Welcome to this walk of wetland soundscapes featuring history, recordings of wildlife, water and trees, poetry and local memories of life on the lowland peatbog of Fenn’s and Whixall Mosses. Artists Andrew Howe (UK) and Kim V. Goldsmith (AUS) connect two internationally significant wetlands by bringing sounds from the Macquarie Marshes, New South Wales, Australia into the Fenn’s and Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve.
These immersive soundscapes are best experienced through headphones via smartphone using the Echoes app which you can download here:
With the app and your location enabled, you will be able to find the Fenn’s and Whixall Sound Trail using the search facility. The sound trail is designed as an immersive experience so that the sounds are triggered as you reach locations along the trail. You will see your location and the location of the sound zones on the map in the Echoes app. The soundscapes are arranged into the elemental categories of earth, water, fire and air.
The zones are arranged so that the soundscape will play out as you walk through. However, you may need to pause occasionally to allow a soundscape to finish before proceeding into the following zone, otherwise the next sound may start. Alternatively, you can pause sounds if you only want to walk part of the route.
If you prefer not to download the Echoes app, you can listen to individual sounds from the soundtrail by streaming from SoundCloud links below:
Earth
Water
Fire
Air
The soundscapes and accompanying sculptures are part of the Mosses and Marshes art project by Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith, working in partnership with Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England, supported by National Lottery funding from Arts Council England.
For further information, see http://www.ofthemosses.com
Artist websites:
www.andrew-howe.com
www.kvgoldsmithart.com
https://eco-pulse.art/
Soundscapes edited by Andrew Howe and/or Kim V. Goldsmith as indicated in the Echoes details.
Poetry contributions written and performed by Gladys Mary Coles, Emily Wilkinson (www.emilywilkinson.net) and Gertie Bielstein.
Many thanks to:
Stephen Barlow for ecological advice and contributing some of the bird recordings;
Barbara Cloreley, Bill Allmark and Reg Meredith for sharing their memories of peat cutting and life on and around the Mosses.
Other sound sample recordings courtesy of https://freesound.org, https://soundbible.com and https://zapsplat.com
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Of the Mosses 