Being fans of not only Joe Earley's work, but of the guy himself, we've wanted to give him free reign on a project for a while. We hit upon the perfect opportunity when we let him take over our Instagram recently, but when we saw his beautiful photographs on the day, we couldn't wait to hear more about his camping adventure in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
Joe, and his equally talented friend Natalie, explore waterfalls, trains and mountain peaks, creating some stunning images to share with you along the way.
WORDS | JOE EARLEY
Short getaways are often rewarding after a steady flow of University work continuously hitting you in the face, so I thought it was about time I took a long weekend break with a pal and enjoyed some new surroundings.
Me and my friend Natalie took a slow drive (M4 traffic) to the Brecon Beacons in my 1980 Mini Clubman. The roads soon turned to dark black tarmac, almost unused by any other vehicles. First thing's first, we found our campsite at Cantref and the bonus was that the site had only just opened, so we were the only people on a pitch of 17 sites! We had electricity, Wifi and a view of the Breacon Beacon mountains to wake up to every morning, a city boy’s dream.
We hit up the shops that evening to stock up on grub. With Natalie being a Vegan, I got to enjoy some new dishes that were actually superb! Cooking on a gas powered portable stove was one of the things I was looking forward to, and I made sure I bought a few herbs with me - plus I took a growing mint plant to join us on the trip which came in very handy to add to a few dishes.
After eating we got some sleep, ready for an early start. We began the day at 9 o'clock. We opened up the tent and it was the first time I've ever woken up to the sight of mountains. It was beautiful and there was even a slight mist touching the peaks. Me and Nat got the gas on and started off with a cuppa. I had egg rolls covered in pepper and mint, and Nat rocked some syrup flavoured porridge which actually smelled incredible. I was quite jealous. So on with the day's trip, which took us to the four waterfalls walk.
Four hours in total, we visited Sgwd Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd y Pannwr & finally Sgwd Yr Eira. The last waterfall was actually the reason for wanting to visit the Brecon Beacons in the first place.
In my home I have a photograph of my Dad, taken by my Mum. In it my old man is stood under this very waterfall and I wanted to create that image for myself. Finding the exact spot was quite an emotional moment for me, but I really enjoyed it.
Each waterfall had its own personality in the way it flowed, some more hectic than others, but each was a very beautiful experience. I found it difficult to understand where such a steady flow of water always came from and how it created such power, when at the top of each waterfall it looked so still.
People swam in the clear waters, jumped off the rocks into the pools, and as for me... well I managed to stand in the water and dunk my head once, but that was going to be it because water seems to hate me.
Me and Nat got some snaps of one another underneath the waterfalls and the sound was incredible. It really was a perfect day, and the bonus for me was being able to drive home in the evening light. We got ready to make some dinner and chilled with the sleeping bags sprawled over the floor outside the tent. It was the ideal combination of complete silence and beautiful surroundings.
The next day we decided to continue on by walking up the mountain railway. Running from Pant, near Merthyr Tydfil, along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir to Torpantau, high in the Brecon Beacons. This was a new experience for me, and what was even cooler is that we could stand outside on the far end of each carriage for a more spectacular view. The train sounded great and it was amazing to see the smoke pour over the top of our heads as we were hit by small pieces of coal.
After this we thought sod it, let's climb a mountain...
...so we found our way to the bottom of Pen Y Fan. What we didn’t realise though is that naturally we chose the hardest route to walk, even after being told not to. But it didn’t stop us, we found ourselves at the top in around an hour and a half and it really did feel like a crazy achievement. The time it took to get up to the top probably doesn’t sound that long, but some areas were so steep that we did struggle. We took the easy way down and the next morning we didn’t want to go home straight away, so we spent the day at Barry Island and had a wander around before setting off for home.
I broke down on the way home after dropping off Natalie, but it was only my ignition coil. There was a helpful chap who was great and sorted me out a new one, he also made me a cuppa! Spot on.
Want to say thank you to Gather.ly for supporting the trip, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. Also a big thanks to Natalie for keeping me in good company for the whole trip!
Check out more of Joe's work on his own Instagram, and follow Gather.ly on Instagram for more artist takeovers in the coming weeks.
Next up is the super talented Cleo Glover on Sunday 10th August!
