The Blyth Soundwalks, 2006

Listen

This work was commissioned by Rednile, a curatorial group based in the North-East of England. I produced a recorded soundwalk to be listened to on a choice of devices as walkers followed a chosen route around Blyth. There are two walks. The first takes in parts of the centre of Blyth, a long loop around Ridley Park and the Staithes, returning to the centre.

The second shorter walk circumnavigates a route to the east of the town centre and speculates on a possible Bohemian quarter in Blyth at some future date. Both walks have frequent stops where a variety of sounds originating from industrial and other sites flesh out this representation of Blyth's soundscape. There are several sonic layers to the recorded soundwalk.

Added to the ambient environmental sounds of the walk are the voices of the people of Blyth at work and play, the sounds of inside and outside spaces, of activated objects and structures both visible and invisible, near and far, along the walk. The spoken commentary, relevant or not, punctuates the overall sonic narrative. The friendship and kindness shown by the people of Blyth made this a most enjoyable project, as did those inimitable Northumbrian accents.