A grey evening at Caerfai Bay. We’ve had a lot of big waves hitting the coast recently but I’ve not managed to go get any pics as yet. I popped down there this afternoon, just for a walk really but thought I’d take the tripod down just for daily practice. Below are the results. Now my lens makes a grindy sandy sound thanks to a big one that came through. I felt that I could have made it onto Kookslams if anyone had been watching.
I took the drone over to Porthgain to get some pictures of the harbour. I missed the light as after a sunny morning clouds had spilled in and made the light a little flat, but I liked the results. The coast around Porthgain is one of my favourite areas I think and as always it was interesting to get a different perspective on it. Harbours look great from above, I love seeing the shapes of the sea walls. The bare fields make the landscape seem rather barren but spring will be here soon enough and life will return to the soil.
The Preseli Hills under blue skies and with a thin coat of snow. We meandered Eastwards between the crags and outcrops that are scattered along the ridge and finished up at Foel Drygarn; an ancient hillfort and the largest in Pembrokeshire, before turning back for home. Carn Goedog was at one point thought to be the most likely source for the Bluestones that were used in the construction of Stonehenge but reading around online it seems that there is still plenty of doubt and opposing opinion on the subject. I expect it’s a debate that will continue for some time. Whatever the truth, the stones have a sculptural quality to them that was no doubt as appealing to ancient civilizations as they are to the wandering photographer in 2021. It seems there isn’t much evidence of any quarrying works which suggests that glacial forces are the most likely explanation for their appearance on the Salisbury Plain. The hills would once have been forested but have been used by humans for millenia and along with the signs of settlement, there are also the lines of ancient drovers routes that can still be seen crossing the terrain. Livestock would have been moved from Pembrokeshire farms to markets further East and many hooves have left scars on the landscape that are still visible now.
The Preseli Hills feel like a miniature version of the larger landscapes of the Brecon Beacons or the Moors of South West England. It’s possible to stroll around the hills in a day and see most of what they have to offer but, like the Cleddau Estuary I wrote about in my last post, the hills are a less explored gem of Pembrokeshire.
I processed these to give a slightly otherworldly feeling as that seemed to suit the collection. Let me know if you think it works/doesn’t work.
The Cleddau estuary is such a hidden gem of Pembrokeshire. I imagine most tourists may visit for years before they even think about going to take a walk anywhere near the river. With such an impressive coastline to explore there’s no room in the schedule for looking elsewhere. Which is all fine by me. It’s always nice and quiet on the river and it feels like a different world. I wrote a few weeks back about the history of the ferries and industry on the river. Here, near Hook, coal mines were dotted along the banks and much was transported by water to market further afield. The remains of small jetties can still be seen here and there in the form of ancient timbers sticking out of the water.
Edit: The name on the wrecked boat has made me chuckle since I googled it. Llamedos. Terry Pratchett used the name in his Discworld novels for a land ruled by druids with rain as its major export. The name is a play on Dylan Thomas’ fictional town of Llareggub; ‘Bugger All’ spelt backwards.
I was on my way to Porthgain the other day to go and try and get some shots of the dramatic clouds I could see out over the sea but as I drove though Llanrhian I couldn’t help stopping and having a quick chat to Rob in his garage there. A Wolseley 1500 was peeking out from between his blue doors and the scene was too good to drive past.
Some drone shots from Porthclais. Unusually for early January in Pembrokeshire it was calm and still with barely any swell. A true winter colour palette with empty fields and beaten down bracken.
