The beginnings of a new section of recordings made along the Kent and Essex sides of the Thames estuary, capturing the sounds of industry, marshland, and towns from Dartford to Canvey Island and beyond.
LEAVING BEHIND GRAVESEND to the south and the fading company town of East Tilbury to the north, this part of the estuary shows the most contrast between its two shores. The north side has the Coryton oil refinery, then the caravan parks and miniature seafront of Canvey Island, and finally a long sweep of housing from eastern Canvey Island that's mostly uninterrupted all the way to Southend.
The Kent side of the estuary is shaped by the Hoo peninsula, a tongue of floodplain threaded by creeks and given over to grazing. This is a largely empty quarter into which few people venture. The solitude ends after four miles with the caravan park at Allhallows, which in the summer months becomes as busy as a small town.
Top row, left to right: funnel-shaped cobweb near Stanford-le-Hope; ditch crossing and grazing lands on the Hoo peninsula; decaying barge stranded on the southern shore. Bottom row: Power station and pylons on the Isle of Grain; Movie Starr cinema at the Canvey Island 'seafront'; crack in the wall near Canvey Island.
Number on map: 8
File name: Allhallows Marshes
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Thurrock, Hoo
Duration: 3:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 April 2011
Time of day: 12.30pm
Location: Allhallows Marshes, Hoo Peninsula
Description: Cries of gulls and waterfowl, skylarks hovering the Marshes, buzzing of flies, a distant humming sound, probably industrial in origin.
Technical guff: X-Y stereo. Audio Technica BP4025 and Fostex FR-2LE recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Number on map: 7
File name: Outside the British Pilot
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Thurrock, Hoo
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 April 2011
Time of day: 4pm
Location: By the British Pilot pub, Allhallows.
Description: Birdsong all around, voices from people inside and outside the pub, a clattering noise as a delivery van is unloaded.
Technical guff: X-Y stereo. Audio Technica BP4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE.
Additional notes: This isn't a particularly good recording, but on several occasions I've been struck by the volume and variety of birdsong around the British Pilot pub, and so made this attempt to capture some of that while waiting for the bus home.
Number on map: 6
File name: By the Yantlet Creek
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Thurrock, Hoo
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 April 2011
Time of day: 1.15pm
Location: At the mouth of the Yantlet Creek, Allhallows Marshes.
Description: Bird calls nearby and further away, small waves from the estuary roll onto the shore, a deep humming sound, probably industrial in origin.
Technical guff: X-Y stereo. Audio Technica BP4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Number on map: 5
File name: Belfairs Woods
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Thurrock, Hoo
Duration: 0:42
Recorded by: William Cheshire
Recording date: 27 May 2010
Time of day: Not known
Location: Belfairs Woods, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Description: Quiet ambience with the trickling of a brook and birdsong.
Technical guff: Not known.
Additional notes: This recording was made by William Cheshire and originally appeared on his Sounds Like Leigh-on-Sea website and sound map. It's reproduced here with his kind permission as part of a recordings swap between our two websites.
Number on map: 4
File name: Bowls at Southend
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Thurrock, Hoo
Duration: 1:53
Recorded by: William Cheshire
Recording date: 29 June 2010
Time of day: Not known
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Description: Clacking of bowls, voices of players, a motorbike goes past.
Technical guff: Not known.
Additional notes: This recording was made by William Cheshire and originally appeared on his Sounds Like Leigh-on-Sea website and sound map. It's reproduced here with his kind permission as part of a recordings swap between our two websites.
Number on map: 2
File name: Coryton refinery siren
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Hoo, Grain
Duration: 3:53
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 27 June 2010
Time of day: 1.30pm
Location: Western side of Canvey Island, overlooking the Vange Creek and Coryton oil refinery.
Description: An eerie siren from the Coryton oil refinery sounds at 25-second intervals, audible across the western half of Canvey Island. Sounds of gas flares being burnt off at the refinery, and birds and insects at the recording point on Canvey Island.
Technical guff: Stereo. Audio Technica BP4029 mid-side mic and Fostex FR-2LE digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Number on map: 3
File name: Outdoor Caribbean religious service
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Hoo
Duration: 3:15
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 27 June 2010
Time of day: 3pm
Location: Bandstand at the seafront, Canvey Island, Essex.
Description: A small group of older Caribbean worshippers hold an outdoor Sunday service on the bandstand at Canvey Island's seafront. A Communion table has been set up in the middle of the bandstand, around which the worshippers sing and dance.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp, Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Number on map: 1
File name: Isle of Grain shore
Grid square: Canvey Island, Southend, Hoo, Grain
Duration: 4:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 25 June 2010
Time of day: 4pm
Location: On the eastern shore of the Isle of Grain, facing Blue Town in Sheerness.
Description: Strong sounds of a tug's engines at the beginning, a seabird calls at length, constant industrial noise from the docks at Blue Town.
Technical guff: Stereo. Audio Technica BP4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE recorder.
Additional notes: None.