The night we captured this soundscene of Cooden Beach in East Sussex, there was a brisk onshore breeze blowing in from the west. West is to the right of scene, where the incoming waves can sometimes be heard making first landfall. It's February. It's coming up to 11pm. The sky is a deep dark velvet, and the clean sea air, is hovering around 6 degrees centigrade. Nobody is about.
Centre of scene is due south. The open sea. Behind, the whole of England. Just over a mile and a half to the west is Normans Bay. Two miles to the east is Bexhill. It's a coastline defined by shingle. Vast sloping fields of clean rounded stones, stretching from horizon to horizon.
On such an overcast night as this. Moonless. The landscape can no longer be defined by its horizon. To our sense of spatial hearing, and being within thirty yards of the crashing waves, the world is transformed into a wide textured canvas. Heavy greys and shadowed browns across the lower half. Brighter, crisper, scattering greys, just above the mid-line. Every breaker there, as it makes landfall. And there, as its form collapses into spray. Still there, as it rattles and hauls the loose shingle back with it. There, and there again, always in different places. From left to right. Endlessly overlapping. Endlessly renewing. Night breakers, on a shingle beach.
* This is the latter half of a one hour recording we captured on Cooden Beach last February. Hear the first section in episode 155. In 2021 we captured the shingle of Normans Bay in episode 63 and the essence of Bexhill in episode 66.
126 The seawall and the night patrolling curlews (quiet, long, sleep safe)
125 May rain in the Forest of Dean
124 Midnight waves by the sea fort at Weymouth (sleep safe)
123 A sound-view from Orcombe Point on the Jurassic coast
122 Forest bathing in the cathedral of trees
121 On Portland Bill
120 Secrets in the spring air - inland coastal country
119 Dawn chorus in the rain high in the Derbyshire hills
118 Lullaby sea by Nothe Fort (sleep safe)
117 Dartmoor birds through white noise mist
116 Sissing plantations in open country
115 Coastal city sleeping (sleep safe)
114 Crashing waves at Durdle Door
113 Spring’s here in mild valley
112 Suffolk Wood (part 12) - 7am to 8am
111 Soundscenes of estuary rain
110 Rain falls in Banfield Wood
109 Here at the river’s edge
108 Song thrush sings in twilight gales
107 Shellness bleak where land meets sea (best heard with time and headphones)
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