This, is bleak. Wave, weather worn, bleak. Windswept, land end bleak. What we've come for. An exposed area of land that noses out into the North Sea. Its tidal zones are made of bleached dry shells instead of sand. Of saline rotted timbered fences, some sunk waist deep, in time rounded, long shore drifted stones. And of shallow racing waves, blown sideways. This is Shellness, on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent.
Dazzled at the water's edge by a low, February sun. Blasted by wind. Too much. So about turn and up the beach you go, through ankle deep shells, to look for shelter. A place found, beside the ramped seawall. A squat concrete block. A Second World War pillbox.
Back lent against, and out of the wind. And looking down the coastline at right angles to the rushing waves. At the desolate boundary between land and sea. And slowly, hearing it, as a corridor of emptiness. Nestled within this dim shadow, you can hear how this world is split. to the left, land. Its Swishing grasses. And to the right about a hundred yards, the North Sea. Its constant onshore flow. In time here becomes, not an empty place, but a place where each thing heard, each thing waited for, however slight, is somehow greater, more significant. A sparse few rugged birds. The warm, eventual hum, of a passing propeller plane. And an impression, that the tide might very gradually, be coming in.
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Our grateful thanks go to Ian, who we have connected with on Twitter. He met us off the train and drove us out over an extremely rough track to reach this remote spot. Without Ian, his local knowledge and willingness to sacrifice his car's suspension, we couldn't have made this recording.
181 Woodland scapes special - August intermission 3
180 Coastal scapes special - August intermission 2
179 Rain scapes special - August intermission 1 (sleep safe)
178 Waves of the intertidal zone (Don’t forget Lento’s built for headphones!)
177 Summer meadow woodland edge
176 Early morning below Nothe Fort
175 Night train sleeper (sleep safe)
174 Where cool woodland meets the summer sea (an afternoon snooze)
173 Deep forest time (long & sleep safe)
172 Heatwave thunderstorm that washes and cools (panoramic, made for headphones)
171 Sunrise birds in sea washed air
170 Night murmuring in Tenby (sleep safe)
169 Ear witness report from the Hoo Peninsula May 2023
168 At the mouth of a sea cave (Lento’s best with headphones)
167 An hour under moorland trees (rainy and sleep safe)
166 Midnight waves at the foot of the sea fort (sleep safe)
165 Up in the hills of mid Wales
164 Garden rain as winter turns to spring (daydream and sleep safe)
163 Chesil Beach (sleep safe and in high-definition sound)
162 Waterfall gorge on Dartmoor (high definition spatial sound)
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