During our walk through Cwm Nash woodland, I spotted what looked like the entrance to a tunnel. It clearly wasn’t, but the growth pattern and arrangement of the trees growing at the side of the footpath appeared shortly before an actual tree tunnel that would take us out of the woods and towards the sea.
The ruined stone wall hidden in amongst the trees of Cwm Nash Woods was a surprise find – for me at least. The wall belongs to an old mill beside the Ffynnon Marl river. The StillWalks production walk I did with Dr Cathy Treadaway as part of the “Walk and Draw for Health and Wellbeing” research project, was done without a recce walk beforehand.
I had been asked to go along with a completely fresh eye (and ear). I don’t normally do this because there are distinct production advantages to checking out the lie of the land beforehand. However, whether the walk is done as a recce or as a production, new surroundings are always exciting to explore and Cwm Nash absolutely “came up to the mark” for me as a new discovery.
These photos are from a woodland on Bristol Channel coast of South Wales. I know the area in the Vale of Glamorgan from working there on a project a few years ago, but I had not been to this particular spot before.
The images form part of a new StillWalks video I was asked to produce as part of a research project being run by Dr Cathy Treadaway for CARIAD at Cardiff Metropolitan University. The project – “Walk and Draw for Health and Wellbeing” – is very much in keeping with my StillWalks philosophy and the video will be available to view at the end of this week.
. . . you’ll find some strange wooden serpents slithering through the undergrowth. This Loch Ness monster like fallen branch is classic shape from the crooked oak trees of the woods in Coedbach Park.
It is not the first time I have photographed this particular piece of wood, but it is in a different position in the woods now, so it is obviously on the move!
In May 2013 I did a StillWalks production walk at Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The production followed what Pembrey calls its Floral Walk.
The photos I am posting this week are from this StillWalks production which, as yet, has not been post-produced or published. I won’t bother going into the reasons for this but hope that you enjoy a Welsh woodland floral week on the blog.
My walk along the Borgue road in Galloway, SW Scotland, was about an 8 mile round trip. This rusty bench was at the side of the road at my turning point, just above Kirkandrews. Old but not out of use, it was a welcome resting place for a few minutes.
Maybe next time round I make do a StillWalks production day of it and capture the sounds as well as the sights.
My walk along the Borgue road on the Galloway coast in Scotland revealed a number of places for sale. However, although the gates in the first image are no longer in use, from what I could see, the estate behind them is. I wonder if this entrance will ever be used again.
The building in the second image is not the same place and is just waiting for someone to take an interest greater than photography.
Garlic, Bluebells and Summer Snowflakes were a welcome companion on my Scottish countryside walks along the coast in Galloway.
