Ballycastle Heritage Audio Walk

This echo walk provides historical information about the town and suggests moments of self-reflection.

The Glas-na-Bradan Wood Soundwalk: Listening for the Future by Robert Coleman and featuring a live performance by HIVE Choir In 2021 planting began at the Glas-na-Bradan Wood in the Belfast Hills. Since then composer and sound artist Robert Coleman has been following and documenting the growth of this new native forest. Through his research, field-recordings and interviews with the tree-planters, this soundwalk explores the site in its present day, its history and its potential in the future. Participants in the soundwalk will be guided along a route through the Glas-na-Bradan Wood. They will be introduced to the biodiversity there through listening to field-recordings which Robert recorded on-site over the last year through a variety of methods. This collected data and knowledge of the habitat allows for participants to also listen to the projected future soundscapes of the forest in years to come. This will facilitate a new mode of understanding the scale of changes taking place in our local environment and habitats, and in doing so provide an insight into the biodiversity on the island of Ireland. HIVE Choir will further explore these themes with a live on-site performance intertwined into the narrative of the walk. All this will be brought into the context of the local community at Glas-na-Bradan through recorded interviews with the tree-planters. Over the past two planting seasons they have shared their stories, connections to Glas-na-Bradan and hopes for the future of the site, while contributing to the future of this forest.

This is the first of my Chronicles walks (3.6 miles). You can start this walk at Helen's Bay Station or the beach car park, but I will describe the route from the Coastguard Avenue Car park. From the car park follow the main route, through the gates, down to the shore. Turn right and follow the coastal path all the way around Grey Point until you join Fort Road. Turn left and walk due South, cross the road into the beach car park and walk straight on, along the Columban Way to the station. There is an entrance into the station underpass to the right after the second bridge. Go through the underpass and exit the station. Go right on Bridge Road and then cross over and go up Golf Road. At the entrance to the Golf Course take the footpath on your right and follow this through the woods and down to the shore. Turn left and follow the beack back to Fort Road. Then retrace your steps along the beautiful coastal path. Note that there is a cut through at the end, if you can spot it. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

This is the second walk of the Chronicles of Clandeboye (2.6 miles). A good starting point is on the A2 dual carriageway, and then walk the route in either direction. I suggest anticlockwise, taking you a short distance along the dual carriageway before turning left along the track to Meadow Way in Crawfordsburn. Then turn right and descend to the village. Cross the road and look out for the path leading into the Crawfordsburn Counrty Park, between the hotel and the Spar shop. Skirt the woodland until you come to the viaduct, then make your way left and join the main entrance road to the park. Follow this to the entrance at Bridge Road and cross over into the Towns' Womens' Guild wood. Follow the path over the hill and join the Clandeboye Avenue at Sunnybrook farm, Then turn left and follow the avenue all the way back to your start point on the A2. An alternative route couldbe to start at Helen's Bay station and walk up the avenue to the dual carriageway and then back through Crawfordsburn, or start at Crawfordsburn. Soundtrack: Orchestral Scherzo by Daniel Williams

Embark on a captivating journey through Belfast's rich history and vibrant culture with "A Few Good Days in Belfast," an immersive audio walk designed to uncover the city's hidden stories and iconic landmarks. Guided by the engaging narration of the walks creator, Lughán Graham, listeners will trace the footsteps of Belfast's diverse communities, from the bustling markets of St. George's to the tranquil beauty of Cave Hill. Discover lesser-known tales, landmarks, and hidden gems that showcase Belfast's unique character and heritage, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the city's rich tapestry of cultures and traditions. Start your exploration of Belfast's past, present, and future today!

In order to get the best experience and to enjoy all of the available sounds, move slowly around the space to allow your GPS to keep up with your movements. When one of the sounds is activated, pause at the spot to hear the full recording. The sound is loudest in the centre of each circle and some of the recordings intentionally overlap, therefore at some points you may hear more than one recording at a time. Moving slowly towards the centre of each circle and away from the previous circle will ensure that you only hear one sound piece at a time. Beginning at the former site of McGurk's Bar, Never The Same allows the relatives of those killed in the McGurk's Bar Bombing of 1971 to share memories of their loved ones and explore the personal aspects of grief and loss. As you move around the locality, different audio recordings will become available. Fifteen people were killed in the bomb, including two children and many more were injured. At the 50th anniversary of the event, the families are still engaged in a 'Campaign for Truth' to uncover the facts about the bombing. Additional sound recordings will continue to be added over the course of 2021. CONTENT WARNING - SOME OF THESE SOUND RECORDINGS CONTAIN CONVERSATIONS THAT DISCUSS THE RESULTING IMPACT OF A PERSON OR PERSONS BEING KILLED BY A BOMB. THE DISCUSSIONS ARE NOT GRAPHIC IN NATURE BUT MAY BE UPSETTING TO SOME LISTENERS. **Listeners should be aware that these recordings have been made via online software in order to comply with Covid regulations and as such may contain some slight glitches. This is not an issue with the Echoes Explorer App**

​​Ella is searching for clues and patiently waiting for Noah's Ark to dock at Belfast harbour. Follow her voice on this audio walk and discover the people, buildings, and animals (real and imagined) of Belfast's Sailortown. Find the traces of Ella's story at the blue shapes on the map: Rectangular shapes are the main story points (Durations ~2:00-3:30); and Circles are short fragments echoing along the way (Durations ~ 0:10-0:30). If you want to follow Ella's path more closely, follow the rectangular main story points in number order 1 to 5. Your starting point will be Yorkgate Station Car Park (top left), moving to Benny's cafe, the Rotterdam Bar, the American Bar, the Skate Park on Little Patrick St (bottom left), then the deep dock (top right). Tap on the blue rectangles to check their numbers. But remember that Ella's story has got a bit jumbled up, so its ok to wander and find your own path through the locations on the map. Eventually you'll piece together some of the fragments of Ella's story, just as she is trying to piece together her plan. You can get a hint of the content for a location point by tapping on its marker on the map. Please listen through headphones and turn on your phone's WiFi to help improve your location accuracy. Please take care whilst navigating the streets - be mindful of traffic and be careful when crossing roads. Download the walk-in advance to prevent issues with mobile data streaming. If you have any questions or feedback about this Echoes audio walk experience please contact John D'Arcy - j.darcy@qub.ac.uk 'Two by Two: A Sailortown Fable' is based on 'TWO BY TWO' by Emily DeDakis. Read the full story and find out more about Emily’s artist residency with Household in Sailortown: https://householdbelfast.co.uk/project/two-by-two/ TEAM: Emily DeDakis- Writer & Producer Marty Byrne - Sound Designer & Composer John D’Arcy - Digital Producer & Audio Engineer Maeve Smyth - Voice Nongraphic (Sean Greer) - Graphic Designer Jane Butler & Household - Executive Producers For more information contact John D'Arcy j.darcy@qub.ac.uk / @_johndarcy

Peace Wall Belfast Soundwalks (sound walk at the Peace Wall Belfast) ~1hr15min A binaural immersive experience with six soundscapes composed to highlight relationships between realism and perception of different sonic markers or events occurring throughout the year. It questions how we listen to what we’re seeing, and what we’re seeing is it being heard? Join me for a binaural soundwalk exploring and listening to soundscapes inspired by the spaces surrounding the Peace Wall. What you need: Mobile phone + headphones/earphones Instructions: Go to one of the 6 locations on the map (listed below), walk into the circle, and audio will play (can press pause/play also). Each recording lasts 3 mins to allow you to then listen to the space. Locations: 1.St. Gall’s Ave (bottom) 2.St. Gall’s Ave -Bombay St (Green field) 3.Bombay St – Kashmir Rd 4.Cupar Way – Lawnbrook Ave 5.Cupar Way (middle) 6.Cupar Way – Conway St ///// More information about the Peace Walls: According to CAIN: “Peacelines, or peace walls, are physical barriers between the Protestant / Loyalist community and the Catholic / Nationalist community in certain areas in Northern Ireland. The walls are usually constructed of concrete, stone, and / or steel, and can be over 6 metres tall. The ‘official’ peacelines grew out of barricades that the local communities erected themselves during periods of intense conflict in 1969 (and in later years). When the British Army was deployed in August 1969 it replaced the existing barricades with barbed-wire barriers of its own. It had been hoped that these would only be needed temporarily. However, the barbed-wire barriers were replaced with more permanent structures and over the years new peace walls have been erected and older ones extended in length and height. The peacelines represent the most visible form of the ‘sectarian interfaces’ between the two main communities in Northern Ireland.” (Ulsteracuk, 2019) /// Thank you for visiting and experiencing this artistic research project. If you would like to fill out a quick survey about your experience today please click the link: https://forms.office.com/r/kTe0EMWstu Feel free to spread the message and share the link with whoever may be interested. /// **The project was first conceived in 2019, as part of my Masters in Research (MRes) final project for the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) at Queen's University Belfast.** More information about the full research and projects can be found here: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/peace-wall-belfast/ /// Information Creator: Georgios Varoutsos, PhD student at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast Website: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/