London Echo Space Meetup Anyone?
I’ve been mentioning my intentions for a recording meetup to a few people for quite a while now but haven’t had a chance to really give it much thought……until now!
I was having a quick scan of the internet the other day looking for interesting ideas for Echo Space, this month’s sound collecting theme. My first thought was to find out about the Woolwich and Greenwich foot tunnels under the Thames but as far as I can tell from online comments these tunnels are closed for refurbs at the moment.
If they are, it’s a shame because I know the tunnels sound great. A Chris Watson workshop I signed up to a few years back went around this part of London. I didn’t make it in the end due to my first son turning up but I did hear some of the results (Uncannily, I also missed Chris’ subsequent workshop last year in Kew Gardens because of my second son arriving on the scene! The lengths my wife will go to to stop me going out recording…..!):
thames_footpath_tunnel (copyright of Tom Lawrence)
(Apologies to Juan Gil and Tom Lawrence if i’ve misunderstood the licensing terms of the audio and image. I’ve taken it as a typical creative commons agreement: i.e. usage is ok if non-commercial and author-attribution is given, but obviously I’ll remove them immediately if there’s any issues with that).
Anyway, if I’m wrong and these are open then it’d be great to go and get our own recordings if anyone’s interested. However, if they are closed then there’s always that glamorous London destination, The Rotherhithe Tunnel, which I’ve seen described online by a non-soundie as ‘an acoustic hall of mirrors’. Bingo!
Image of Rotherhithe Tunnel from diamond geezer's Flickrstream under the Creative Commons Attribution License
The tunnel’s right near to some nice pubs on the river so perhaps we could meet up at one of them and then have a quick recording sortie into the tunnel (don’t personally fancy walking right the way through it!) before returning to one of the pubs for a couple more jars. Let me know if you’re interested; leave a comment here or DM me. I finish my current film project next week so from then until early May is best for me. One thing’s for sure – if no-one comes I ain’t going down that tunnel by myself!
thesoundcollectorsclub.com 
Hi Michael,
I would be up for it but it really depends when at the moment. I’m hopefully coming to London for the IBS AGM on the 11th. I doubt I’ll have time for 2 trips over there.
Ian
April 12, 2011 at 6:56 am
Great plan for the meetup. Sadly I’m no longer in Paris, though I can vouch for all three tunnel suggestions. Rotherhithe is problematic in terms of traffic.
Is anyone in Paris? I’d love to meetup for a spot of recording. The other day I came across an old railway line with a mysterious tunnel going under the Buttes Chaument Park. Would love to check it out…
April 12, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Yeah I know what you mean about Rotherhithe but it also crossed my mind you might get some really cool echoey horn dopplers if you could somehow (safely!) instigate a few
April 12, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Hi Michael,
Great plan, I’m definitely up for it. It would have to be the first week of May though. I’m away the next week over easter and then attending the School of Sound. Perhaps Sunday 1st May?
Cheers
Raoul
April 13, 2011 at 8:42 am
Hi Michael,
Hopefully I can make it, depending on the date.
Tom
April 13, 2011 at 10:03 am
Good stuff – well lets say first week of May and finalize exact days and details offline once we know how many of us are up for it. I’ll give it a week and then contact via e-mail everyone who has said they’re interested.
April 13, 2011 at 7:50 pm
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