My Walk this Week 214 – Park Positive

Posted on 03/07/202002/07/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week is in Singleton Park, Swansea and took advantage of the slight relaxation in the Covid-19 lockdown measures. Whether it was right or not to do this with regard to the coronavirus pandemic, it was a very positive thing to do for the sake of my mental wellbeing.

Sheltering under the trees from the rain I took advantage of the pause in our walk and snapped a shot or two, including the crushed wild garlic that was giving off a wonderfully powerful scent.

Once the sun reappeared the clover shone like jewels in the open grassland of this expansive urban park. While the botanic garden was closed due to the difficulty of distancing, the rest of the park-scape caused no problems in this respect and everyone there respected the social distancing advice.

In the smaller Brynmill Park on our return, this was a little more problematic, but people mostly did what they could to maintain a distance and the lake there is a popular attraction.

Park-scape Sound Clip

I have not called the audio above a soundscape because recording on my iPhone as I was and that not taking well to the wind, I did not capture as much sound as I would have liked.

The media player does not show on the WordPress Reader, so please visit the website to listen to the sound clip and view the images at the same time.

My Walk this Week 204 – A Wander in the Park

Posted on 24/04/202020/04/2020 by Alastair

My walk this week takes a wander through our local park – Coedbach Park. Along with other parks in the county of Swansea were closed for a few days once the Covid-19 lockdown started, but eh council were good enough to open them again quite quickly. It would have been a great shame not to see it Spring development.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon and I made the time for a stroll through the park – I thought I might see the ducklings my daughter had reported to me. Alas, I was only able to enjoy the spectacular blooming of the trees near the entrance and the woodland wildflowers, garlic, wood anemone and bluebells, the crooked oak trees and the sounds of the birds – poor me 😉Continue reading→

My Walk this Week 161 – North Gower Walk

Posted on 31/05/201931/05/2019 by Alastair

My walk this week looks back at a walk on the North Gower coast and the expansive and beautiful salt marshes of the Loughor Estuary. The walk was originally taken as part of the “Taste of Gower” project in 2015.

Sheep graze the marsh grass and herbs from day to day and when the tides cover the the greenery, they move on and off the marshes via “causeways” such as the one above.

The sense of space and the distortion of perspective gives the place a strange, unreal feeling. Distance is difficult to judge and I suspect you would need to be careful of the incoming tide if unused to the area.Continue reading→

The Temptation of Bluebells

Posted on 09/05/201807/05/2018 by Alastair

One reason for my walk this week through the woodland of my local park was to see the Bluebells that have grown up profusely in the past few years since the park has been managed by the Friends of Coedbach with the support of the council’s Parks Department. The temptation with bluebells when photographing them is to exaggerate the saturation of colour in an effort to replicate the impact a carpet of blue in woodland has on our senses as we walk amongst the trees.

They are amazing but however anyone processes or presents a photograph of them, the reality is that, at best, the image will provide a good memory of the last time you saw bluebells in the real world. I have tried to avoid exaggerating the colour in my photography of this phenomenon but looked instead for anglesContinue reading→

Leaving the Park – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 06/05/201705/05/2017 by Alastair

Leaving Singleton Park in Swansea at the end of my walk this week around the botanic and ornamental gardens, we exited by the north entrance gates and found as much green growth on them as everywhere else in the park.Continue reading→

Nature Taking Over

Posted on 27/05/201624/05/2016 by Alastair

We are nearly at the time of year when it seems to me that as I walk or drive around both urban and rural areas, nature is about to pounce. The roadside and footpath plants are just laying in wait for the right moment to leap out and claim back the world that is theirs.

The evidence is starting to show – the living greenery pushing through the fence below only needs a second or two in the greater scheme of things to utterly take over the man made structure designed to hold things back, keep things in or out.

If you need more proof, then look at the wild garlic in the patch of riverside woodland below . . . and this is nothing in comparison to some other areas of woodland garlic I have seen.

During a recent drive on the Gower to help with a litter pick at Horton, I passed through the area of rolling woodland near Parkmill – I could not believe my eyes (or my nose) but I am sorry to say that it is a difficult place to stop your car when en route to another destination, so I did not get any photographs. I will have to put this in my diary for my next trip and make sure I have the time stop.

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

Descending Through the Wild Woods

Posted on 18/05/201613/05/2016 by Alastair

Descending from the hill at Weobley Castle to the level of the salt marshes on my circular walk this week on the northern edge of the Gower Peninsula, we passed through some woodland which was filled with wild flowers.

It is always good to see bluebells and it is also good to see wild garlic. Even though the scent can be almost overwhelming at times, I love both the sight and the smell garlic in the woods.