On my walk this week I was again alone on the track – but that’s not me in the image, just a lonely tuft of grass. I wasn’t lonely on this walk near Skanda Vale in the countryside of Carmarthenshire, just alone – and for the purposes of StillWalks production, photography and field recording, being alone is generally preferable. My closest companion on this walk is in the first shot below in the form of a fascinating golden winged insect Continue reading
On this walk I was following the wind and focused more on that than anything else. The soundscape below along with the images will hopefully help you to accompany me on this walk during that day of Storm Doris.
I ended the documentation of the walk at the weir on the Afon Dulais river where the roar of water collected by the river overnight overwhelmed any amount of noise the wind was making.
Descending on my walk this week into the base of the valley, proof of other (helpful) walkers is evident from the arrangement of stepping stones through an expansive puddle. From here I climbed up a steep hillside track to arrive on the opposite side of the valley and a return to the double rows of electricity pylons.
Rising slightly higher on my third walk up above the valley I began to get better views across the estuary. As this was the day of Storm Doris (Doris Day!), the wind was also rising or at least it sounded like it was.
The trees clustered round the phone mast on the top of Goppa hill are mostly coniferous and I have noted in the past that a different sound is created by the wind blowing through these rather than deciduous, broad leaved trees.
My walk this week is the third of my walks on consecutive days in my local valley, Cwm Dulais. Where the previous day was misty, this walk was windy – in fact I did this walk on the day of Storm Doris. We did not have the strength of wind that some other parts of the country received but it was notable all the same.
The most interesting aspect of the walk was the sound and how it changed at different stages of the walk – see (listen) below.
On my forest walks in August I mostly used my iPhone for my photography and sound recording. It seems I was focusing on colour and texture on those occasions, but not only in what I could see but also in what was to be heard – not that I had any particular influence over that, other than to be there.
Moving into the second half of my year of forest walks in a local woodland the place is dark with dappled shade from canopy of foliage. This is a mixed woodland with both broad leaved trees and coniferous. The two types of tree tend to stay with their own and so the sound of the wind can be, if not distinctly different as it blows through either needles or leaves, certainly discernible, though perhaps not in the short sound clip below.
Whether floating in the wind or on the water, there were plenty of leaves to be enjoyed on my urban lakeside walk this week. My favourites are the banner-like leaves of the tall lakeside reeds.
