What might be your reasons for taking a long walk? Might it be a celebration of a step-change in your life, to challenge yourself both mentally and physically, are you walking for love or loss, for better health, or to escape the hum-drum of everyday life, or merely to re-connect with nature?
In 2023, Musician and Sound Artist Jenny Sturgeon spent 37 days walking the 864 km unofficial Scottish National Trail from Kirk Yetholm in the Borders to Cape Wrath in the North West Highlands. As a musician and sound recordist, she heard the path as much as seeing her route forward, recording ambient sounds and wrote notes along the way.
The majority of the journey she undertook alone, for the most part she camped, spending time in choosing a site and taking a weekly rest day with a comfy bed at a Premier Inn or B&B close to her route. The trail, created by outdoorsman Cameron McNeish, links up and overlaps with various official trails, like the West Highland Way, and it carves a route through the Scottish mainland, linking up places that Jenny knew little of. Much of her journey was in dry weather, but the heat of the day was as much as a challenge as when it did rain and turned the route into a boggy slog.
We are looking forward to quizzing her about her motivations, discovering her choice of what sounds to record, what observations she made, and how she brought all of her experiences, into the making of a sound walk album and a podcast for BBC’s Scotland Outdoors.
Please ensure you have headphones to hand as you will be directed to listen to binaural recordings that are best listened to through headphones, and who knows, Jenny may sing and play live……
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What might be your reasons for taking a long walk? Might it be a celebration of a step-change in your life, to challenge yourself both mentally and physically, are you walking for love or loss, for better health, or to escape the hum-drum of everyday life, or merely to re-connect with nature? In 2023, Musician
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