The Loathsome Worm

4 ECHOES

Location: Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom

The Loathsome Worm is a mobile studio and workshop, catering for a great variety of recording projects.

In this proof of concept piece, we used the tale of The Lambton Worm to explore recording techniques, sound design and creative storytelling, and built a geolocated audio experience based around Cox Green and Penshaw Hill.

(If you are experiencing issues with ECHOES, you can find an alternative soundwalk here; https://linktr.ee/theloathsomeworm)

All narration and sound effects were created and recorded by the participants of our workshop at the Washington Arts Centre on February 25th, 2023.

The music was made using their suggestions, which included what instruments they felt reflected the time, as well as the mood of each chapter, and what instruments they felt created certain atmospheres; such as tension or joy.

If you would like contact us to discuss creating your own geolocated soundwalk, audiobook, or simply bringing a story to life, please e-mail us at;

theloathsomeworm@gmail.com

We can be as flexible as your imagination.

We'd like to extend a special thank you to Matthew Blyth, Daniel Appleby, and the Washington Arts Centre; our facilitators Jayne Dent, Mica Hind, and Ste Bardgett; and our participants Rhianna Ball, Amelie Costigan, Charlie Dipper, Lauren Muir, and Ashton Muncaster.

Concept and Design; Steven Chell and David Littlefair. Artwork; Spaghetti Quester (spaghettiquester@gmail.com).

Chapter One.

This is where our story begins. One Sunday morning, a young John Lambton skips church to go fishing in the River Wear.

Eventually, he catches a hideous worm-like creature, whcih he casts into a nearby well on his walk home.

1 sound

Chapter Two.

Time passed. John forgot about the worm, and went to fight in the Crusades. Over the years it contiued to grow, until it crawled out the well and coiled itself around a nearby hill.

It would terrorise the villagers, and devoured local livestock.

1 sound

Chapter Three.

Upon his return, John Lambton saw the destruction wrought upon the villlagers for the first time, and vowed to help them.

He sought the wisdom of a local wise hag on how to best slay the beast.

1 sound

Chapter Four.

With his specially crafted armour, he met the beast at it's river home. Impaling itself on the spikes as it coiled around him, the worm became weaker and weaker, until John was able to finally strike the finishing blow.

The villagers were safe once again.

1 sound

DOWNLOAD OUR APP TO DISCOVER THIS TOUR AND MANY OTHERS.

Or start creating tours, treasure hunts, POI maps... Just let your imagination guide you.

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