Stuart Bowditch Podcasts

In early May 2024 I went on a public walk around Middlewick Ranges as part of Jane's Walk Colchester 2024. The overriding theme of the walk was to raise awareness of the flora, fauna and diversity of habitats in this area, which is currently under threat of sale by the MoD and subsequent development of housing. So to aid the campaign of the good folk at Save The Middlewick Ranges, I got up early to get a pre-dawn recording of the nightingales, of which there is a significant national population, and other birds in the area. I located myself in a spot well know by the group to be amongst nightingale territories and captured 20 minutes (10 minutes here) of the glorious dawn chorus. Enjoy X

MODERN TENDRING VERNACULAR i Lone Pub ii Amusements iii St. Nicholas Rollercoaster iv Maltings Beep v Brenda’s Portal vi Old Batteries vii Redoubt viii The Naze ix Jaywick Bubbles All tracks are composed from donated, found and archival sounds from the Borough of Tendring in Essex. The work was performed in The Commons Cafe at The Minories on 7th March 2024. The project was funded by Creative Colchester as part of their First Thursdays Festival celebrating the city’s vibrant and diverse cultural scene. Many thanks to Emma Howe and Emma Barrow at The Minories, Marley and all at The Commons Cafe, Cameron Abbott-Betts, Matt Shenton, there are no birds here, Geoff Pearson and all of the people that donated and suggested sounds. CD and download available at https://hybernation.bandcamp.com/album/modern-tendring-vernacular

In 2009 I joined my friend, artist and activist Nicola Field on a March for Palestine through the streets of London to the Israeli embassy. Occupation persists and grows. Marches persist and grow. Hope persists and grows. Ceasefire now! X

In 2016 I was recording a variety of locations for the Essex Record Office Sound and Video Archive 'You Are Hear' project https://www.essexsounds.org.uk . One of the threads of interest were 'Quiet Places' so I headed out to the sea wall at Paglesham, near the final resting place of The Beagle (Darwin's Ship), next to the abandoned oyster beds, overlooking Potton Island across the River Roach. As I lay on the sea wall soaking up the warmth of the sun, 10 minutes or so in to the sounds of swaying grasses and foraging bees, my reverie is broken by the sound of a PA system being plugged in some distance away. Sound checking ensued and the moment of peace was gone. So I walked back to the Plough and Sail public house which was heaving with people so I followed the sound of the crowd. In the car park a Barn Dance had been set up and in the middle of it all was a man that I knew, Keith Baxter. He's a lovely guy, great musician and a member of the Famous Potatoes https://famouspotatoes.co.uk , and as it turns out a fantastic Barn Dance host.

A week before lockdown came in to force in the UK I recorded an interview with artist Terry Flower for the series of podcasts I did for Visit Stour Valley (available on Soundcloud and other platforms). He directed me to a lovely spot across the fields in some woods beside Belchamp Brook. I sat there for half an hour soaking up the atmosphere and contemplating the impending doom. There is plenty of spring bird activity including Chaffinch, Blackbird, Green Woodpecker, Great Tit, Pheasant, Jackdaw, Robin, Linnet, Blue Tit and Wren, plus a field full of sheep and some bird scarer explosions.

I put a call out for sounds, or suggestions of sound, from the borough of Tendring in Essex. Geoff, a volunteer at the High Lighthouse in Harwich, agreed to let me inside to make some recordings. I meet him on a very blustery and rainy day and he kindly let me spend some time alone in the building to capture the sound of the lively weather filtering through the building. The only internal sound you can hear is the fire alarm that needed its battery changing.

During a trip to India in January 2010 to stay with my housemates uncle in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, I visited the Ashram in Sabarmati, one of several ashram's that Gandhi stayed at between 1917 and 1933. www.gandhiashramsabarmati.org/en/

It had been several years since I was on Wallasea Island, so I was pleased to be back in one of my old haunts. I went with a very good friend that I was visiting over the festive period and we decided to go and watch the sunrise over Foulness Island, which is itself somewhere I have recorded and made work. https://essexmeme.fandom.com/wiki/Essexmeme_Wiki We arrived just as the gate to the RSPB reserve was opening (luck!) and parked up and made the half an hour trek along the sea wall to School House Viewpoint, the most easterly point of the island. The last time I was here the conveyor belt that was in place to unload earth extracted from beneath London during the construction of Crossrail was still in place. The tunnelled material was used to landscape the interior of Wallasea Island before the sea wall was breached to let the sea in and develop the area as a wetland for wading birds. For the Essexmeme project in 2014 we interviewed a farmer on Foulness Island who was incredulous... 'We've been trying to keep the sea out for hundreds of years, and now they want to let it back in!' The scheme was certainly working as there were plenty of birds within earshot including Green Winged Teal, Stone Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Black Bellied Plover, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Water Pipit and Canada Goose.

I am pleased to be working with artist and musician Matt Shenton on his project Listening To The Landscape, that has been funded by a Arts Council England 'Develop Your Creative Practice' grant. For our first session together we spent quite some time talking about equipment and techniques for recording sound in the field, before venturing out into the wilds of the Shotley Peninsular to find a spot to make a recording. In the resultant recording you can hear the bells of the Royal Hospital School and birds including Jackdaw, Robin, Rook, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie, Pheasant and Blackbird.

My travelling companion and I have taken to booking a few weeks away in October both as a means of extending the summer and a chance to discover somewhere new. We’ve been keen to travel to Palestine and Israel to see for our own eyes what is happening there, as well as to visit some of the holy sites associated with a variety of religions, and this is where we travelled to in 2019. Being interested in the sonic aspect of places and people’s activities, I found time to record the sound of many of these locations, as well as the places that we stayed and travelled through. The original two hour broadcast on CAMP Radio is a collage of recordings made inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dormition Abbey, Tomb of the Virgin Mary, St. Anne’s Church, Church of Condemnation, The Western Wall and St, James’ Cathedral Church, all in Jerusalem; The Milk Grotto and Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; St. Joseph’s Church and The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, as well as streetscapes from each of those cities. The single recording there is from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on 2nd October 2019. I’m not a religious person by any means but I felt strong emotions in these buildings, a palpable sense of their power and importance both historically and today. Following pilgrims throughout the cities we were able to witness some incredible services, rituals and ceremonies of people from the Catholic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Armemian Apostolic and Islamic faiths. We also sought out conversations and experiences with Palestinians and Israelis, had lunch with some Jewish people in Jerusalem and visited a settlement in Hebron and Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem to better understand both viewpoints of current and historical situations, although recordings of those encounters do not feature here. Listening to these recordings now brings back a lot of those memories and emotions and I hope that you too can get a sense of the religious and historical significance of this area at this time, as well as recognising that they are real and everyday places that continue to be home to one million people today.

I'm chuffed to have contributed a field recording to this exhibition of large format photographs taken by the excellent Mark Edwards. Countless Edens is on until 15th October at Primeyarc in Great Yarmouth and expertly curated by originalprojects; so head on over there if you get the chance. 'Countless Edens is a body of photographic work by Mark Edwards, made over the course of three years, in the house and garden of the writer Ronald Blythe. Both house and garden were formally the house of Blythe’s close friend, the painter John Nash. Countless Edens draws upon the rich English landscape traditions of both literature and painting. The pictures depict a garden that was initially planted by Nash when he first moved to Suffolk in the mid-forties. The garden was established in order to supply source material for both his paintings and illustrations. He bequeathed the house , situated on the Suffolk/Essex border, to his close friend, the writer Ronald Blythe. Blythe lived there until the end of his life, and continued to cultivate and attend to the garden. This intimate space, and the landscape beyond, forms the fulcrum to much of his writing. The interior photographs extend this discourse to allow the viewer to examine the relationship between Nash and Blythe through objects, possessions and personal motifs that also allude to the paintings and writing of both. Viewed as a body of pictures, the photographs contribute to the work of both painter and writer in a response to place and history. With Ronald’s encouragement, Mark Edwards began to explore the outdoor and indoor space. The exhibition includes a sound recording made at Ronald Blythe’s garden by artist Stuart Bowditich. Birds that can be heard include Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Dunnock, Wren, Chiffchaff, Starling, Blue Tit, Linnet, Nightingale, Bullfinch, Wood Pigeon, Redstart and Willow Warbler.'

In August 2014 I went for a walk with artist Cathie Cox to explore the riverside environs of West Thurrock. We started at St.Clement's Church (which featured in the film Two Weddings and a Funeral) and its rather incongruous neighbour the huge Proctor and Gamble factory, and then proceeded along the sea wall amongst all of the industrial and liminal riverside landscapes, admiring the world renowned graffiti (true fact!) and having a chat with the friendly homeless man.

The day before my birthday in 2010 I took the train and tube to Brixton, arriving in Electric Avenue, probably for a gig or to go dancing. Please excuse the slight wind noise on the mic.

A recording made on a family holiday on 11th May 2008 to Barcelona, I walked in on a service (unknown) at the Basilica Santa Maria Del Mar,

A recording from the archive, made on Platform 3B at Peterborough Station on 24th July 2008. I have no recollection of where I was going or what I was doing on that journey but I was waiting for a connecting train to somewhere.

On the fifth day of our walk along the Camino de Santiago I went to record the bells of Igrexa De San Tirso in the small town of Palas de Rei. The plan was to record from around 7:55 until 8:05 with the church bells in the middle of the recording, a strategy I have employed for many years now. Unfortunately, although I could see the bells, they didn't ring. But you can enjoy the songs and calls of a Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit, Song Thrush, Carrion Crow and Great Tit. To witness the impact of human activity, see how the bird calls diminish with the arrival of gathering peregriños. You can hear more successful attempts at recording bells in this fashion on my Touch Radio broadcast https://touchradio.org.uk/radio146.html

My travelling companion and I were in Den Bosch, Netherlands, for the weekend and found St.John's Cathedral whilst wandering around. There was a service in proceedings for the celebration of Pentecost. You can hear the opening and closing of the gates on the stalls as people come to sit down, and also in the middle section of music as people get up to queue for their communion wafers. Photo by Ruth Philo.

My travelling companion and I went to one of my favourite places, Shingle Street in Suffolk, for a New Years Day walk in 2018. On the way back we made a short detour to Bawdsey and waited for the ferry to return across the River Deben. There was a queue of excited passengers waiting to be picked up and some children playing the shingle beach.

I was early for a job in Central London so was waiting on the corner of Mortimer Street and Berners Street to kill some time, or rather, make a field recording. The location of the recording is in the street, not from the vantage point of the photograph.

A recording made at Beiyuanmen Night Market, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China on Thursday 31st September 2018.