Soundwalk 03 October 2022: Forest Hill – Horniman – Sydenham Hill Wood

We started the walk by all meeting in forest hill and walking over to the Horniman. From there, we all congregated and discussed what the plan was. Jose explained to us that he was going to be wearing a binaural microphone that was connected to headphones, to go in his ears.  This was to allow him to record the session and experience the sound more.

He explained to us that we were going to be in pairs. One person was to be blindfolded and the other had to guide them around the walking area. We were instructed to swap over every ten minutes so that each person got a chance to both guide and experience. I was paired with Robin and I was the first person to guide. I had to hold onto his sweatshirt sleeve and basically pull him along. 

It was very strange to walk around the Horniman gardens; there was mostly the sound of cars, children, and birds. It was slightly difficult to focus on the sounds when blindfolded, I was very scared that I was going to fall over or trip over something. Once we had explored the Horniman’s, we then headed over to the woods. Unblindfolded at this point, didn’t want to get by a car or anything.

 I was the first to be blindfolded in the wood. It was initially very scary to be unable to see; I had to form a lot of trust in Robin. I was trying very very hard to pay attention to the sounds and try to ignore the random sounds and voices in my head (I have ADD, I’m not schizophrenic, I swear.) 

I have been to Sydenham Wood before and was actually able to actually identify which parts we were at some points. For example, we were near the pond; I was able to smell it and asked robin if we were near the pond. I was also able to identify when we were near the golf club, this is because I could smell the grass and hear the golf balls beings hit. 

In conclusion, It was a very new and exciting experience for me; I had never done a sound walk before and was unsure of what to expect. It was difficult to have to rely on another to get around, but I gained a new level of trust in both Jose and Robin. I’ve gained an appreciation for nature and all of its sounds. The experience, despite being very slow and calm, took a lot of energy and I was very tired at the end. I will definitely be doing this on my own at some point.

Thanks Jose 🙂