Calling the curlew podcast: birds of Baldersdale

By Kerryanne Higgens, Community Engagement Officer

The North Pennines National Landscape team worked with sound artist, Ben Freeth, and creative writer and storyteller, Ben Holden, to bring the birds of Baldersdale to life in the hearts and minds of the local children from three different primary schools: Bowes Hutchinson’s C of E; Cotherstone Primary; and the Durham Dales Federation. We all agreed it would be fun to turn this experience into a podcast episode so that their parents and others could know what they have been up to.

Ben Freeth is a sound artist who uses sound art to help people connect to nature and capture and express that experience. He used portable sound recorders and a parabolic sound reflector with the children in a field recording workshop next to the reservoir. This technology enabled the children to amplify the soundscape for their own listening experience at the same time as recording the sounds they were hearing to be added to the podcast later.

Ben Holden brought some magic to the day by inviting the children to use their imaginations to conjure up a spell poem inspired by the landscape to awaken the spirit of the place. They finished the day with a ritual, reading out their words to awaken the spirit of the land as a kind of offering or blessing to give back to the landscape.

This spell poem was written by Ben Holden using the experiences of the children throughout the day:

I have seen water
I have seen rain
I have touched my cheek to the grasses and moor
I have smelt soil
I have held seeds
I have heard the lapwings call
I have held leaves, my fingers have touched the cold spring air
I have walked as hedgehog
I have walked as fox
I have stretched my curling curlews wing
I have felt the lichen on my skin
I have walked over reeds, been tripped by stones
I have seen ballrooms of birds bursting from the hills
Ducks and divers, frey like geese
Sparrow hawks and oyster catchers, skillful, clumsy, lapwing tumbles
Curlew dancing in the air
I have walked along climbing bees
I have whispered secrets into the earth
I have rushed and ran and sqwarked and played
I have sheltered under fallen trees
We have moved through this place, this place has moved through us
I have seen the glimmering water stars
The wild moor, the kids and valleys, the trees that have fallen, the trees that stand
Those that have called this place home know the bite of hail stone
And then golden squint of nesting owls

Ben Freeth also recorded the children talking about their experiences at the end of the day. This added something very special as it is usually quite challenging to get children to give feedback. It is clear they have enjoyed the day’s activities when you can see them immersed in it, but they don’t always put this into words when asked directly. There was something about being interviewed and recorded that seemed to encourage them to express their thoughts and feelings more openly.  Here are some of their responses when asked what they enjoyed most about the day:

“We made a magical spell and we gave to the land and all the animals and us around us. It just seemed so powerful.”

“I like how we all got to chuck the little pieces of paper in the middle as a cauldron.”

“When we were doing the summoning the curlews…I just, I don’t know why but I really like that sort of thing.”

“My favourite part was the walking in general. Just going out for a nice, lovely walk.”

“Nice to remind children how most of us here are just staying indoors playing video games. What about the great outdoors. What about the thing that gives us life, life is nature.”

“My favourite thing was putting a microphone to water and just listening to it. It’s like listening to water, but advanced!”

Follow this link to listen to ‘Calling the curlew, episode one: birds of Baldersdale‘ or click on the Soundcloud link below.

We enjoyed making this podcast episode so much that we decided to make more episodes including voices of farmers, conservationists, and other school children exploring the theme of upland birds and farming with nature. We hope you enjoy exploring the sounds of nature and the voices of the people working to look after the remote upland landscapes of Teesdale and Baldersdale.

Follow this link to listen to more episodes of ‘Calling the curlew’.

Part of the Tees-Swale: naturally connected project, led by the North Pennines National Landscape team and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.