Soundscapes

Recently returning from a shopping trip to Tesco, I passed the side of the Opera House laden with shopping & as I turned the corner I was met with a raucous noise & what seemed like a carnival atmosphere, but couldn't see where the noise was coming from. It reminded me of the protest march at the weekend & I just rushed on as all I wanted was home & a cup of tea.

My room in King’s College faces out on to the quad and throughout the day today I kept hearing a single shout , that sounded like ‘coaaal...’ coming from the building works on the east wing of Somerset House and repeated every few seconds.  From ground level it was inaudible but from the fourth floor of the South Range it was clear. The sound seemed so ‘out of place’, so unusual, so elemental. It was such a human - and in that sense alien - addition to the normal Strand soundscape of traffic noise. Read more »