THe island is just off the coast of Tenby in South Wales. It is known for its fort, which was built in 1859 to defend against the pesky French. It is open to visitors, and is accessible at low tide. I have never been to the fort – too many steps for my old legs. The dark shadow below the fort is actually a passage you an paddle or swim through to the other side.
For any fan of the Harry Potter franchise, the death of house elf Dobby was one of the saddest moments. The scenes were shot in South Wales, and at the spot in the sand dunes where he was ‘buried’ people have created shrine. There are socks, stones with tributes on them, and even a couple of white plastic models of Dobby. We went with the family, and they wrote their own tributes to add to the pile. Click on each image for full size.
For the first time I have remembered to take my laptop on holiday. Oh David, where are you? The Caribbean?
Well I know it looks like it, but no, I am in Wales. This is the deserted sandy beach on Caldey Island just offshore from Tenby, home to a group of Cistercian monks and producers of very nice chocolate.
Normally I am not a fan of sunsets, but on this evening I made an exception. The sun is setting over the Gower Peninsula in Wales (I do go other places), and in the foreground is Worms Head which marks the most westerly point on the peninsula. Worms Head has nothing to do with worms, it comes from the Viking word “Wurm” which means dragon, and you can possibly see that the shape resembles a sleeping dragon. Ah… maybe that is why the sky was so fiery?
On the way back from dolphin watching we called in at Devil’s Bridge and the Rheidol Gorge. The gorge has a circular route down to a waterfall view and back up the other side, a steep descent and even steeper ascent. I decided that was several steps too far and only got as far as the waterfall view. Definitely worth it. This image probably shows a third of the total drop.
Well the answer is yes. In the last 15 minutes of the last boat trip on the last day, we managed it. I was resigned to never seeing a breach – after all David Attenborough’s crew can sit for three months and see nothing – but finally they played. What is more remarkable for me is that this dolphin was nearly a mile away and I could easily have missed it even being there. I may have mentioned before, but I love this camera.
Not a lot of landscape photography this week, as we went to Cardigan Bay looking for dolphins. Cardigan Bay has the largest concentration of dolphins in the UK, however, they can be a nightmare to photograph, and to track as they move through the sea. But, as the saying goes, the more photos you take the luckier you get. Now the question you have to ask is whether I managed to get one of the classic shots of a dolphin leaping and arching from the water. We will see…
A still autumn morning in Snowdonia, North Wales, with just a hint of the morning mist remaining. This is from the first proper workshop I attended, run by Doug Chinnery, in the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia. Now I need to persuade myself to get up early to grab more opportunities like this. Maybe not in summer with the sunrise at 5am though.
Wales is possibly my favourite country within the UK. Well it must be, as we are planning two more trips there this summer. The countryside is spectacular, and one of the treats is the steam train from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The line itself was closely linked to the local slate industry, carrying both workers and slate.
Last one from Anglesey I promise. Another view of Twr Mawr lighthouse, It is not a lighthouse in the true sense of the word, but was a beacon. In fact it is the same shape as the windmills that were on Anglesey and it is thought it could have been one originally. So there we go, every day a school day…