The City With A View

Waterfront Winterland.

2009-12-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I've added new pictures to this site, a few months ago my hard drive burnt out and I lost a load of pictures that I really liked and I hadn't got round to uploading.

So, winter is back and hopefully I'll be adding a few posts in the coming weeks but until then heres a few pictures I took while visiting the Waterfront Winterland situated in what was once the car park for Swansea leisure centre, then I visited the Christmas market but as it was pretty crowded so I only took a few pictures of the fountain. Hope you enjoy the pictures and have a good Christmas.

A Reminder of What Summer Use to Be Like.

2009-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

I know that the season of autumn doesn't officially start until September the 21st but this year it seems to have bedded down sometime in the middle of July and the trees and plants have already started shedding their leaves.

I thought that this would be a good time to dig out some photos I took in my garden while the flowers were blooming during the brief summer we had last year, I hope that they give you the same internal feeling of well-being that I got while I was sorting through them.

I've also added a picture of my cat Evey who passed away last week, another reason why I was looking for something to cheer me up. She will be missed.

Swansea Observatory and the West Pier.

2009-08-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is the final part to my walk around the marina. After going back to the car and paying for another hours parking I made my way out onto the sea front turning left and heading towards the observatory, when we finally got there I was quite surprised to see a sign saying open as I'd never seen this open to the public, personally I just thought that the observatory was another hair brained idea by the council, a pretty building that served no purpose, how wrong I was.

Walking round the observatory Rachel and I were asked if we'd like to join the tour given by the Swansea Astronomical Society, it was a bit surreal, I'd only wanted to take a few pictures of the building but now I had the chance to see what it was actually for.

We joined the tour and were lead into the front tower and were give a talk on the planets in our solar system and what happens at the observatory and how the society installed the biggest telescope in Wales after the council scrapped plans to put coin operated telescopes there. Amazingly this telescope had been built by one of the members.

The whole set up really impressed me and I think I might just go to one of the star parties that they talked about.

Swansea Barrage and the Old South Docks.

2009-08-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Following on from my last post, we continued our walk around what I believe is the old south dock, I remember going fishing there when I was still in school and caught my first ever fish a Scad or Horse Mackerel off one of the pontoons that is no longer there. I also remember the seeing the first stages of the construction of the barrage but back then it was a mass of steel girders and not the picturesque weir pool it is today.

I've also been through the lock gates on a boat when I got a job on one of the boats but that only lasted one day as my legs are far from sea legs and to say that I suffer from sea sickness is an understatement.

I quite enjoyed walking around the docks and seeing how far this place has come since I last visited it over a decade ago.

Swansea Marina.

2009-07-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

With weather being nice for a change today,Rachel and I took a walk around Swansea marina, I've been wanting to go down there and take a few pictures for a while now, mainly to have a look at what will be the tallest residential building in Wales and to have a look at the barrage, weir and bridge across it. Also, I was hoping to go get a few shots of Swansea observatory but I'd only paid for an hour in the car park and it took me just over an hour to get round the whole of the marina.

I bit the bullet and went back to the car and paid a second £1.10 just to leave the car in a half empty car park for another hour and carried on our little walk until we got to the observatory. I got a little camera happy so I'll be breaking up today into three posts and hopefully I'll try and do a little write in each post.

Red Arrows over Mumbles.

2009-07-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Back off my trip to France Rachel and I took a trip down to Mumbles to watch the Red Arrows air show, I will admit the the pictures aren't that great as I left the camera on auto focus meaning that it usually focuses in the closest this to it but with a bit of fiddling with Picasa image editor some of the turned out OK.

We had a pretty good time enjoying a fry up in Trams then finishing off with a Joe's ice cream. I also dragged Rachel down on the beach to take a few photos of the pier and lighthouse from across the bay.

Castle Square and Swansea Castle.

2009-05-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

On one of my very few trips into the city centre I took a few shots of Swansea Castle and Castle Square. I vaguely remember Castle Square being Castle Gardens before somebody thought it would be a good idea to pave over the flowerbeds and build a fountain, somehow this is looked at as progress.

Swiss Valley Reservoir, Llanelli.

2009-05-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Some pictures taken from a walk around Swiss Valley Reservoir, another trip where I was hoping to find another place to go fishing, but to be honest it did look a bit barren even though I did see a few clueless people fishing with heavy duty set ups, no net and one dead Roach which had been unfortunate enough to take one of their baits.

The Reservoir was well hidden and when I did eventually find it and it was massive and quite a nice walk which was aided by a rare dose of sunshine. I even managed to spot two toads in the middle of a late spawning embrace and they didn't seem to happy when I picked them up for a photo, enjoy the photos.

Ilston's Abandoned Limestone Quarry.

2009-05-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

The second part to walk took me to Ilston's abandoned limestone quarry, I hadn't even noticed it before my cousin pointed it out, an interesting place with very little written history. I believe that the limestone quarried here would have transported to Devon where it would have been boiled so that the lime could be used for farming.

Giant's Grave and Cat Hole Cave at Parc Le Breos.

2009-04-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

A some of photos taken on a walk down to Giant's Grave and into the cave.

WW2 Buildings on the Marsh in Penclawdd.

2009-03-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

A few shots from the marsh road, Llanrhidian.

2009-03-03T13:40:00.001-08:00

Just a few shots from a little trip down Llanrhidian, the sun was quite bright and the camera automatically darkened the images.

Snow Day Walk on the Cycle Track.

2009-02-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

With our first bit of heavy snow in years I took a walk along the Clyne Valley Cycle track from Gowerton to Dunvant, after a while it just felt like I was mindlessly taking pictures of the snow but as I only ever see it every few years I was quite enjoying myself. Hope you enjoy.

Dunvant Brickwork in the Winter.

2009-01-08T02:39:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures I took while walking my parents dogs, it was cold and the sun was surprisingly bright. Its still quite picturesque even though all the trees are dying back, and the pond was completely frozen over which for some reason incites people to chuck anything and everything on the ice.

It must be year since I've seen ice this thick on the Brickworks pond I remember walking across it when I was younger which is something it didn't want to try today mainly down to common sense, which is something the dogs seem to lack.

Leaving Swansea by Train.

2008-12-08T06:33:00.001-08:00

Some pics out the window of train window leaving Swansea.

Felindre

2008-09-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Whist doing little scouting trip looking for a fishery, I traveled up in to the hills in Felindre and was amazed at the view, from where I was standing I could see Port Talbot, then all the way round to Lougher estuary with north Gower also visable. I took a few pictures to be honest I wasn't very impressed with the pictures as they don't really give you a proper feel for how great the panoramic view was, anyway here they are.

A lone sheep on the mountain road.
Clase and the dreaded DVLA with Kilvey Hill just behind.
In the distance the East and West Piers and further in the distance Port Talbot.
The whole of north Gower.
Another Sheep.
Felindre's Hills
Another shot of north Gower this time with the Lougher estuary and a bit of Llanelli in the foreground.

More Mumbles.

2008-09-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

This time I didn't take the pictures they were taken by my wife, I picked my favorite ones from the bunch she took. Hope you like them.

The Bay
A beached boat and its moorings.
Mumbles lighthouse.
Loads of Seagulls making the pier their home.
Nesting seagulls under the pier.
A semi-permanent rig.

Pwll, Llanelli

2008-06-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

The end of the track and into Blackpill.

2008-05-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Coming to the end of Clyne Valley.

2008-05-10T16:03:00.001-07:00

Clyne Valley Cycle track - Off the beaten track. Part 3

2008-04-26T16:02:00.001-07:00

Clyne Valley Cycle track - Off the beaten track. Part 2

2008-04-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Clyne Valley Cycle track - Off the beaten track. Part 1

2008-04-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Tower and Overflow, Ponsticill Reservoir, Merthyr Tydfil

2008-02-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

Clyne Valley Cycle Track

2008-02-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't travel very far so these pictures are from Gowerton to Dunvant.Cyclists and walkers on the track.
The foot bridge running over the track.
One of the many old railway bridges running over the track two of them still carry the weight from a busy main road.
A small tunnel running underneath the track near the gowerton end.

A couple of shots of the orange rivers running along the cycle track, when was a child I believed that this was caused by hundreds of tons of mining machinery being dumped down the abandoned mines slowly rusting away in the flooded mines.
Later I was told by a local researcher that all the unwanted ore and iron ferrite that was mined was dumped on top a small stream until the early 1900s somewhere near Killan hill. He believes that over the passed 100 years this waste ore has slowly fed into the rivers oxidizing and tainting several miles of streams and rivers with a rust-like silt.

Dunvant Brickworks Part 2

2008-02-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

A few shots of the remains of the brickworks as some of the ones on the first post are quite blurred.

The old railway tunnel cut through about 50 meters of rock, now bricked up with small gaps creating a sanctuary for Bats.
Some kind of bunker now sealed off.
The overflow from the Brickworks pond.
The brickworks pond and the remains of the park bench and stand for the life buoy, which were vandalized beyond repair shorty after being put there.
I thought this tree growing sideways in one of the ponds looked like something out of Aliens.
And finally bright yellow fungus that was growing on a few dead trees.

Port Talbot from the Docks

2007-11-16T12:21:00.001-08:00

Sunrise over Swansea Vale

2007-11-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Lougher Bridge and Estuary.

2007-11-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

The old wooden railway bridge running across the estuary.
Boats moored of the Estuary.
The life boat, grounded by the high tide.
Anglers fishing under the bridge.
The underside of Lougher Bridge.
A jetty or mooring only just visible, before the tide covers it completely.

Sunset over Kilvey Hill

2007-11-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

Another old picture I found taken from Sketty Park.

Mumbles pier

2007-11-03T14:21:00.001-07:00

Mumbles pier, photo taken from Sketty Park.

Dunvant Brickworks

2007-10-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

One of the few remaining air vents (recently cordoned off by the mining authority and partially bricked up).
The brickworks pond.
One of the pools created from a dug out clay pit.
Remain of a building, original use unknown.
A stone wall burried in the under growth.
The remains of the brickworks
A new footpath running around the pond.
A web of dead trees sprouting from one of the flooded claypits.

Mumbles and Oystermouth Castle

2007-09-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Oystermouth Castle
Mumble lifeboat house
Roof tops
The front of Oystermouth castle
View of the pier from the castle
An old sea beaten jetty
Boats moored on the bay
View from the cycle pathMumbles pier