Upon reflection

The valleys are awash with heritage features some good some more questionable but with it comes a whole cottage industry of community writers quick to remind us of the likes of Mrs Evans at No 93 who had seventeen children all of whom lived in a two up two down miners cottage. So having heard about The Guardian at Abertillery, I had, partly dismissed it a just another piece of valleys 'also ran' commemorative industrial artwork.

The setting for this creative project is an 'off the peg' progressive 1970's style land restoration scheme with regulation  fenced tree planting, tarmac path and bench, but thrown in as a concession to modern day values is a very attractive and biologically diverse pond. What I hadn't been prepared for however was the impact this work would have on me. Towering over the valley its shear scale and open armed steeliness was biblical in its impression - I was taken aback and moved. So, just like a media studies student on visiting mini bus trip from the Ross on Wye Art College I set my camera to creative mode and shot a few abstract frames.

At Dunlop Semtex Pond I found a healthy colony of the alien mollusc, girdled snail (Hygromia cinctella). Originating from the Mediterranean region and first found in Great Britain in 1950 this snail is expanding it's range through the trade in potted plants.