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The Cliff

The Cliff: Chris Watson on Skellig Michael

Chris Watson on Skellig Michael

BBC Radio 4 - The Cliff, Chris Watson on Skellig Michael

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson recalls his ascent of Skellig Michael.

Illustrated with recordings he made on location, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson recalls his ascent of Skellig Michael, a precipitous island rock in the Atlantic.

Skellig Michael or Great Skellig is the larger of the two Skellig islands situated some 12 km off the coast of Portmagee in south-west Ireland. It's a spectacular rocky pinnacle towering over 200 metres above sea level. The summit is reached by climbing what is, at times, an almost vertical wall of nearly 700 steps. On the summit are the remains of a well-preserved monastic outpost, including six beehive cells which date back to early Christianity. Monks were sent to island outposts like Skellig Michael to pray and keep evil spirits at bay. A visit to this island cliff is not for the feint-hearted as wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson describes in this vivid account, which is illustrated with recordings he made on and around the island. Landing is no easy task, as the waves crash against the island buttress, whilst kittiwakes soar overhead, their cries piercing the air. Climbing the steps, you have to "hold your nerve and not look back or down, behind you and beneath you is a void". Puffins explode unexpectedly out of underground burrows, their strange low growling calls, reverberating through the ground. Higher up, Chris is met by "by stiff-winged fulmars sheering and slicing through the air". Eventually he reaches the summit, and his destination. After 10 pm, there's a flutter of wings in the darkness as storm petrels emerge, their "sinister cackling sounds start to emanate from the walls". But there's more; after midnight, the air is filled with the banshee-like cries of Manx shearwaters. "Hearing these sounds come out of the darkness must have been a terrifying experience for the monks in their cliff top hives – easy to think that they were evil spirits from the west."

Producer: Sarah Blunt

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