So over the next few days there will be a watery theme to my blog.
Just after New Year I went for a day out in North Wales. I went to Beddgelert, a lovely village that I have been to many times walking along the river and eating ice cream.
This time however the ice cream parlour was closed (it is mid winter and the number of visitors is pretty low) and rather than stop in the village I drove a little further out and parked up so that I could walk back along the gorge.
This is Aberglaslyn Gorge and the rough path works its way along the river's edge through spectacular scenery. The walk itself its just about four miles return or there is a slightly longer circular walk that takes you over the mountain via an ancient copper mine.
The light in the gorge was lovely and the noise of the water as it thundered through the valley was incredible.
I wasn't sure where to start talking about today's pictures. Obviously they are different views of a stone stack on the Wolf River just below the falls. I really like the way they look, particularly the ones with the falls in the background. Slightly out of focus the falls makes a really dramatic backdrop.
I love messing about near water and creating something artistic in the landscape. These stacks use ancient materials but they are very transient structures. I wondered why there is something so satisfying about this, and I know I am not alone as I have seen lots of websites or instagram accounts of people who are far more skilled than me. I think it stems from early childhood when among the earliest toys we play with are building blocks and we are taught, encouraged to build towers and balance blocks to see how high they will go and then have fun knocking them down and starting over.
The realisation hit me... yes I do this now because I can see some artistic merit in the resulting photos but really I am just a big kid.
