November 7th 2013

The River Tyne - September 2011

An audio thought today which illustrates loops of connectivity. I'm working at home writing scripts for Radio 4's Shared Planet and one of the scripts I'm working on is for 'Noise in the Environment'. On Monday I had an inspiring telephone conversation with Bernie Krause one of the Worlds leading natural sound recordists, and he mentioned in passing Chris Watson, the Newcastle based master of sound I know. By chance this morning I then had a brief e-mail chat with Chris on another matter, and his chat reminded me I had not listened to his radio programme 'The Station' - which is in essence an 24 hour audio diary of the Newcastle Central Train Station, recorded over the span of a few months. And so it came to pass, as I wrote my draft noise script it was enhanced by the sounds and emotions of what I think is possibly the most architecturally evocative stations in Britain. The fluty burble of a solo blackbird piping into the station auditorium has to be one of the best urban recordings I've ever heard. I only wish the massed starling roosts still happened in Newcastle; I can still hear that unbelievable noise overhead as I did my Christmas shopping as a child.

The Station : Recorded by Chris Watson http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03c45hq

November 6th 2013

It was dark. It was wet. The wind blew outside. So what better today than a 3 rasher bacon sandwich to take to work. I don't often make bacon sandwiches to take with me and that's a shame as one of my favourite foods is a cold bacon sandwich, with lots of tomato sauce. There's nothing better after spending some time outdoors to unfurl a foil package and sit by a hedge eating one of life's greatest pleasures, the cold bacon sandwich. It also transports me right back to my childhood when my father who ran his own business used to make time 'as a family' to head off to the beach before work. The night before mum would make bacon sandwiches, and before we departed for an hour of fresh air she'd put muesli into a leak proof Tupperware container. We'd head to the beach and for an hour or so dad would swim in the sea and we'd sit there having a cold breakfast in the fresh air only being at the coast can provide (although we always had hot tea provided by a portable Camping Gaz stove). It's memories like that which in my 50th year I'm remembering. My parents worked hard to make sure as an only child, I wasn't left alone or miss out on fun days through a lack of siblings. I have to say the bacon sandwich today was delicious.

November 5th 2013

What a difference a day makes. The image at the bottom of this posting was taken at 7am yesterday and as I mentioned in that blog, that sunrise was meant to be yesterdays posting image. I was thinking about that wonderful sunrise this morning as I drove in. The other two images were taken at 7.30am today, and the weather could not be more different. The top one is the torrential rain as I sat in my car having just parked up preparing myself to walk the 15 minutes into work, the one below is the 'gargoyle' on Clifton Cathedral, which always provides a visual record of heavy rain. To be honest I love heavy rain, always have done always will do. Something of the frailty of the human body and the power nature has to offer us, power we're incapable of taming, and I like that. That said I'd rather be out walking in the torrential rain in some windswept piece of countryside than driving the 20 miles into work in the semi-darkness. British weather is unpredictable and that's why it's always a joy to me to experience whatever the weather.

Yesterdays sunrise at 7am

 

November 4th 2013

Sometimes its an image that grabs my attention for this blog diary. Driving into work this morning at 7am there was THE most dramatic sky over the North Somerset landscape. I always carry a camera in the car now (as a result of this blog) so I shot off a couple of photographs. That was to be my thought for the day. But, I didn't have time to upload them onto this blog. At about 11am I sat at my desk listening to some interviews from Palau on the Nepoleon wrasse, a huge coral fish who's size and status make it prized for both food and tourism and therefore of conservation concern. Enveloped by headphones I was busily writing notes when I suddenly looked at my notepad and thought - wow, that is a striking image. Sunlight flooding in through the office window was highlighting only my words, only the parts of the recording that were important and I had written down, the rest of the desk was in shadow. I quickly took a photograph with my phone before the intensity of the light faded. Images like that stay with me for a long time.

November 3rd 2013

Very late season female red admiral on the kitchen window this morning (with photo of my blackberry to add to the composition). Red admirals can technically be seen at any time of the year as they're predominantly migratory in the UK, but by mid October usually most have died out, and only as few overwinter in sheltered warm sport. This one though was in pristine condition which therefore makes me wonder if it is a recently emerged butterfly. It could of course have been carried along by the recent south westerly gales we've experienced in the south over recent days, but given her wonderful condition I'd be surprised that she wasn't more worn. It wasn't there for long as a squally shower came along not long after this photograph was taken and the butterfly went. Sad to think it will most likely perish before too long and so what I saw was a fleeting glimpse of a wildlife encounter. And that's what made it special.

November 2nd 2013

This evening Julie and I drove to Pewsey near Marlborough to put 6 paintings of her animal portraits into the Pewsey Community Crafts and Tea Room. This is a locally run arts and crafts community venture which also does a cup of tea. The place was closed when we arrived but the 'arts coordinator' met us and we spent the next half an hour putting these 6 quite sizable portraits on the wall. The place does not open until Monday so we'll await and see what reaction Julie gets then. A very exciting time for Julie as this is the first time her work has been seen in public. I remember the first time I put some art into the public arena, a mixture of sheer excitement and sheer fear in case people were critical of my work. We don't really expect to sell any of these pre completed works, but the plan is to get Julie's name known as someone who can do commissioned animal portraits.

Anyway they'll be there for the whole of November as 'Artist of the Month', so if you are in that part of Wiltshire do pop in.

November 1st 2013

An auspicious day today. On November 1st 1993 I began my BBC career. And for all of those 20 years I have worked at the Natural History Unit in Bristol in a variety of jobs. I can remember how I got here. In August 1993 I had just graduated from Newcastle University as a Countryside Manager as a 'mature' graduate of 29. Seems very young looking back. I popped down to the Central Library in South Shields where I had worked for a few years prior to University to have lunch with my ex-colleagues. While waiting for them to arrive I flicked through the New Scientist magazine in the reference library from the 21 August 1993, and there I saw an advert (which I still have) for a Wildbase Assistant. I had the right background so as I didn't have a job, even though it wasn't something I wanted to do, having gone to University to train up to managing agricultural estates, I applied for the experience of job interviews, got an interview (my one and only formal interview in my entire life), got the job £11,400 per annum, and moved the 300+ miles to Bristol (I had to look it up on a map as I had no idea where Bristol was). The rest they say is history.

I remember moving down here. I had an Austin Metro and set off with all my worldly goods in it. I didn't know anyone closer than 80 miles away (my partners parents then lived north of Evesham) and as it was November it was dark by 5pm. Consequently my first week was bizarre, I did feel quite lonely and isolated for the first week, but on the Friday I was asked to dinner by a colleague on the Saturday night. That broke the feeling of being homesick. I had also moved into a lovely B&B in Portbury and became good friends with the family eventually renting an annex of their 15th Century house. And so as with many things in life, plans change and even though this was only meant to be a stop gap job until an Estate Manager role came along, I have never left. Its funny how something which at the time seemed very temporary, can quickly become long term. I've had some wonderful experiences and met some wonderful people, and yes, I do miss never managing an agricultural estate. It was not to be.