Troedrhiwgwair

" Our landscapes connect us to our history; they are the source of our character as a people, as well as our health, our safety, and our prosperity... they also enrich us aesthetically and recreationally and culturally and spiritually."
Robert Kennedy, Jr.

A spontaneous trip to the Sirhowy valley at Bedwellty Pits, downstream from Tredegar. I felt in need of a few photos of the area to fill in a few gaps for my talk this coming Saturday to the Blaenau Gwent Heritage Forum on their Heritage Day. My 2 x great-grandparents lived, worked and died in this area so the "Spirit of the Place" is strong for my ancestry here. My plans are instantly changed by a couple walking their dogs who, unprompted, tell me about a tree in the woodland on the hills opposite - enough of a hint to send me thrashing through the undergrowth in search of it. Having paid homage to the tree I was wandering back down to the river when I heard this stream gushing by, hidden from view by the little valley it had carved through the hillside. It helped to illustrate the Spirit of the place, in that the sense it engaged first was my hearing, I couldn't see it; the perfect complement for a photo I have of a bluebell woodland which I could smell. Photography engages the senses and brings us to intimate contact with Life.