As The Season Turns is produced in collaboration with Lia Leendertz, author of The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide. The podcast is now in its fifth edition.
Each episode is released on the first of the month and follows the changing landscape of the seasons - from the moon and the stars, to the tides and the trees.
Found Sounds are released on the middle Friday of each month - these brief, gentle snippets of a wild place in the UK are crafted by sound artist Alice Boyd from field recordings, music and interviews.
Our April chalk stream is sunlit and clear, a river in a fairytale. We spot amphibians and salmon in its crystalline waters, pick wild watercress and stand rapt on the bank to listen to Britain’s most virtuoso songbird. This month’s music is a new version of the rousing old song ‘When Spring Comes In’ - and we hear tell of the ancient Salmon of Llyn Llyw, the oldest animal in Britain.
For March, we’re by the river - where ancient fishes swim amid the water weeds, and not every spring green is as lovely as it appears. Today, we hear tell of strange dreams, look out for Zodiacal Light, and listen out for birdsong, that harbinger of spring. Also singing is Lisa Knapp, with her version of the traditional song, 'Hares on the Mountain'.
For February’s Found Sound, Alice Boyd visits Muireann Ní Sheoighe Eachthighearn, one of only a handful of female luthiers, or fiddle makers, working in Ireland. Alice records the many interesting sounds of Muireann’s practice - from a chisel in maple to the sound of water hitting a hot bending iron.
This month, we’re out on the marsh - exposed beneath the fleeting February sky. Wading birds chatter and forage around us as we note the names of grasses, and hunt for sea beet and will o' the wisps. Silver fish slip through the shallows, and as we get closer to the sea a song of the shipping forecast drifts across the water.
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