s husband, Philip, who had had cancer. It was a sad occasion but I was pleased to be able to go and to see the area and wanted to take the opportunity to record something of it.

The video includes a shot of a Tree Creeper. It’s not a great shot but it was the only time I have actually seen the bird even though I know they are around in our own local woods.

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 – “Winter Woodland Walk” which features woods in Forres, North East Scotland. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

Fiery Sunset in Swansea Bay

Posted on 15/01/201415/01/2014 by Alastair

Following an enjoyable meeting of Swansea Walking Forum at the 360 Beach and Watersports Centre on Swansea Seafront last week, I came out of the centre to be greeted by this view. It almost seemed as if there was a huge fire in the distance.

A Comparison of Stones and Shells in Time

Posted on 13/01/201413/01/2014 by Alastair

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos from a similar position to the image you see below – Keeping Things in Perspective

Now, following the crazy weather and high tides that we have had in the south and west of the UK (to say nothing of the rest of the country), the landscape has been changed. The coast has seen massive stacks and arches disappear. Here in Swansea, the scene on the beach perhaps bears no comparison to those fallen stacks, but it is still notably different to that which I photographed a fortnight ago.

Hundreds of tons of stones now sit at the bottom of these steps where before there was a water filled trench. The solitary shell I photographed in the sand two weeks ago now has hundreds of companions.

Sorry to those who expect it but there is no featured StillWalks video this week. It will be back next week.

Facing Into the Wind

Posted on 10/01/201410/01/2014 by Alastair

Can anyone tell me if this is something ducks do instinctively? Facing into the wind suggests a desire or need to reduce wind resistance, but considering there are plenty of places on Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough, that they could shelter, why not make use of them rather than facing into the wind?

I suppose they might just not want their feathers ruffled – due to a sense of style?!

This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this 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 – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

It was a wild and windy day . . .

Posted on 08/01/201408/01/2014 by Alastair

. . . and it had been a dark and stormy night! But it wasn’t actually rainy when I finally went for a much needed walk around Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day. I did two circuits because one was just not enough and was lucky to get back to my inlaws’ house in the nick of time without getting wet.

I had brought my cameras with me but had not taken them out on the walk and so relied on my iPhone 5c yet again. Watch this week’s featured StillWalks video below to see what the place is like in better weather (albeit Winter).

A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on 06/01/201406/01/2014 by Alastair

Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day is the focus for this week’s posts. Last week I was looking at Belfast on Boxing Day and the lack of human activity there. Middlesbrough, on New Year’s Day, was quiet as well. Two reasons for this could be that people were recovering from the night’s festivities but the other is likely to have been the weather!

The weather on the first day of 2014 in the north east of England (if not the whole of the UK) was miserable, wet and windy. Flood warnings have been regular for many places at the end of one year and the start of the next and I feel sorry for all those who have suffered from these and the accompanying power cuts.

However, the photo below proves that it was not bad weather everywhere all of the time. The sunset reflected in the windows of Middlesbrough Town Hall as seen from MIMA on New Year’s Eve is evidence of that. Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is a fantastic bit of architecture and always has fascinating exhibitions – we make a point of visiting it each time we are staying in the area with family.

The current exhibition by local artist William Tillyer occupies both of MIMA’s main galleries and although there were only about half a dozen works that we personally liked, the whole exhibition was interesting with some of the works being visually quite deceptive. I am not allowed to show photos from the show but you can click the links above to find out more.

Misty Walk, Gower

Posted on 02/12/201302/12/2013 by Alastair

This week’s featured StillWalks video is “Misty Walk”. The title tells you a bit about what to expect.

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 – “Misty Walk” which is at Ryers Down on the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, South Wales. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

Tag Archives: weather