The Church at Nevern

I was up in Nevern recently so decided to pop into the church there as I hadn’t visited before. It’s a fascinating place with a long and interesting history. It was founded in 540 AD by St Brynach who it is said had the help of a wild stag which dragged the first timbers from the surrounding woodland. Many evangelists travelled across Europe from as early as the 1st Century AD and were known as Peregrinatio pro Christo ‘Pilgrims for Christ’. St Brynach came from Ireland as one of these early messengers.

There are numerous legends about him, as with other early Saints, but these were written 400 years later at a time when the monks who wrote them were trying to ‘big up’ the role of the Church in Society. We don’t know if these are true, but, as Dr. Johnson said, ‘you may believe them or not without imperilment to your soul’. Nevern Church.

Brynach is thought to have chosen Nevern because it was afforded protection from the castle that sat above the site and had existed as a stronghold for tribal chieftains since the Iron Age. The River Nevern served as an access route for viking longboats and over the course of 300 years, raids on the area were a common occurrence. The castle was a good place to seek shelter from the raiders who would move on to seek easier targets rather than engage in a protracted siege. In the 10th century, many thousands of pilgrims passed through Nevern on their way to or from St Davids which had become an important religious centre. The church was rebuilt and improved over the years as the influence of church and religion waxed and waned but in 1864 the Victorians renovated the church with money brought into the area by the burgeoning industrial revolution.

The imposing celtic cross that stands in the churchyard is carved from a piece of local dolerite and dates from the 10th century when the Normans brought Catholicism to the church. At this time the decor is thought to have been much more gaudy with paintings depicting biblical stories adorning the walls. In the 15th century the Reformation brought an end to the catholic era and the church became Anglican.

The yew trees in the grounds have a few legends associated with them. The 'Bleeding Yew' weeps a red, blood like sap from a patch on the trunk. A monk is said to have been hanged from the tree and according to the legend, the man declared his innocence and proclaimed that: "If you hang me guiltless as I am, the tree will bleed for me". Equally as unbelievable but entirely true is that the tree is around 700 years old.

River Swimming

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One of the many hot days of summer this year and a trip to landlocked Wiltshire. A search for a suitable place to slip into the Avon led to a path through the undergrowth, a clamber down the muddy bank and a cooling swim amongst lilies and demoiselles in the afternoon heat. River swimming always feels a little different to the coastal waters of home; nettles and brambles threaten the route to ingress, lowering ourselves from the top of the steep bank is rewarded with a squelching of mud between the toes and a course is navigated, arms held aloft, through roots and reeds to the point at which one can tentatively push off from the bank into the slow flow of the river. What lies beneath in these waters is unfamiliar and there’s the stirring of memories from childhood; warnings of pike and their needle sharp teeth mingle with tales of the riverbank from cultures and rivers both local and from the pages of stories told. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows and all those folk songs about the Mississippi or the Findhorn. The Wye, the Tay and the Spey, those evocative names for the arteries that carry the characteristics of their banks out to the sea beyond. The water feels different too; somehow it’s smoother and the abrasive sting of salt is replaced by the earthy smell of water that has percolated through the fields and woodlands that border the river. The source of the Avon is in Gloucestershire and hasn’t travelled far by the time it reaches Bradford on Avon. It’s journey will then take it winding through Wiltshire, the cities of Bath and Bristol and its industrial hinterlands before it eventually spills into the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth, a different river to the one that was born in the Gloucestershire countryside.

Traeth Llyfn

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A selection of shots from Traeth Lyfyn, the beach between Abereiddy and Porthgain. These were taken around 9.30pm as the light was fading. They are all variations on a theme but I’ve included them all here just because I couldn’t decide on a favourite, or at least my favourite changed each time I looked through them. Please let me know which one you like.

It was fairly obvious from the time I left the house that the light wasn't going to be anything special but it was one of those still evenings when it was nice to be stood on the sand with a gentle swell only occasionally pushing a wave of any size onto the beach. The tide was dropping from high meaning I couldn't initially get any further onto the beach so I took a few from the bottom of the steps until the tide dropped a little. It's a creative time for me when the light is flat and dusk is closing in. On an empty beach (somewhat rare this summer), when the night is warm and still and there's no rush to get a shot before the light changes (it just gets dark) you can slip into a zone and find a good shot in the gloom. Eventually there is no light to work with and it's time to go home. On the way back I met a badger who hadn't heard me coming or got a sniff of me in the still air. It scarpered when I had to hasten past and I listened as it galloped up the path and trundled off through the barley.

Oh, the first shot is the barley field you pass on the way to the beach from Porthgain. This is virtually the same as the shot I entered into the Landscape Photographer of the Year a few years back but with flat light the colours were rather dull so I felt it worked better in B&W.

Elderflower foraging

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It’s been a good year for elderflowers. On a warm day the sweet smell of the blooms is a treat as you cycle past the hedgerows. In the winter a glass of home made elderflower cordial is a nice taste of summer when its wet and cold outside so it’s nice to make it now before the flowers die off. We headed out on the bicycles and collected a good crop before turning it into a few litres of sweet cordial. To me it feels like bottling summer. We used this recipe from River Cottage.

A trip to Skomer Island

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A trip to Skomer Island last week. I'd not been over to Skomer for a good few years so it was lovely to get the boat over and go and visit some of our feathered neighbours. There's so much wildlife to see on and around the island but at this time of year the puffins are no doubt the main attraction. It's easy to take for granted due to the fact that the island is just a short boat ride away but it really is a special place and going to see the puffins is an incredible wildlife experience. There's not many places on the planet that you can get so close to an animal population and watch them go about their business literally at your feet; wandering around, socialising, greeting partners with a tap of beaks, hunting and returning with a beak full of sand eels and toing and froing from their burrows; it's fascinating and of course they're pretty cute too!

We saw over 20 species on our visit which included common local sightings but also the resident short eared owl which was a treat. The razorbills and guillemots tend to be harder to photograph as they nest in areas that are a little less accessible. Greater black backed gulls watching proceedings from elevated vantage points are a reminder that many of the animals on the island are vulnerable to these predators. They will attack the nocturnal manx shearwaters that nest in their tens of thousands on the island. Also nesting in burrows, they emerge at night and so in the day the only reminder that they are there are the thousands of burrows and the carcasses of those that have been picked off by the gulls.

We were also lucky enough to coincide our visit with the red campion being in full bloom. Having missed the bluebells by a couple of weeks it was lovely that the backdrop to our visit was the bright pink campion and the vibrant green of the young bracken.

Print Sale!

I’m clearing out my stock of unmounted prints. These are all giclee printed on pearl finish 290gsm paper to give a high quality finish. Square prints measure 12”x12” and rectangular prints measure 13”x20” (excluding white border). Square prints are £8+p&p, rectangular prints are £11+p&p. Please get in touch via my contact form to order. Discount available for 3+ prints.

All the prints are Pembrokeshire scenes apart from several just over the border into Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.