Y Darren Widdon in Winter

I still remember seeing Y Darren Widdon for the first time. A friend had bought a house in Ystalyfera and brought me over to see it. I’d never heard of Ystalyfera, let alone been there before. Coming off the Aubrey roundabout and towards Tesco, the Darren was suddenly right there looming. Nearly a decade on and I’m still fascinated by it on a daily basis. I’m always looking at the details, spotting the zig zag pathways, the little waterfalls that appear on rainy days, but perhaps the biggest thing is the colours. The mountain changes dramatically over the course of the year with the light and the foliage. In winter it has this incredible ‘alpenglow’ at sunset.

This shot taken in mid-January shows the texture of the mountain even more with the snow and frost. A fairly rare sight nowadays, so I’m glad I had the chance to capture it.

Y Darren Widdon, Glanyrafon, Ystalyfera
January 2023