High Street Sound Walks
Historic England has worked with the National Trust and Sound UK to create a series of sound walks in six high streets across England for Heritage Open Days, from 10-19 September 2021.
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Barrow-in-Furness
Dan Fox’s sound walk explores the diversity of Barrow’s high street and the changes it has witnessed.
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Grantham
Sandra Kazlauskaite’s sound walk guides you through St Peter’s Hill and Westgate to unearth fascinating hidden histories across generations.
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Great Yarmouth
Wander this ancient walled town and hear how its streets have changed in a compelling sonic journey by Oliver Payne.
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Hull
This sound walk by Jez riley French evokes Whitefriargate’s history using a range of hidden, overlooked or usually inaudible sounds from the street.
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Reading
A sound walk by Aundre Goddard and Richard Bentley combining music and sound with real and imagined voices to tell the story of London Street.
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Redruth
This walk is made up of snippets of history, both old and contemporary, collected and reimagined by Sue Hill, Ciaran Clarke, Annamaria Murphy.
Six journeys of discovery
Each sound walk is a distinctive, immersive soundscape taking listeners on a journey of discovery. The walks bring hidden histories and stories to life, helping people to see their high street in a new light.
Listeners can take a self-guided route, supported by an illustrated map created for each place. The walks will encourage people to slow down, pause and reflect, and experience their environment in a new way.
Sound artists have worked with communities to collect stories so that each sound walk is informed by and represents authentic local voices and experiences. These works connect listeners with the people, past and present, who have made their high street what it is today, transforming the everyday into something magical.
The six sound walks have launched as part of Heritage Open Days and are available here and in accessible formats. Historic England has worked with writer and subtitling specialist Mark Kirkbride to produce creative writing pieces that interpret the sound walks for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. These are available alongside the sound walk audio via the links above.
High Street Sound Walks is a commission by Historic England, National Trust and Heritage Open Days with support from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and produced by Sound UK. It is part of the High Streets Heritage Action Zones Cultural Programme, led by Historic England.
Sound Walks is an exciting build on our previous work with artists. We’re thrilled to be working with Historic England with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery to bring the diverse, fascinating stories of our local high streets to life through work with local people and skilled artists.
Partners
