Local life & Little Histories

So where have you been? 7th MArch 2008

It has been some considerable time since there has been any new audio on Local Life & Little Histories and indeed any new entries at all, so I thought that I would attempt to steal away about half an hour of your life with a new audio diary update on what has been happening!

  Click to Play or download - March 2008 Audio Diary

As per usual I seem to be away from home when recording these diaries - this time in Manchester and I start with our moving and selling two houses which has been the order of the day for the last few months, A Walk with Wolves and what's going to happen down the line.

Audio Diary - 18th September 2007

The fourth Audio Diary from Local Life & Little Histories.

I am back from Somerset and have since then been in Devon, The Lake District (amongst other less glamorous places) and I am now back in Scotland as I am recording this diary entry.

  Click to Play or Download Audio Diary 18 September 2007

I talk amongst other things about some new categories on the site, an audio recorded in Devon, the Somerset trip and plans for an upcoming Little Histories audio as well as winter which is now looming and hoping that it won't affect the location audios.

Audio Diary Thurdsay 23rd August 2007

The third audio diary from Local Life & Little Histories.

Recorded at Strathclyde Country Park 400ha of countryside in the valley of the River Clyde where I was staying while working in Scotland.

  Click to Play or Download Audio Diary 23 August 2007

I look at the park and a Roman excavation I stumbled across while walking around the lake. I also talk about the Local Life & Little Histories project, some possible excursions for the following week to be spent in Somerset, the new 'In search of' series of audios and changes to the site.

Audio Diary Saturday 11th August 2007

The second Audio Dairy from Local Life & Little Histories.

A month has passed without any more audio from ourselves which again is down to lack of time and the pretty abysmal weather we have been having in the UK deterring any outings into the great outdoors to take pictures or to make any recordings.

  Click to Play or Download Audio Diary 11 August 2007

Today I did manage to get down to a local nature reserve in the good weather we are now experiencing. While down by the waters edge I recorded today's audio diary looking at yes the usual bat related fayre, a hedgehog rescue without a happy ending, the Sparrow Hawk we seem to have frequenting the garden now and a couple of ideas for future Little Histories.

Audio Diary Friday 13th July 2007

The first behind the audio and pictures audio diary from myself.

The weather and work life have made it almost impossible to get out and about to record anything new, or visit anywhere of late. So I thought it might be a nice change to introduce an audio diary that will be in addition to the usual Local Life & Little Histories fayre. The Diaries will be straight off the cuff recordings dealing with the stuff behind the audios and visits and also about the everyday bits and pieces that present themselves.

  Click to Play or Download Audio Diary 13 July 2007

I recorded the first one today on the 13th of July 2007 on a very wet and overcast but humid day while driving back from Bristol to Staffordshire and talk about the everyday common side of wildlife at the places I visit and stay as part of my work as well as what is happening in the back garden.

Another BBC related first for Local Life / Little Histories

A couple of weeks back now saw some of the audio from Local Life / Little Histories being aired on BBC Radio 5 Live here in the UK in their pods and blogs segment of their late night programing. (A link to the audio segment can be found in the left hand column under press and promotion.

This week not one but two pictures from the Local Life / Little Histories zoo shots archive were commended on the BBC Wildlife Magazine Website after I entered them into their Zoo Shots Photography Masterclass competition. Not bad going for a couple of weeks even if I do say so myself!

Domains and Contact Details

I have finally got around to registering Domain names and setting up some email addresses on those Domains for the sites!

Local Life & Little Histories can now be reached via www.littlehistories.co.uk

The new email address for feedback is feedback@littlehistories.co.uk

Emails other than feedback please send to chas@littlehistories.co.uk

A Doodle A Day the sister site is now at www.doodleaday.co.uk

The new email address is chas@doodleaday.co.uk

Spring

The BBC Planet Earth Under Threat Blog is asking What kind of Spring we are sensing.

In the UK we are already experiencing sunny days with bees buzzing in the air although the evenings still have a chill in them but Spring is definitely here.

Tonight I was stood in a inner city garden and despite the background traffic noise which becomes one of those things we cease to hear due to its monotonous regularity the one very noticeable thing was the amount of bird song. I always feel better when the evenings are lighter and the sound of bird song is in the air and tonight I spent a couple of minutes capturing the heralds of Spring. (Music by Ensemble Vermillian - more information on the music and performers can be obtained from Magnatune at Vermillian). So no talk tonight just a couple of minutes of Bach and birdsong.

  Click to Play or Download Spring in the City

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Little Histories

After a hiatus of some five months LocalLife will be springing into life once again shortly with the first of what I am calling 'Little Histories'.

So what is this all about? As previous listeners and visitors may be aware I travel around the UK a lot with my work. This means that I get to see a wide area of the country but often with little free time to explore in depth or to create audio. The length of audio I was producing last year was becoming quite time consuming and whilst I love to learn about places, things, animals and history, commitments work wise and home wise were making the audio production a time consuming chore that ate into any free time I had. Also the amount of research that had to go into some of the projects such as the Civil War in Lichfield was becoming somewhat of a chore and hence not enjoyable. I guess I like my history in bite sized basic chunks!

The 'Little Histories' projects will I hope allow for my love of audio and of exploration into my home country but without becoming a chore. I intend and so far have researched two episodes of 'Little Histories' which will be audio sound bytes from places in the UK looking in brief at the history, fauna and flora of the areas but in 15 minute location audios with no voice overs or post editing. They won't be indepth and will cover anything from Neolithic times to the present time of a location in a single 15 minute episode from which I can learn something of the area from my research and maybe the listener will learn or find something of interest that maybe will encourage further investigation.

The first episode concerning an area I am working in this weekend should be recorded and up within the next 7 days, with the second following a week or so later. I have started researching the third episode and hopefully more will follow on a regular basis.....

The Printers

Something very different this time. In the last audio from the nature reserve I mentioned the difference between the nature reserve and the industrial type premises I have been working at on the last couple of weekends and I thought that this weekend that I would take the opportunity to bring you the audio from the Printers.

I have worked within the publishing industry for the last 20 or so years starting in local newspapers as a graphic designer and illustrator. There have been many changes over the years in the technology used and the last few years have seen the web grow as a major publishing medium.
Many skill sets have been lost over these years; the designers technical pen and skill of the pasteup artist being replaced by the computer, the skill of the copy camera operator made redundant by such processes as CTP and one day we may hear silence where once the mighty presses used to run.

Thank goodness for now those mighty presses are still running producing wonderfully bound books and glossy magazines, this is a small tribute to those presses.

  Click to Play or Download The Printers

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