The Unlocking our Sound Heritage project using Echoes to create Sound Walks. Curated and created by Kirsty Jukes with field recordings by Siân A. Williams, it is one of four walks the Unlocking our Sound Heritage team have created. They are as follows –
Manchester and Salford Cinema History – https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/OqOKuttL4r3KE9DP
Merseybeat Liverpool – https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/X8VssQxYF1SzmDT4
Heaton Park – https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/9XzH4334E4uzNfgt
The latest walk is called Sound Sites of Southport and is accessed on the Echoes app via this link – https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/2vTPsmfZ7cfXL15N
To experience this walk in person, download the Echoes app to your phone or device, find the walk and then either tap on ‘Stream walk’ or the download button (↓). Use the download option if you want to avoid using mobile data. The walk will then open in autoplay mode – the sound clips will trigger when you enter the circles on the map.
If you are too far away from Southport or unable to go out at present, you can listen to the walk from wherever you are by downloading it and turning off autoplay. To experience these walks remotely, download the Echoes app, find the walk and then either tap on ‘Stream walk’ or the download button (↓). Then click the menu button (≡) at the top right of the map. Then slide the ‘Autoplay’ button at the top to the left to switch it off. Now you can navigate around the map or list and play the sounds. This allows you to start and stop as you please and even skip steps.
The audio clips for this sound walk are from the UAP003 North West Film Archive collection held at Archives+, Manchester Central Library, UAP007 Manchester Oral Histories held at Archives+, Manchester Central Library UAP014 Bolton Oral History held at Bolton Council and UAP019 Burnley Talks held at Burnley Central Library.
As locals of Southport and the surrounding area, Kirsty and Siân wanted to create an immersive sound experience using the oral histories cleared during the Unlocking our Sound Heritage project and placing them in modern contexts for new audiences.
We both hold fond memories of the town, spending lots of time there as children all the way into our present adulthood. We know many others have similar fond memories which encourages a burgeoning interest in the town’s rich history. We are also very keen on the insurance of Southport’s future as an important site for North West heritage and a positive example of how seaside towns can preserve their past whilst remaining relevant to new generations.
To illustrate this, we teamed narration with new field recordings taken at each site on the walk. This allowed us to place historical accounts into new contexts and, we hope, will encourage others to do similar work. We love Southport and hope you will too, whether you haven’t been for some time, live and work there or if this will be the first time you visit.
We hope you enjoy, please comment here or contact us on the email below if you have any questions –
Kirsty.jukes@manchester.gov.uk