Ness: an audio landscape

Riparian Relaxation

This sound walk is an exploration of how the soundscape of the Suffolk village of Holbrook has changed over the last century. I have been working with members of the current community to explore their favourite village sounds, to question why some sounds disappear and to think about about what the village might sound like in the future. Using archive material and the biography of local man Warrenton Page, I have discovered that the working sounds of the village have all but disappeared. These unique sounds including the blacksmith, couriers, cobblers and field workers have been replaced with the drones of mechanised machinery and the internal combustion engine. Using OS Explorer map 197, the village has been split into 8 sections that correspond to the OS grid squares, and a composition written for each section that mixes village sounds past and present. Lost sounds have been recreated by me, and current sounds have been captured in field recordings gathered during 2024. Sounds have been manipulated, sliced, looped and blended to make a sonic portrait of the village over time. The putta-putta noise of the gas engine at the mill now floats in and around the sound of chainsaws and Apache helicopters. The rooks of Clench road scream to be heard above the drones of combine harvesters and irrigation systems. The creaking leather of the cobbler loops around a self service machine at the supermarket. The ultrasonic rumbles of an oil boiler drift under the clicks of a semi-frozen heat-source pump. Each geolocated area uses a a graphic score for its arrangement; contour lines, footpath routes, locations of water and of woodland inform each piece. By clicking through to the individual tracks, listeners can discover which historical and modern sounds are represented. The soundwalk is a work in progress. Five compositions representing five OS grid squares are available now, and three more will appear over time until the whole village has been mapped sonically.

Kensington Gardens was built in 1922 in the inter-war period as a public works project for unemployed men coming back from WW1. Much of the landscaping is from reused concrete, which shows that Lowestoft was into recycling before recycling became popular. The Japanese inspired theme was popular at the time and reflected what Lowestoft thought looked oriental, even if a real Japanese visitor would look at the garden in puzzlement. Nonetheless Kensington Gardens, with its genteel Edwardian style, peaceful atmosphere and quiet nooks to sit and ponder, is lovely by any measure. While you're here, please enjoy the Tea Room. There's nothing finer than a lovely summer day and sitting outside with a cream tea and watching the bowlers. You can see more views of Kensington Garden throughout the years at http://www.lowestofthistory.com/places/kensington.html

Lowestoft was heavily bombed in both WW1 and WW2. It was on of the first towns in the UK to be hit by bombs from the air during a zepplin raid in 1916. In WW2, it had more bombs rained down on it per head of population than any town in the UK. We were bombed by zepplins, doodlebugs, rockets, phosphorous and conventional. We were bombed from the air and from the sea. This walk will show you the scars from the both wars as this town faced devastation from the east.

Before the Harbour and the cut to Lake Lothing was created, there was no real harbour here but a wide shingle beach. You could walk across from Kirkley to Lowestoft. If the tide was high sometimes men would carry people on their backs through knee-deep water. Lake Lothing, in Oulton Broad, was a freshwater lake completely divorced from the sea. In the 1830's and 40's a group of men wanted to create a way to get merchant boats up to Norwich without having to pass through (and pay the tolls to) Great Yarmouth and so created a series of cuts and canals through the Broads and by way of Lake Lothing that linked Lowestoft to Norwich. Then they went bankrupt. Good idea. Bad accounting. Sir Morton Peto saw the potential of turning Lowestoft from a sleepy fishing village to a major port and stepped to in finish dredging, build a proper harbour and lay down the most easterly rail line in Britain. Within the space of 15 years, Lowestoft changed completely. The town went from pastoral to posh in the space of a generation. The Royal Plain and the South Pier were two early tourist developments and were immediately ringed with grand hotels, a promenades and soon, a bustling town with trendy shops and fancy houses. A bridge was built, the first of several, linking this part of Peto's new development with the old High Street and the fishermen's beach village and soon 1850's Lowestoft was one long, narrow town stretching from the High Light to Carlton Road. This area was the gateway to the south part of Lowestoft and has grown, changed, been demolished and rebuilt along with each phase of the town's development.

Scores are unique to the eastern area of Suffolk, where many ‘beach’ families resided. The scores were believed to have ancient origins and were formed over many years by footsteps eroding paths into the soft sloping cliffs leading to the beach, eventually forming the footpaths, with steps added to some. Although the exact origin of the word score is unknown, it is thought it could be a corruption of ‘scour’ or possibly from the Old English ‘skor’, which means to make or cut a line. Over the centuries scores were established connecting the beach to the main road through the north end of town. The Beach Village (demolished in a slum clearance program from 1955 to 1960’s) consisted of tiny rows of 17th and 18th century fisherman’s cottages, smokehouses and net yards. The scores formed a vital link between the town and the beach village, which was built on a cliff and joined to the high street above the village by the series of steep scores. The village housed much of Lowestoft’s fishing communities through the centuries. The original town centre had large elegant 17th and 18th century merchants houses with terraced gardens known famously as the ‘hanging gardens’. Between the houses is where the pathways known as scores appeared. Since the decline of the beach village, the scores are not used so much. On this map are 11 of the scores that are still mostly complete and easy to access. Created by the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust Scores Project. Funded through Making Waves Together – National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and East Suffolk Council. Words by Lesley M. Bunn. Map created by Catherine Allen.

Sound Systems explores our very own individual theme tunes; the songs our nervous systems crave and sing. Produced by Roxanne Matthews and the BBC Voices team. You can discover the Young Norfolk Arts Collective’s own Sound Systems throughout Norfolk as part of the trail.

In 1260, Henry the Third gave permission to the town to enclose itself with a wall. The walls not only kept the invader out, but determined the size and shape of the town for many centuries as no one was permitted to live outside of the walls. By building in parallel lines, more space could be better utilized, and so around 150 Yarmouth rows were built. Not all the rows built in this time period have survived to this day. Factors such as bomb damage during World War One and World War Two, fires, and new buildings such as factories and new roads have meant that large portions do not exist. This trail map marks each row that still exists. It is advisable to start at Row 2, and work south, however if you do not have enough time to complete a full circuit, we recommend starting at Row 44 as many of the Rows from this one onwards are close together and easy to find. Created by the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust Rows Project. Funded through Making Waves Together – National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and East Suffolk Council. Trail map created by Catherine Allen, using predominantly sources from Colin Tookes book, The Rows of Great Yarmouth, and Yarmouth is an Antient Town by A. A. C. Hedges.

An audio tour of the historic Venetian Waterways, Ornamental Gardens & Boating Lake. Brought to you by Ian (Head Gardener).