Lockdown Walks - Llandeilo
Being restricted to our local area for walking has led many of us to explore new paths, getting to know our home patch much better than before.
In summer my fellow Rambler Jan suggested a route that neither of us had tried before, just across the river Tywi from Llandeilo. It’s mostly on quiet country roads but it includes a little-used track through deciduous woodland and forestry, with a rushing stream. I’ve walked it again in the autumn and winter, enjoying the differences with the changing seasons.
October walks 2020
Since restarting walks we've enjoyed meeting in small groups to walk in our local area. Some sunshine, some rain, some beautiful autumn colours and good company!
A group get-together before the firebreak lockdown, socially distanced coffee after a super walk at Gelli Aur led by Pam.
Llandovery looked peaceful on this walk towards Llwynywermwood led by Phil. Ten of us strolled from the town uphill to the south, through fields and woods, in lovely sunshine.
Autumn colours in mixed woodland near Caio, where Ros and Angela reccied a longer walk - ready for when we can get together again!
Our gorgeous countryside, near Pumpsaint.
Ffairfach - Solo Walking
If someone had asked me to describe our daily dog walk before the Lockdown I would have said it was “dull but necessary”, a 5K one hour walk from the house to Tregyb Woods 4k of it on roads and pavements. It has now become our daily source of fresh air and exercise, the only daily contact with the world outside the home.
On the 26 March I decided to keep a photo diary of our walks, choosing 3 photos each day and sharing them via emails and Facebook with friends and family around the world. At first it was easy, the wood and hedgerows were coming into bloom with celandines, primroses, wood anemones and there were lots of cute lambs in the fields.
After a week I was looking for less obvious subjects, flowers I couldn’t name, trees trying to burst into leaf, human responses to the Lockdown. The streets and roads were strangely silent and empty, even the woods and local beauty spots were lonely, deserted places. Still the sun shone and white clouds hung carelessly in ever-bluer skies.
It’s a strange feeling, I no longer think of our walk as a daily chore, though I still long to walk the hills and coastal paths. I take great pleasure in the moment, I feel more alive in the woods among clouds of bluebells, the scent of wild garlic and the orchestra of birdsong. I’ve learned to tune in to the subtle changes of the everyday in the absence of human activity, even while missing it terribly. Can I find just two words to describe our daily walk? That’s nowhere near enough.
Anne N.
Many thanks to Anne for this article and photographs - with more on our new Photo Gallery page.
Cilgwyn Woods - Solo Walking
Grant me the ability to be alone
May it be my custom to go outdoors each day
Among the trees and grasses,
Among all growing things
And there may I be alone,
And enter into prayer
To talk with the one
That I belong to.
(Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav)
From : “Earth Prayers From Around the World”
Many thanks to our member Christiane for sharing this lovely poem and photographs from her solo walk in her nearby woods in early April. More photos from this walk are in our new Photo Gallery page
Botanic Garden 8 January 2020
We always enjoy a stroll in the National Botanic Garden of Wales, as there's plenty to see at any time of year, even in January. It was a very relaxed walk with 29 people, strolling through the gardens and Waun Las Nature Reserve before finishing up in the Great Glasshouse or the Stables cafe.
We crossed the bridge and looked towards the new dam, where the Restoration project will create a new lake.
St Illtyd's Way 5 - Sunday 5 January
18 individuals, inclusive of 3 guests and one dog, assembled just outside Pontardawe to tackle the route on to Resolven. Wendy introduced a new technical term for the ascents and descents to be encountered, describing them as “uppity/ downy bits”. Too true they were!!
We walked along the canal bank for approximately a mile passing the memorial to the miners tragically killed in the Gleision mine.
