A sense of place comes as much from the sounds of an area as the look of it.听 And this week,听Helen Mark is in Druridge Bay tracking down what the area sounds like.
She was set this sonic treasure hunt by Dr. Simon Elliott, a radiologist by day but whose hobby as a wildlife sound recordist听has taken him all over Britain and the world. Simon captures recordings in unusual places for nature films and clients like听 the .听 He gives Helen four sounds to track down.听听
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The first sound takes Helen to Cresswell, near the centre of the bay. There she takes in its听full sweep听with听Duncan Hutt from the . Duncan says听there is a bit of a dispute as to where the bay actually begins and ends.听
Next, she travels up the coast to Amble Harbour, where she meets some of the perpetrators of the next mystery sound. Prof. John Coulson, a retired lecturer and researcher from the Durham University, gives Helen the history of the creatures, whom听he鈥檚 studied听for 50 years.
"You'll never believe what makes this sound," says Dr. Jane Delany from the . Indeed, Helen is not only surprised by what made the third mystery sound, but also the other noises that come from just below the rocky sea shore line.听
Down at the end of Druridge Bay, in , Helen finds听her final sound. Ex-miner and now local historian Mike Kirkup tells her about how the coal in the area is so plentiful, it washes up on the beach 鈥� for easy picking. This sea coal provided a good living for villagers in years past, but only a few make use of it today. In fact, industrial noise is largely absent from what was once the North's biggest mining area.
Want the chance to play sonic detective? We've assembled an of the sounds Helen's tracked this week. Have a guess what they are. The answers will be revealed听 here听on Wednesday听31st January 2007. Good luck.
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