Urban Dwellers
Exploring entwined histories and urban entanglements through the sounds of Londons local wildlife. Urban Dwellers is a monthly radio show on Resonance FM, played on the 4th Friday of each month at 2pm and repeats the following Tuesday at 2pm.
Available to listen on 104.4fm or online at Resonance FM
Also available to listen back to any of the previous episodes on Resonance Mixcloud
September 2023
Episode 1: Hoxton follows the sounds within the compost at Hoxton Gardens, the ravens and crows at Shoreditch Park and conversations with Holmes the pig. With thanks to Stephen Mason, the community gardener at Hoxton and the volunteers at Spitalfields Farm.
October 2023
Episode 2: The Barbican and Cripplegate follows the hauntings of Cripplegate and its disappearance, the story behind one of the oldest trees in London and the sounds of Barbican’s cooing pigeons, water fountains and wildlife meadows.
November 2023
Episode 3: Barbican Wildlife Garden explores the sounds of a small wildlife garden on a stormy Wednesday morning, with sounds from under the pond as droplets of rain hit the surface, frogs sheltering under a tree and pigeons and sparrows looking for worms as the storm brings them out of hiding. With thanks to the Barbican Wildlife Garden, Lizzie Prescott Price and all the wonderful volunteer gardeners.
January 2024
Episode 4: The Thames takes you mudlarking under the millennium bridge finding bones, oyster shells, moss and lichen and investigating the historical role of the river in Londons urban identity. With thanks to Jo Sunderland from the Thames Explorer Trust.
February 2024
Episode 5: Eigg is a composition of sounds from the Bothy Residency on the Isle of Eigg and explores the caves, singing sands, rivers, forests and the whistling and rustlings of the island and the bothy. With thanks to the Bothy Project, Lucy Conway and the Eigg Singing Group and with support from Creative Scotland.
March 2024
Episode 6: Epping Forest explores the sounds within London’s largest forest. Following the stories of old friendships and ways of co-existence through the great oaks still scarred by lopping from hundreds of years ago, the great spotted woodpecker and its complex relationship with the trees and down beneath the bogs where you hear the creaking and knocking of branches against the city’s rubbish trapped in the bogland. With ‘The Shepards Tree’ a short poem by John Clare who once wrote his poems in a private asylum in the heart of the forest.
April 2024
Episode 7: Walthamstow Wetlands explores the sounds within Europes largest urban wetland. Listen to the complex ecosystem beneath the water, the sounds of swimming water boatmen and swollen-thighed beetles crawling across daisies and sit by the reservoirs as the waterfowl fish for their breakfast.
May 2024
Episode 8: Chelsea Physic Garden is a sound walk around Londons oldest botanical garden. With thanks to the gardeners and volunteers at Chelsea Physic Garden.
June 2024
Episode 9: Hampstead Heath takes a walk with anthropologist and Hampstead Heath volunteer Laura Spagliardi discussing biodiversity and re-wilding. Rummage through the hedgerows and listen to what a grass snake might hear when hiding in the heather.
October 2024
Episode 10: Brick Lane traces the overlapping territories of the most misunderstood creatures in the city. Listen to the sounds of the screaming foxes and scurrying squirrels as they tell stories of complex inter-species relationships against the backdrop of the famous bustling street in East London.
November 2024
Episode 11: Boundary Gardens explores the transitory sounds of autumn as you walk around and up the mound to Arnold Circus. Listen to the sparrows gather and the snails and slugs as they hide amongst the fallen leaves.
December 2024
Episode 12: Regents Canal takes you on a sound walk along the Towpath from Haggerston towards Bethnal Green. Listen to the canal boats from under the water and the piercing cries of gulls and coots as you follow them down a route over 200 years old.
February 2025
Episode 13: Calthorpe Gardens explores the sounds of a well loved community garden that almost became a block of office buildings. Crouch down to spot wild mushrooms, sit underneath a Cotoneaster tree as the thrushes nibble at its berries and trace the lost river fleet, its healing wells and those who might have tended to them.
March 2025
Episode 14: William Curtis Ecological Park takes a sound walk through the ghosts of one of Britain’s first ecological parks, one that only existed for 8 years yet made a lasting impact on Londons urban identity. Follow the river and learn about butterflies that would’ve pollinated the meadows and the changing colours of city moths as William Curtis instructs us how to catch them and hunt for frogs and minibeasts that were rescued by local school kids when the park was at its end.
April 2025
Episode 15: Stave Hill Ecological Park continues the journey from its predecessor the William Curtis Ecological Park. Sit on top of Stave Hill and listen to the songbirds melody rise above the cities drone, explore the remains of the docklands where sparrows dance in the dust and a grey heron snacks on frog spawn and savour the squeaking birch trees and other intimate sounds that might soon be lost to urban noise.
May 2025
Episode 16: Battersea explores the once derelict Battersea Power Station, the water that once cycled through it and the electricity it once generated. Listen as bees use electric fields to pollinate wisteria and peregrine falcons nest in the power stations chimney. Take a walk through Battersea Park as water runs from the thames to the old mill pond, through the steam turbines and finally to the fountains in pleasure gardens.
June 2025
Episode 17: Finsbury Circus explores the history of the City of Londons oldest and biggest park, recently re-opened after 10 years. Explore the great fen that stretched out over the city of London hundreds of years ago and the River Walbrook that passed through it, referenced in the new rain beds in the gardens. Hear about the Moor Fields, Londons first public open space and the burial grounds, roman roads and sections of the city wall that lie beneath its surface.
