On Wednesday 18th July we celebrated World Listening Day by exploring Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve with our ears and microphones.
In the midst of a summer heat wave, we toured the reserve with Kirsty Groves, Education and Community Officer from Essex Wildlife Trust and discovered the aural impact the summer heat has had on the reserve.
As part of our The Year project, over the next 12 months we’re running a variety of projects for young people (11-25yrs) at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve, exploring some of the stories from Essex Wildlife’s oldest nature reserve through photography, filmmaking, animation, video games and more. Thanks to funding from Heritage Lottery Fund its all FREE!
Field Recordings and Hidden Soundscapes
Using field recordings and interviews at the nature reserve we’ve put together this short podcast, documenting the environmental sounds and how the weather has affected them.
On our walk around the reserve we visited different locations, discussing the different types of sounds, (weather, animals, machinery, human etc.) and also how the architecture of the space affected it.
In the heat of summer and with a dramatic lack of wind, sound travels further than you think – allowing us to easily hear the sounds of machinery from the other side of the river Colne and the distant chugging of diesel engines on fishing boats near Brightlingsea.
What Does Your Future Sound Like?
Our listening walk also coincided with World Listening Day, an ‘open source’ online campaign which invites you to “imagine sonic possible worlds and the future of acoustic ecology through sound walks, field recordings, site-specific performances, and curated events and concerts on the theme.” This years theme was “what does your future sound like”, which proved an interested topic of conversation amongst the group, thinking about how we transition from lo-fi countryside sonic environments to hi-fi city soundscapes throughout our lives.
