Seconds.Of.Sound (S.O.S) urges you to dedicate moments to listening.
Accompanying a series of walks between every public library (45) in Suffolk, the recordings here are moments from these walks and places.
S.O.S was created by Martin Scaiff, director of the HomeSounds project, through his role as Environmentalist in Residence for Suffolk Libraries from April to October 2024. The residency was generously supported by Arts Council England.
Accompanying a series of walks between every public library (45) in Suffolk, the recordings here are moments from these walks and places.
S.O.S was created by Martin Scaiff, director of the HomeSounds project, through his role as Environmentalist in Residence for Suffolk Libraries from April to October 2024. The residency was generously supported by Arts Council England.
You can choose to listen only, or listen and contribute to the work of the HomeSounds project by purchasing individual tracks, albums or the whole collection. Click here to learn more.
I was imagining a glowing feeling of satisfaction as I dropped my final steps into Lavenham. In reality, they felt leaden and my capacity to listen seemed low.
On the walk leading up to these moments, I had passed through the eerily empty-sounding fields around Glemsford, the bustle of Long Melford, the working acoustics of Sudbury, and the feature-restricted farmland leading to Lavenham.
I felt a strong sense of gratitude for the opportunity to make the walk at all, whatever the acoustic habitat happened to be, and celebrate, even in tiredness, the glorious practice of soundwalking.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 23rd October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339597/glemsford-to-long-melford-to-sudbury-to-lavenham?lat=52.075566&lon=0.696031&zoom=11.9940&style=Leisure&type=2d
On the walk leading up to these moments, I had passed through the eerily empty-sounding fields around Glemsford, the bustle of Long Melford, the working acoustics of Sudbury, and the feature-restricted farmland leading to Lavenham.
I felt a strong sense of gratitude for the opportunity to make the walk at all, whatever the acoustic habitat happened to be, and celebrate, even in tiredness, the glorious practice of soundwalking.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 23rd October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339597/glemsford-to-long-melford-to-sudbury-to-lavenham?lat=52.075566&lon=0.696031&zoom=11.9940&style=Leisure&type=2d
The end is nigh, and it was changing how I thought about recording. Being a little tired, both physically and of walking miles across barren, at times depressing, farmland, meant I was having to train myself to try and find a nuanced narrative in my acoustic habitats.
This effort was rewarded with the growth of a reaffirming feeling of beauty to be found even in the seemingly most uninspiring of places. This is something that has slowly developed across my walks; a sense that if I just kept listening, with care and attention, if I developed my zanshin, I would find something worth waiting for.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 16th October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339567/haverhill-to-kedington-to-clare-to-glemsford?lat=52.100836&lon=0.435893&zoom=9.6810&style=Standard&type=2d
This effort was rewarded with the growth of a reaffirming feeling of beauty to be found even in the seemingly most uninspiring of places. This is something that has slowly developed across my walks; a sense that if I just kept listening, with care and attention, if I developed my zanshin, I would find something worth waiting for.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 16th October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339567/haverhill-to-kedington-to-clare-to-glemsford?lat=52.100836&lon=0.435893&zoom=9.6810&style=Standard&type=2d
Coming into the final 3 walks of this residency I am scouring the map for stories, locations and potential sounds. Not out of desperation, but a predictable push towards a final flourish.
Pressure meets conclusion meets anticipation. Fortunately, the confidence comes in knowing from experience that the blessing of just walking and listening will provide.
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 8th October, 2024
OS Route Map - explore.osmaps.com/route/21339526/newmarket-to-haverhill-?lat=52.298665&lon=0.145453&zoom=9.3822&style=Leisure&type=2d
Pressure meets conclusion meets anticipation. Fortunately, the confidence comes in knowing from experience that the blessing of just walking and listening will provide.
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 8th October, 2024
OS Route Map - explore.osmaps.com/route/21339526/newmarket-to-haverhill-?lat=52.298665&lon=0.145453&zoom=9.3822&style=Leisure&type=2d
I’ve titled this walk ‘The Three Rivers’, crossing as it does the River’s Lark, Kennet, and given my various injuries the appositely named, Snail. These are not, however, the only waters en route as the track will pass reservoirs and canals, bridge brooks, step across fen channels and stop at ponds.
Given the recent arrival of autumnal rain it felt fitting then that I should focus on sounds heard on, around and below the waterline, and listen as acoustic energy moves through, and changes depending on, the material through which it is traveling.
This material change is yet another aspect of environmental sound that is so often experienced, but little considered, along with thought of how the nature of our movements, and the habitats in which they happen, influence how we are heard.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 2nd October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339507/mildenhall-to-newmarket?lat=52.300485&lon=0.403615&zoom=11.0375&style=Leisure&type=2d
Given the recent arrival of autumnal rain it felt fitting then that I should focus on sounds heard on, around and below the waterline, and listen as acoustic energy moves through, and changes depending on, the material through which it is traveling.
This material change is yet another aspect of environmental sound that is so often experienced, but little considered, along with thought of how the nature of our movements, and the habitats in which they happen, influence how we are heard.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 2nd October, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339507/mildenhall-to-newmarket?lat=52.300485&lon=0.403615&zoom=11.0375&style=Leisure&type=2d
Arriving at Brandon Library at the end of last week’s walk, I fell into conversation with the librarian, a keen local wildlife and habitat enthusiast, and together we scoped out a number of possible routes for today’s walk.
In the end, I decided to take her knowledgable advice and follow the Hereward Way from Brandon as it tracks both the Little Ouse River and main train line to Cambridge. If I carried straight on this path at Lakenheath I would find myself in deep Fen country, and off-track. Instead I turned left, working my way clockwise round the huge American airbase, in lock-step with Cut-Off Channel, and on the listen-out for all things flying, both living and dead.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 25th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339498/brandon-to-lakenheath-to-mildenhall?lat=52.405714&lon=0.499922&zoom=10.6809&style=Leisure&type=2d
In the end, I decided to take her knowledgable advice and follow the Hereward Way from Brandon as it tracks both the Little Ouse River and main train line to Cambridge. If I carried straight on this path at Lakenheath I would find myself in deep Fen country, and off-track. Instead I turned left, working my way clockwise round the huge American airbase, in lock-step with Cut-Off Channel, and on the listen-out for all things flying, both living and dead.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 25th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339498/brandon-to-lakenheath-to-mildenhall?lat=52.405714&lon=0.499922&zoom=10.6809&style=Leisure&type=2d
Ancient paths through modern habitats - This week’s walk began in historic Bury St Edmunds, followed the Lark Valley path (or St Edmunds Way) up to West Stow and its reconstructed Anglo Saxon Village.
From here the route headed north along possibly one of the oldest routes in Britain, the Icknield Way, this section of which cuts a direct line through the modern, and systematic, Kings Forest. At Shelterhouse Corner I turned North West, bee-lining for Brandon through Thetford Forest, and upon the Brecks, the ‘broken ground’.
Rich historical romance, imagined prehistoric travelers and the hope of sight of rare living others commune in the mind with the often dull monotone of commercial forest and the brutal realities of what made it so. The perfect playground for story games, and hearing things that aren’t there.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 18th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/23402928/bury-st-edmunds-to-brandon?lat=52.435214&lon=0.620116&zoom=14.9689&style=Leisure&type=2d
From here the route headed north along possibly one of the oldest routes in Britain, the Icknield Way, this section of which cuts a direct line through the modern, and systematic, Kings Forest. At Shelterhouse Corner I turned North West, bee-lining for Brandon through Thetford Forest, and upon the Brecks, the ‘broken ground’.
Rich historical romance, imagined prehistoric travelers and the hope of sight of rare living others commune in the mind with the often dull monotone of commercial forest and the brutal realities of what made it so. The perfect playground for story games, and hearing things that aren’t there.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 18th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/23402928/bury-st-edmunds-to-brandon?lat=52.435214&lon=0.620116&zoom=14.9689&style=Leisure&type=2d
Five libraries plot the key waypoints on the map of this walk. At just over eighteen miles this was the longest of all my walks so far, but with a temperamental knee the train line that links four of the five target libraries provided much needed assistance.
The route followed this train line closely, save for a sharp right angle turn at Thurston to trek the course of a roman road up to Ixworth. This turn brought welcome relief from the din of road and rail, so prominent in the previous walk to Elmswell.
The map suggested a quick-changing route overall, mixing farm field, lane, path, wood, church and track until crossing into the eastern suburbs of Bury. The map mark of the remains of an Augustinian priory at Ixworth promised sanctuary to the imagination. Temporally, I wondered what quality of acoustic respite the site offered a modern pilgrim?
Date of Walk: Friday, 13th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339452/elsmwell-to-thurston-to-ixworth-to-moreton-hall-to-bury-at-edmunds?lat=52.262427&lon=0.782851&zoom=11.6840&style=Leisure&type=2d
The route followed this train line closely, save for a sharp right angle turn at Thurston to trek the course of a roman road up to Ixworth. This turn brought welcome relief from the din of road and rail, so prominent in the previous walk to Elmswell.
The map suggested a quick-changing route overall, mixing farm field, lane, path, wood, church and track until crossing into the eastern suburbs of Bury. The map mark of the remains of an Augustinian priory at Ixworth promised sanctuary to the imagination. Temporally, I wondered what quality of acoustic respite the site offered a modern pilgrim?
Date of Walk: Friday, 13th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339452/elsmwell-to-thurston-to-ixworth-to-moreton-hall-to-bury-at-edmunds?lat=52.262427&lon=0.782851&zoom=11.6840&style=Leisure&type=2d
In the interests of longevity, I had to stop midway through the last walk as my left knee just wouldn’t stop aching. Rest helped, which meant I could tackle this three-library trek.
Multiple lines of animal, vegetable and mineral traffic flow between these libraries using road, rail, river and footpath. To save my ears I’ll be avoiding proximity to the A14 as much as possible, though the demands of my knee for as straight a route as possible will have to be considered.
Whilst it’s possible that pain, whether from within or without, may influence my flow, I hope the power of detour and discovery to restore health will cast the deciding vote.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 4th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339392/needham-market-to-stowmarket-to-elmswell?lat=52.200419&lon=0.913261&zoom=10.5204&style=Leisure&type=2d
Multiple lines of animal, vegetable and mineral traffic flow between these libraries using road, rail, river and footpath. To save my ears I’ll be avoiding proximity to the A14 as much as possible, though the demands of my knee for as straight a route as possible will have to be considered.
Whilst it’s possible that pain, whether from within or without, may influence my flow, I hope the power of detour and discovery to restore health will cast the deciding vote.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 4th September, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339392/needham-market-to-stowmarket-to-elmswell?lat=52.200419&lon=0.913261&zoom=10.5204&style=Leisure&type=2d
This walk cut south and across the Roman stretch of the A140, the main road between Norwich and Ipswich. Infamous for its straight slowness, the road represents an East Anglian reputation for being somewhat hard to get into and around and, in ways more than one, behind the times.
This walk took a more circuitous route, hopefully demonstrating that driving a small, noisy, busy and slow straight road may, in the final reckoning, add less to life than navigating a narrow, less noisy, windy and slower route on foot…as long as the weather’s alright…and you’ve got the right clothes…
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 21st August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339307/eye-to-needham-market?lat=52.153333&lon=1.057736&zoom=16.0000&style=Leisure&type=2d
This walk took a more circuitous route, hopefully demonstrating that driving a small, noisy, busy and slow straight road may, in the final reckoning, add less to life than navigating a narrow, less noisy, windy and slower route on foot…as long as the weather’s alright…and you’ve got the right clothes…
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 21st August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339307/eye-to-needham-market?lat=52.153333&lon=1.057736&zoom=16.0000&style=Leisure&type=2d
Stradbroke to Eye as the crow flies is only 5 miles, so to enrich this walk I added the ancient settlement of Hoxne to the route. Field, farm and village provide the ground for most of this walk, but for the last 5 miles I will loosely follow the flow of the beautifully named River Dove, hoping to gain access to the riverbank whenever possible, access that, from the map, appears very limited. Maps being movable feasts, opportunities to move through the cooler riverside air and dip hydrophones into the water are keen motivators for some side-dish tastings.
Early hand axes found at Hoxne date from 400,000 years BP (Before Present). The presence of these ancestors of the Neanderthals occurred towards a cooling phase of an Interglacial period, which, according to the physical anthropologist Chris Stringer, “took with it the lush river valleys, forests and grasslands on which the herds of horses and deer, and their hunters, relied.” What imaginings present themselves of the acoustic habitat of that period!
Date of Walk: Thursday, 15th August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339257/stradbroke-to-eye?lat=52.341322&lon=1.144115&zoom=10.6246&style=Standard&type=2d
Early hand axes found at Hoxne date from 400,000 years BP (Before Present). The presence of these ancestors of the Neanderthals occurred towards a cooling phase of an Interglacial period, which, according to the physical anthropologist Chris Stringer, “took with it the lush river valleys, forests and grasslands on which the herds of horses and deer, and their hunters, relied.” What imaginings present themselves of the acoustic habitat of that period!
Date of Walk: Thursday, 15th August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339257/stradbroke-to-eye?lat=52.341322&lon=1.144115&zoom=10.6246&style=Standard&type=2d
This walk takes me through Suffolk country completely unknown to me. Open the Ordnance Survey app and zoom out on aerial mode and all you see is a line cutting through the ubiquitous and never-duplicated four-sided shapes of farm fields. Some are light green in colour, some dark…some brown.
Framlingham, Dennington, Maypole Green, Tannington, Wilby…Oak, Green, Rokeby, Chestnut Tree, Prospect House, Trust, Garnhams, Saxsted Bottom…Can the topography and toponomy of these places can tell us something about what to expect from its summer day soundscape?
Barren field winds, small communities of vocalising birdlife in patches of woodland, the scruffling of startled mammals, the abrasive rush of tyre on tarmac…It depends how you listen.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 7th August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339234/framlingham-to-stradbroke?lat=52.274702&lon=1.266446&zoom=11.8075&style=Leisure&type=2d
Framlingham, Dennington, Maypole Green, Tannington, Wilby…Oak, Green, Rokeby, Chestnut Tree, Prospect House, Trust, Garnhams, Saxsted Bottom…Can the topography and toponomy of these places can tell us something about what to expect from its summer day soundscape?
Barren field winds, small communities of vocalising birdlife in patches of woodland, the scruffling of startled mammals, the abrasive rush of tyre on tarmac…It depends how you listen.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 7th August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339234/framlingham-to-stradbroke?lat=52.274702&lon=1.266446&zoom=11.8075&style=Leisure&type=2d
For this walk, I followed the natural course of the River Blyth, the ancient roman-made road from Peasenhall to Badingham, and the modern man-made paths, tracks and lanes that connect these with Halesworth and Framlingham libraries.
Woodland and river acoustic habitats dominated the early sections of the walk, slowly modulating into the sounds of farm and village. A relatively long walk (16 miles), I started just before official dawn, a status of time that sound, like light, acknowledges only as a bit-part player in the transition from one state to another.
Date of Walk: Friday, 2nd August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339205/halesworth-to-framlingham?lat=52.224403&lon=1.341394&zoom=15.3601&style=Leisure&type=2d
Woodland and river acoustic habitats dominated the early sections of the walk, slowly modulating into the sounds of farm and village. A relatively long walk (16 miles), I started just before official dawn, a status of time that sound, like light, acknowledges only as a bit-part player in the transition from one state to another.
Date of Walk: Friday, 2nd August, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339205/halesworth-to-framlingham?lat=52.224403&lon=1.341394&zoom=15.3601&style=Leisure&type=2d
Farms Farms Farms! Save for the beginning and end, this route almost exclusively travelled through and across areas of classic Suffolk farmland. The paths are established, as are the lanes and tracks identified by the route map. The question was whether the acoustic habitat will be as predictable as the physical habitat might suggest? Rustling crops, swathes of wind pricked by bursts of songs and calls from birds well adapted to this kind of habitat (in some cases bucking the narrative of species decline and adding nuance to the debates around biodiversity loss). The only way to begin to answer this question is to get out there and listen.
Date of Walk: Monday, 15th July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339116/bungay-to-halesworth?lat=52.404180&lon=1.412129&zoom=11.2814&style=Standard&type=2d
Date of Walk: Monday, 15th July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339116/bungay-to-halesworth?lat=52.404180&lon=1.412129&zoom=11.2814&style=Standard&type=2d
The songs of the marshes surrounded me on this walk along the Angles Way and the River Waveney. Carlton, Share, Castles, Beccles Barsham, Shipmeadow, Benstead, Geldeston and Broome give names to this special wetland landscape. How did the acoustic habitat reflect these namescapes?
The route followed the riverbank to Beccles, from where it cut through farmland, wood and meadow to Bungay. Unique wildlife encounters, the sounds of shifting ground and the mild summer hubbub of a regional town were all expected.
Date of Walk: Monday, 18th July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339035/oulton-broad-to-beccles-to-bungay?lat=52.474506&lon=1.551663&zoom=10.5206&style=Leisure&type=2d
The route followed the riverbank to Beccles, from where it cut through farmland, wood and meadow to Bungay. Unique wildlife encounters, the sounds of shifting ground and the mild summer hubbub of a regional town were all expected.
Date of Walk: Monday, 18th July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21339035/oulton-broad-to-beccles-to-bungay?lat=52.474506&lon=1.551663&zoom=10.5206&style=Leisure&type=2d
It was another dawn beginning for this walk, putting foot to ground at 4am outside Kessingland Library. Last week’s inspiring walk from Southwold to Kessingland mostly tuned into some wonders of Suffolk coast’s biophony. This week’s walk inevitably listenined more closely to the area’s anthrophony which, perhaps surprisingly, often forms a large part of a place’s acoustic habitat before most humans are awake.
The walk followed the Suffolk Coast Path from Kessingland along Pakefield Cliffs and up into Lowestoft Library. From here I visited the most easterly point in the UK, Point Ness, before doubling back and walking to Oulton Broad. From here it was on to the ‘ophonies of Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve. More doubling back saw me arrive at Oulton Broad Library just in time for opening.
Date of Walk: Tuesday 2nd July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/22208618/kessingland-to-lowestoft-to-oulton-broad?lat=52.451811&lon=1.711804&zoom=11.9611&style=Leisure&type=2d
The walk followed the Suffolk Coast Path from Kessingland along Pakefield Cliffs and up into Lowestoft Library. From here I visited the most easterly point in the UK, Point Ness, before doubling back and walking to Oulton Broad. From here it was on to the ‘ophonies of Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve. More doubling back saw me arrive at Oulton Broad Library just in time for opening.
Date of Walk: Tuesday 2nd July, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/22208618/kessingland-to-lowestoft-to-oulton-broad?lat=52.451811&lon=1.711804&zoom=11.9611&style=Leisure&type=2d
In celebration of midsummer day, this walk followed the sounds of the rising sun along the shifting sands of East Suffolk. Local advice suggested it wasn’t possible to walk the whole route along the beach due to erosion, so zigzagging inland and outland was the order of the day. The acoustic habitats of Easton, Covehithe and Benacre Broads as well as Kessingland marshes drew the ear to their summer solstice chorus.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 24th June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250437/southwold-to-kessingland?lat=52.378448&lon=1.669379&zoom=11.5686&style=Leisure&type=2d
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 24th June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250437/southwold-to-kessingland?lat=52.378448&lon=1.669379&zoom=11.5686&style=Leisure&type=2d
Farmland, forest and ferries, along with commons, heaths and marshes, all played a role in this walk. The potential for biophonically rich acoustic habitats was good as I returned to the sea.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 17th June 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250425/saxmundham-to-southwold?lat=52.284725&lon=1.490878&zoom=10.0751&style=Leisure&type=2d
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 17th June 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250425/saxmundham-to-southwold?lat=52.284725&lon=1.490878&zoom=10.0751&style=Leisure&type=2d
This walk took in 3 libraries, 3 towns, 3 villages, woods, heathland, beach, a meare, coverts, a dismantled railway, farmland, manors and meadow minks.
Starting in Aldeburgh I followed the coast road with one ear on the sea, and the other on North Warren Nature Reserve. Crossing Thorpeness common I navigated some of the many path options through Aldringham cum Thorpe, taking the old railway line and Grimsey’s Lane into Leiston. From here it’s farmland all the way except for occasional gangs of trees herding together as if surrounded by a farm army. I expected the quick transition from coast to heath to wood to farmland to yield similar speed changes in acoustic habitat - but did it?…
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 10th June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250414/aldeburgh-to-leiston-to-saxmundham?lat=52.194245&lon=1.492329&zoom=10.6732&style=Leisure&type=2d
Starting in Aldeburgh I followed the coast road with one ear on the sea, and the other on North Warren Nature Reserve. Crossing Thorpeness common I navigated some of the many path options through Aldringham cum Thorpe, taking the old railway line and Grimsey’s Lane into Leiston. From here it’s farmland all the way except for occasional gangs of trees herding together as if surrounded by a farm army. I expected the quick transition from coast to heath to wood to farmland to yield similar speed changes in acoustic habitat - but did it?…
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 10th June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250414/aldeburgh-to-leiston-to-saxmundham?lat=52.194245&lon=1.492329&zoom=10.6732&style=Leisure&type=2d
This week’s walk took me through some classic, and iconic, Suffolk landscapes. From Wickham Market I walked to the medieval villages of Campesia and Esce (now Campsey Ash), crossing the train tracks just below the not-actually-in-Wickham-Market train station, and on, to the only marginally more modern settlement of Tunstall and its common, into which acoustic habitat the breathless Nightjar and delicate Woodlark send their song. This led me into the pines of man-made Tunstall Forest, on past Snape Maltings with its rich reed beds and marsh, to join the Sandlings Walk and Sailor’s Path straight-tracking the River Alde. More woods, warrens, marshes and plantations provided the backdrop before I joined the ever-busying main road into Aldeburgh itself.
An acoustically rich walk of subtle sounds was expected, except if the weather turned….
Date of Walk: Monday, 3rd June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250382/wickham-market-to-aldeburgh?lat=52.171833&lon=1.364029&zoom=9.7249&style=Leisure&type=2d
An acoustically rich walk of subtle sounds was expected, except if the weather turned….
Date of Walk: Monday, 3rd June, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250382/wickham-market-to-aldeburgh?lat=52.171833&lon=1.364029&zoom=9.7249&style=Leisure&type=2d
Starting in the centre of Woodbridge, this walk was all about crossings. Rivers, roads, bridges, train lines and parish boundaries were all traversed as I negotiated my way with the River Deben through Ufford, Eyke, Rendlesham and Campsea Ash, finally crossing Wickham bridge into the town itself. The extent to which the acoustic habitats we travel through conform to these physical boundaries was an ever-present consideration.
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 26th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250349/woodbridge-to-wickham-market?lat=52.130913&lon=1.317502&zoom=11.3574&style=Standard&type=2d
Date of Walk: Wednesday, 26th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250349/woodbridge-to-wickham-market?lat=52.130913&lon=1.317502&zoom=11.3574&style=Standard&type=2d
Starting in remote Hollesly, home to two prison libraries at Hollesly Bay and Warren Hill, this walk began at All Saints Church and made its way through the infamous Rendlesham Forest, across the River Deben and up into Woodbridge itself.
There is nowhere better on hot day than a cool forest, and this unique atmosphere is enhanced by its acoustic habitat, where sound bounces off the leaves and trees, keeping it from escaping or leaking in, to create a profound sense of intimacy with nature. The acoustic habitats of forests inspire human imaginations and emotions probably more than any other. Add in the secrecy of a military airbase and a conspiracy of UFO sightings and people start to hear, and see, all manner of things that aren’t really there….
Date of Walk: Thursday, 20th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250324/hollesly-to-warren-hill-to-woodbridge?lat=52.083091&lon=1.364454&zoom=12.3640&style=Leisure&type=2d
There is nowhere better on hot day than a cool forest, and this unique atmosphere is enhanced by its acoustic habitat, where sound bounces off the leaves and trees, keeping it from escaping or leaking in, to create a profound sense of intimacy with nature. The acoustic habitats of forests inspire human imaginations and emotions probably more than any other. Add in the secrecy of a military airbase and a conspiracy of UFO sightings and people start to hear, and see, all manner of things that aren’t really there….
Date of Walk: Thursday, 20th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250324/hollesly-to-warren-hill-to-woodbridge?lat=52.083091&lon=1.364454&zoom=12.3640&style=Leisure&type=2d
This walk began in the industrial/urban coastal acoustic habitats of Felixstowe. Walking along the seafront, where there is a free exchange of sound between the town and the sea, I took the foot ferry across the River Deben. From here I walked a section of the Suffolk Coast path that edges Bawdsey Marshes up to Bawdsey itself. My route continued along the famous Shingle Street, past Oxley Marshes, finishing with a lie down in the yard of All Saints Church, Hollesly.
On this walk I hoped to hear how far the sounds of industry carry into the small and relatively remote communities of Bawdsey and Hollesly, and discover when and where this remoteness becomes real in sound. Oddly, the recordings don’t really capture this, and the experience of this isolation will remain personal.
Date of Walk: Thursday, 13th May, 2024
OS route map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250299/felixstowe-to-hollesly-bay?lat=52.008705&lon=1.361759&zoom=11.8637&style=Leisure&type=2d
On this walk I hoped to hear how far the sounds of industry carry into the small and relatively remote communities of Bawdsey and Hollesly, and discover when and where this remoteness becomes real in sound. Oddly, the recordings don’t really capture this, and the experience of this isolation will remain personal.
Date of Walk: Thursday, 13th May, 2024
OS route map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21250299/felixstowe-to-hollesly-bay?lat=52.008705&lon=1.361759&zoom=11.8637&style=Leisure&type=2d
Easy to map given the limitations in available routes, and to take in as much wild experience as possible after the experience on the Orwell Bridge in the previous walk, the route from Ipswich to Felixstowe navigated as much of the woodland, river, marshes and estuary mud as possible.
The engine from what must have been a super-tanker could be heard and felt in both the air and the ground from 9 miles away, with its soporific vibration offering a welcome sonic bed to the delicate movement of water through marsh mud and the smattering of calls from waders and woodland birds alike. For me this demonstrated it is possible to love a soundscape comprising anthrophony (human-generated sound) and biophony (sound created by non-human living organisms) in equal measure. Though this is probably only possible without too close an ear on the impact on the environment where this engine noise will most keenly be felt, below the waterline.
Date of Walk: Friday, 7th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21243508/rosehill-to-felixstowe?lat=52.010844&lon=1.180716&zoom=10.2336&style=Standard&type=2d
The engine from what must have been a super-tanker could be heard and felt in both the air and the ground from 9 miles away, with its soporific vibration offering a welcome sonic bed to the delicate movement of water through marsh mud and the smattering of calls from waders and woodland birds alike. For me this demonstrated it is possible to love a soundscape comprising anthrophony (human-generated sound) and biophony (sound created by non-human living organisms) in equal measure. Though this is probably only possible without too close an ear on the impact on the environment where this engine noise will most keenly be felt, below the waterline.
Date of Walk: Friday, 7th May, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21243508/rosehill-to-felixstowe?lat=52.010844&lon=1.180716&zoom=10.2336&style=Standard&type=2d
This walk took in all 6 of Ipswich’s public libraries and was the first opportunity to apply some urban field recording techniques. An early start allowed for a Dawn Chorus recording in Chantry Park, with the walk going on to chart a course crossing the River Gipping/Orwell at three ponts.
The last of these crossings was the substantial Orwell Bridge, itself dwarfed by a twelve line power pylon. The walk across the bridge was almost traumatic in its sonic experience. Even with some urban soundscape attunement achieved in the earlier sections of the walk, the sense of intense, dangerous isolation amongst the cacophonous noise in the middle of the bridge will remain with me forever.
Date of Walk: Monday, 29th April, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21243468/chantry-to-broomhill-to-ipswich-to-stoke-to-gainsborough-to-rosehill?lat=52.052465&lon=1.117023&zoom=11.5979&style=Standard&type=2d
The last of these crossings was the substantial Orwell Bridge, itself dwarfed by a twelve line power pylon. The walk across the bridge was almost traumatic in its sonic experience. Even with some urban soundscape attunement achieved in the earlier sections of the walk, the sense of intense, dangerous isolation amongst the cacophonous noise in the middle of the bridge will remain with me forever.
Date of Walk: Monday, 29th April, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21243468/chantry-to-broomhill-to-ipswich-to-stoke-to-gainsborough-to-rosehill?lat=52.052465&lon=1.117023&zoom=11.5979&style=Standard&type=2d
It could be expected that a good number of the proposed S.O.S walks will at some point follow a disused train line. This walk is the first, adopting as it does in part a former branch line of the London to Ipswich track that runs pretty straight between Hadleigh and Capel St Mary. I followed this track for a bit, turning off after Raydon Great Wood and walking across farmland to meet the Library at Capel.
It’s also the first walk that will encounter a main trunk road, the A12, the uncharismatic motivator for branch line removal. It was easy to imagine traveling by horse and cart between Lavenham and Hadleigh. This freedom of imagination was not possible here, even with the occasional horse encounter which, when they happen, are both anachronistic and welcome relief on seeing something other and alive.
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 23rd April, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21191719/hadleigh-to-capel-to-chantry?lat=52.003592&lon=1.049282&zoom=15.1635&style=Standard&type=2d
It’s also the first walk that will encounter a main trunk road, the A12, the uncharismatic motivator for branch line removal. It was easy to imagine traveling by horse and cart between Lavenham and Hadleigh. This freedom of imagination was not possible here, even with the occasional horse encounter which, when they happen, are both anachronistic and welcome relief on seeing something other and alive.
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 23rd April, 2024
OS Route Map: explore.osmaps.com/route/21191719/hadleigh-to-capel-to-chantry?lat=52.003592&lon=1.049282&zoom=15.1635&style=Standard&type=2d
There was no particular reason why I began my walks in Lavenham, beyond paying respect to the fact that we were in the area when inspiration struck, and we decided a series of walks between libraries might work as a way of inviting people to become more active in their environmental listening.
Built on middle ages wool wealth, Lavenham has obvious signs of aspic preservation alongside of course, through topography, toponomy and habitat, a broader sense of history in the landscape.
This walk took some established tracks and pathways and spent time considering how possible it is to preserve soundscapes as we do more easily visible historical artifacts. Is there any form of sonic legacy from this market town’s heyday, and if there is, where might we find it?
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 16th April, 2024
Route map for this walk - explore.osmaps.com/route/20929008/lavenham-to-hadleigh?lat=52.076883&lon=0.844287&zoom=12.2608&style=Leisure&type=2d
Built on middle ages wool wealth, Lavenham has obvious signs of aspic preservation alongside of course, through topography, toponomy and habitat, a broader sense of history in the landscape.
This walk took some established tracks and pathways and spent time considering how possible it is to preserve soundscapes as we do more easily visible historical artifacts. Is there any form of sonic legacy from this market town’s heyday, and if there is, where might we find it?
Date of Walk: Tuesday, 16th April, 2024
Route map for this walk - explore.osmaps.com/route/20929008/lavenham-to-hadleigh?lat=52.076883&lon=0.844287&zoom=12.2608&style=Leisure&type=2d