If it was an offence to stalk wooden mermaid sculptures, we would have been locked up a long time ago.
We travelled eighty miles to the seaside village of St Dogmaels to catch a glimpse of her seaweed-coloured smile.
Like a junkie chasing a fix we just had to have one more wooden mermaid hit in late August to last us through the winter …
Click, click, clicketty, click.
The flowing hair, the contours, the graininess and greenness and those big green eyes looking out to sea.
Click here to see the Collection of Photos from the August 2008 pilgrimage and September 2007 tour of duty.
The Aberdare Blog Met Office is warning that severe weather is forecast in the next fortnight causing scenes of extreme beauty.
Local trees will be transformed into bright and eye-catching colours.
Several millimeters of leaves could accumulate in many parks and other public places.
Photographers are advised to take extra care.
In the photograph : Aberdare Park after extreme weather last year.
International artist Martyn Jones is “coming home” with the latest exhibition of his works now on show in Aberdare.
Originally from the Cynon Valley, Martyn Jones is a contemporary painter who works from his studio in Cardiff. He graduated M.A. Fine Art, at Chelsea School of Art, London and was awarded Junior Fellowship at Bath Academy of Art. Among his tutors were the British artists Adrian Heath and Patrick Heron.
Aeon, an exhibition of work by Martyn Jones, is on show at the Cynon Valley Museum and Gallery until November 8th. The Gallery is open 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Sunday. For further details, contact 01685 886729.
Don’t Miss the Mercurymen gig at Cardiff Arms pub in Hirwaun this Friday 26th September.
Recently signed to Sony BMG, Mercurymen Jinder, Gavin and Simon are on the road promoting their debut album Postcards from Valonia.
This promises to be a very special gig. Catch them at the Cardiff Arms Hirwaun on the only Welsh date of their UK tour.
The Cardiff Arms was taken over by Julian and Annie Barfield a year ago. After a massive investment and complete refurbishment, the pub is making a mark for quality food, drink, entertainment.
Click here to visit the official Cardiff Arms website.
The firey coloured palette of Autumn slowly comes into focus across Aberdare.
These balmy blue-skied days this week bring out the rich red and golden leaves.
Passing Aberdare on the main A4059 road today, one could savour the young trees in the empty Duke Street Car Park.
Green-leaved trees become variegated and then slowly become deep radiant reds and golden coloured.
Click on the Thumbnails below to see Nice Big Beautiful Autumn Pics
Easily Wales’ most DRAMatic sculpture is Andy Hazell’s Wheel of Drams near the Hengoed Viaduct, Maesycwmmer, a village near Caerphilly.
Andy Hazell was commissioned to create a landmark sculpture to celebrate the refurbishment of the Hengoed Viaduct and its inclusion into the National Cycle Network. Wheel of Drams is a dramatic eight metre high circular sculpture of six curved steel coal drams that commemorate the original haulage companies that operated on the goods line that passed over the viaduct. The circular shape also represents the move from the route being used by coal drams to bicycles.
Although this is an eye-catching landmark sculpture it is slowly being obscured by trees growing in front of it.
See the Full Set of Photos here
What better way to unwind in these unusually balmy days than a prance around Aberdare Park playing peekaboo with the squirrels…
Click on the Photo and play Find the Squirrel in the Photo on Flickr…
It’s been three years since we first started blogging about Aberdare and now there are three thousand photos in the Gallery.
Put one foot in front of the other and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Before you know it, you’ve trod your way so far down a path, it becomes easier to continue forward, than re-trace your steps backwards.
The photographic ‘themes’ in the Gallery started in Aberdare… honest guv! In a town rich with Chapels and Churches it was inevitable we would start taking photographs across the Valley, then across the Valleys, then farther afield.
And so the pattern is repeated with our other photographic themes. First Aberdare, then out there!
The word we are looking for here is serendipity. We have trod this path as accidental photographer making chance discoveries along the way. We have endeavoured to share some of this joy with you, the reader.
In the photograph : Character from a Mural at Rhondda Heritage Park
After far too much procrastination we have finally uploaded photos of the Ynysybwl Cenotaph war memorial.
Click here to see the Full set of Photos
of Ynysybwl Cenotaph
The memorial is in the centre of the village, near the Post Office. The cenotaph is made of portland stone with a bronze relief (see photo on left) on front face depicting a soldier and sailor in a graveyard. A sword of sacrifice is carved on two faces of the cenotaph.
HRH Prince of Wales re-dedicated the Cenotaph in a ceremony that took place in May 2006.
Another day of chaos on the main Aberdare road leading north from the town…
Drivers experienced long delays today on the the A4059 road between Aberdare and Hirwaun due to a traffic collision.
A local grandmother driving home narrowly escaped with her life after being shunted from behind by a lorry.
Closure of the Llwydcoed by-pass road last week due to subsidence problems has caused an enormous increase in traffic on the A4059, leading to traffic tailbacks from Hirwaun to Trecynon during peak hours.
Local residents today expressed their concern that a fatality is inevitable unless Rhondda Cynon Taf Council re-open the Llwydcoed road as to matter of urgency to ease traffic congestion.
Following on from a previous visit to Elan Valley Visitor centre to document Christopher Kelly’s Shelley commemmorate sculpture, we have visited again. This time we were determined to capture more detail.
The Shelley sculpture has much detail. The poet/promethean central figure is surrounded by other figures, some of them as small as a child’s hand.
There are also books depicted as part of the central piece with brief written excerpts (presumably from Shelley’s work). At the circular base, a series of plaques depicts scenes (again presumably Shelleyan in origin).
See the full set of Photos on Flickr here.
On the heels of the photo of Andrew Rowe’s Kite Trail at Aberavon we have added photos of his 1997 seating sculpture in front of Theatr Brycheiniog.
Click here to see the Set
… Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.
We are trying to re-enact the story of Ishmael in the photograph.
This is a fascinating novel by Daniel Quinn.
The story revolves around a socratic dialogue between a man and gorilla… the gorilla is the teacher.
See the Wikipedia article on Ishmael here
We posted a set of photos of the Old Town Hall and Court House in Merthyr Tydfil to Flickr, click here to see them.
A local photographer made a wonderfully insightful comment, writing that the photo had “an almost 2D feel to it as though it is part of a film set”.
There are many other buildings thereabouts that could form part of a film set.
See lots more of our Merthyr photographs here
Merthyr Tydfil town is a goldmine of fascinating sights for the passing photographer. There are many sculptures and other interesting landmarks, the Carnegie Library, old Town Hall & County Court, several Churches and Chapels, and of course the people of Merthyr itself!
When walking through the town centre, cast your head back high and take a look at some of the architectural detail high-up on the older buildings. Some of it is breathtaking.
On a walk from Merthyr town centre to the Pontmorlais area of town, we snapped some photos of the Hope and Market Square United Church.
Full Set of Photos here on Flickr.
