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.
