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I'd noticed the slow swirl when I visited last winter, and wondered what would happen when the Autumn leaves fell into the water. This is the result, hope you like it. Thanks very much to everyone, particularly those who have taken the time to comment and 'Fave'.

I had taken a chance going down to Pontneddfechan, hoping to catch the waterfalls in autumnal raiment before the forecast storms blew all the leaves off. The promised 'Sunshine and showers' turned out to be 'Drizzle and downpours', so it was a real struggle trying to keep the rain and the spray off the lens. By the time I got to this waterfall, my mood was as black as this picture.
I had planned to go with Mark W, but he had to cancel due to more pressing matters. I reported back that he probably hadn't missed much and I grumbled about everything getting soaked. He offered a solution that was both simple and a complete anathema to a Goretex wearing outdoor type like me - an umbrella.

Hello again.

I know you will be disappointed that I haven't posted a shot of a tree at Croome, but I hope you won't mind a waterfall pic from the archives. :0))

This is Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf in waterfall country in South Wales, taken in early autumn.

Hopefully will be able to stray a bit further than Worcestershire in the not too distant future.

ain't got a clue what its called!

Right - enough of the big city, it's back to my roots!

This is the rather lovely Sgwd Gwladys waterfall in the Brecon Beacons, given a B&W makeover.

This is one of my favourite places, Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan on the south side of the Brecon Beacons in Wales. One of the challenges with going back to photograph a favourite place is trying to get a new angle on it, otherwise it will simply be repeating what you did last time. I haven't been here for a couple of years, and it was fascinating to see how things have changed such as new trees, and the shape of the river bed. It also helped that the light was much better than the dark and damp conditions I experienced last time. Hope you like it - I know I enjoyed being there.

Lots of foam and spray on the Nedd Fechan after heavy rain.

Haven't had a waterfall for a while, so here's a rather lovely one. Tucked away in a quiet steep sided valley in the Radnor Hills of Mid Wales is the fine 'Water-Break-It's- Neck' waterfall. For the life of me I can't find out how it got its colourful name, but it could well be an invention to spark the interest of Victorian tourists who seemed to love coming here. The waterfall is about 80 feet high. The Radnor Hills are mainly rather bleak moorland, but this little corner is beautifully planted with a trees - which again was intended to enhance the experience of the Victorian tourist. It really is a beautiful spot and usually quiet, but as ever with waterfalls it is at its best after a period of rain.

Here's another from my recent trip to the Brecons. Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan has to be one of my favourite waterfalls, and I was lucky enough to be able to pay a return visit at my favourite time of year - early Autumn. The leaves are beginning to change colour and fall into the river, swirling around in the water and sometimes collecting on the rocks.

I failed miserably to get to Waterfall Country to capture the Autumnal colours this year, so I've dug one out from last year. This is one of my favourite places, Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan on the south side of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
Along with the usual trials and tribulations involved in landscape photography I also had to put up with my small dog fretting about me standing in the middle of a river while I was trying to get this shot. To be fair, he did have a point, on a previous visit to the area I managed to drown a camera when the tripod tipped over into the water....

Following on from last week's image, having escaped the weather on nearby Gorllwyn, the next stop was the Elan valley dams. This is a spectacular place to be when the dams are full and overflowing, even if you have to dodge the snowshowers. It was so grey and dark that there was hardly any colour to be had, so I went B&W with this.

I've had this shot in mind for a while, and finally was in the right place at the right time to try it. This is the waterfall known as Sgwd y Pannwr on the Afon Mellte in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons, Wales. The Afon Mellte is flowing more or less north to south at this point, which means at certain times of the day the sun will be shining up the valley and onto the falls. The effect I was looking for was the sun lighting up the spray from the falls. The chances seemed to be increased by visiting in the winter before the trees came into leaf, and the with the sun relatively low in the sky. The leafless tree branches casting shadows across the falls through the spray was an unexpected bonus. Hope you like it.

If there is one thing you have to admire our Victorian ancestors for it is the sheer scale and vision in their infrastructure projects, many of which we still rely on today. One such is the Elan Valley dam system, which supplies pure Welsh water to Birmingham. This is the Caban Coch dam which is the lowest dam on the system, and it is 120ft high by 610 ft wide. As you can see it was designed to turn into a giant waterfall when the reservoir behind it is full, and the experience of standing in front of it is a pure assault on the senses. I was fortunate that there were only a few people about when I visited, and one chap in a bright red coat was very obliging in standing in the very centre of the bridge over the River Elan just downstream from the dam.

Back to some 'proper' photography!

I finally managed to escape from Worcestershire, and enjoyed a day out in the mountains with Monty Dog. After a jaunt around Pen y Fan and Cribin, we paid a visit to the series of small waterfalls above Talybont. I did like the swirl of foam and bubbles below these little falls, and fortunately no one fell in nor did cameras get dropped into the water....

A visit to the Elan Valley in the spring is a fine day out. The surrounding hills are remote, wild and very soggy at the best of times, so after a thaw and then a lot of Spring rain the water pours down from the hills and fills the reservoirs to the point of spectacularly overflowing. Graig Goch is the top dam of the Elan Valley series, and is perhaps the finest with its elegant curve and arches - the best example of Birmingham Baroque! The dam is 156m wide and 36m (118 feet) high, so when the water is overflowing it is a sight to behold. I know it is a bit of a postcard shot - but when the view is this good, why not? For anyone going to photograph the dams in full flow, the morning is best to catch the sun on the water.

Looking straight down the 180 foot face of the Claerwen dam to the Afon Claerwen far below. This is the newest and biggest of the Elan Valley dams, and when the water is flowing over the top it is truly spectacular. It was a good thing I had a firm hold of Monty whilst I was taking these shots from the parapet at the top of the dam, because he decided he wanted to look as well and could have done a flier!

It's been at least 6 pictures since the last waterfall, must be due for another one. Been mining the archives again and found this shot of the lower part of the Pistyll Rhaeadr, a beautiful waterfall that is counted as one of the '7 wonders of Wales'. The falls are in three stages, the top one being the longest, the second goes through a natural arch, and then this final stage - a total of 240 feet or 73 metres. The river is known as the Afon Disgynfa above the falls and the Afon Rhaeadr below it for some reason. Students of the Welsh language will confirm Pistyll Rhaeadr translates to 'Spring of the Waterfall' in English. The falls are to be found at the end of a long single track road from the village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, in the Berwyn mountains.

Another shot from a memorable day in Welsh Waterfall country, one of my favourite places of escape.

This is Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons, Wales.

The low sun was shining up the valley and onto the falls lighting up the swirl in the river, and the falls themselves.

There are few benefits of dismal grey damp winter weather - but at least it gives you the chance to have a second look at the archives. Every now and again there is the chance of coming across something previously overlooked, like this one. This is the rather lovely waterfall of Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf in the Brecon Beacons of Wales, caught in early autumn colours.

The second shot from a memorable day in Welsh Waterfall country that hopefully shows why this a location I keep returning to.

This is Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons, Wales.

Again the Afon Nedd Fechan is flowing more or less north to south at this point, which means at certain times of the day the sun will be shining up the valley and onto the falls. The effect I was looking for was the sun lighting up the spray from the falls. These falls do kick out quite a lot of spray, and so the effect was quite pronounced.

Hope you like it.

Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf on the Afon Nedd Fechan has to be one of my favourite waterfalls, and I was lucky enough to be able to pay a return visit at my favourite time of year - early Autumn.

Another from a fine day out in Waterfall Country a few weeks ago. This is Sgwd y Pannwr on the Afon Mellte in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Last time I was here there was a fallen tree right across this scene, but it looks like last winter's floods have carried it away. Autumn is the best time to visit, when the trees are colouring up and the light is a bit more subdued.

just for a change...........

Here's another from my recent trip to the Brecons. This is the tallest waterfall on this brook, and it was going quite well for August which shows it has not been the driest of summers in these parts.

A couple were taking a stroll across the footbridge below the Caban Coch dam in the Elan Valley, Mid Wales, and very conveniently for me they choose to stop right in the middle of the bridge to look at the wall of water thundering down a few yards away from them.

Up-close and personal with the Lower falls of Sgwd-Isaf-Clwn-gwyn. Rather more dynamic than the possibly restful images of the series so far. I couldn't use the 30 second exposure that I used before, the Nikon isn't fitted with a windscreen wiper!

Sun setting over Cadair Idris and the Arran hills of Snowdonia in the far distance, from Corndon Hill.

The little island at the end of Lake Vyrnwy at daybreak. It was quite cool, hence the light mist rising from the water. No real pinks in the sky as there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but there were wondeful deep blues in the water . A beautiful quiet and peaceful morning.

The final rays of sunlight break through the clouds before the stormy weather closed in over Gorllwyn. For those of you who don't know it, Gorllwyn is the eastern top of a high plateau in Mid Wales that is fetchingly described in Walkhighlands as a 'Wild and vast area of peat bogs'. It was cold and very windy with frequent showers of snow and hail. You won't be surprised to learn I didn't see anyone else up there....

You know how it is, some pictures are easy to take, just point and shoot, but others are a little more challenging. So, here I was crouching down beneath a cliff, up to my ankles in water, hiding behind boulders to keep out of the way of other Togs, in the pouring rain and just praying the effort would be worthwhile.
The other Togs were showing varying levels of commitment - or stupidity depending on your point of view. Two were sticking with it, one young lad was understandably reluctant to get his new camera out from its protective bin-bag wrapper, and the other two baled out early to go and photograph a toad. These are a lovely set of falls, especially when the flow is good. Definitely worth a visit, whatever the weather!

It was good to be back in the waterfall country of South Wales the other day. This area is special, and is always worth a visit on a still bright day in autumn when the leaves are turning but haven't yet been blown from the trees by storms. The valley of the Nedd Fechan is a particular favourite, with several sets of fine falls such as this one - Sgwd Ddwli Isaf. The summer had been particularly dry in South Wales with several reservoirs emptying completely but in recent weeks normal service has been resumed, the rain has fallen and the waterfalls have begun to flow again.

The very lovely Sgwd Gwladys on a beautiful early autumn day, on the last weekend before Wales got fully locked down. Waterfall country with the trees in their autumn colours is the best time to visit so I'm glad I was able to take this opportunity.

Another from Waterfall Country in the early autumn. This is the Horsehoe Falls, Sgwd-y-Bedol, on theAfon Nedd Fechan. You can just about get really low, just above the rushing water, but be prepared for muddy knees.

Towards the end of a grand day out with Monty Dog, we found this rather nice waterfall on the lower slopes of Waun Rhyd in the Brecon Beacons.

This is a picture of the lower Sgwd Ddwli falls on the river Neddfechan in Wales. As the water levels were not that high it was possible to get quite close on the very slippery river bed.

The wonky and ancient bridge over the river Usk at Crickhowell as taken from the beer garden of the Bridge End Inn - where you can get a very decent pint of Pale Ale (which tastes even better after a near fight to the death with a bracken forest....).

Another of the 'Four Waterfalls' of Ystradfellte, Brecon.

I was in two minds about which picture to post, this one or the one next to it. Which do you prefer and why? Thanks for taking part!

A rather nice waterfall in the Talybont Forest on the slopes of Waun Rhyd in the Brecon Beacons. The rocks of the stream bed were so slippery it was impossible to stand in one place - so I sat down!

Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn on a dark and murky winter's day, ideal for a wander in waterfall country!

Up close and personal with Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn on the Afon Mellt last autumn. There is something exhiliarating gettng really close to rushing water like this.

After last week's vast panorama I though I would try the opposite this week. This is a close up of Sgwd y Pannwr on the Afon Mellte in the southern part of the Brecon Beacons, Wales. This is such a fine area and there is so much to play with. Autumn is the best time to visit, when the trees are colouring up and the light is a bit more subdued.

Looking west to Wales and the setting sun from the flanks of Corndon Hill.

Following on from my recent post called 'Vertigo' this is looking back up the Afon Claerwen to the 180 foot face of the Claerwen dam. This is the newest and biggest of the Elan Valley dams, and although it looks Victorian it only dates to the 1950's. I just wish I could portray the noise and drama of all that winter rain flooding over the top of the dam and crashing down the face.

I really should make more of an attempt to remember the names of some of these falls.......