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The Essay

A Birdsong Garden

Summer in the Vale

Duration: 14 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 3Latest broadcast: on BBC Radio 3

Available for over a year

Revisiting a rare moment on a summer afternoon, the northern nightingales stand silent as a solar eclipse sweeps through the Vale of Whittingham.

The lockdown through the spring of 2020 gave much space for reflection about life; and for wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample an opportunity to review the five-year period spent in the remote and quiet Northumbrian home he sought out, to record and study the birdsong of a typical rural garden.
This five part series, ‘A Birdsong Garden’ is a mix of memoir, natural history, folklore, birdsong and spacious soundscapes. Geoff takes us through the four seasons of the year, considering how living close to and listening intently to nature can enrich our lives.

Presenter and Producer: Geoff Sample
Executive Producer: Clare Freeman
Commissioned for Culture in Quarantine, funded and supported by The Space Arts, BBC Arts and Arts Council England. Show less

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