Christmas Day Birdsong in Abney Park Captured in ‘Sound Postcard’

The Abney Park Trust, which works to protect the heritage and biodiversity of Stoke Newington’s magical urban woodland and cemetery, has teamed up with local podcasters, Radio Lento, to create a unique festive soundscape of birdsong.

Radio Lento is free podcast of landscape soundscapes. It has no music or talking, just the unedited sounds from beautiful places, mostly in the UK. It launched in March 2020 during lockdown and has helped many people during this time.

Radio Lento and the Trust set up a series of sophisticated microphones around the popular Hackney park on Christmas Eve and left them running until Boxing Day. 

The consequent 58-minute recording from early morning on Christmas Day starts with the sound of a song thrush and goes on to feature other birds which spend time in the park, including robins, woodpeckers, seagulls and geese.

The recordings do not capture discernible voices of people using the park. 

Sound postcards in Christmas peace

The recordings were made over Christmas while footfall and aircraft noise pollution in the 32-acre park was lower than usual – allowing the birdsong to shine through. 

Microphones were placed close to the gravesite of Frank and Susannah Bostock, famous for its memorial lion crafted in white marble. This is located close to the Church Street entrance to the park. 

Radio Lento produces its podcasts using two omni-directional microphones, arranged with a “baffle” between them.

The equipment is placed in a camouflaged wooden box to protect it from the elements.

For more information about the recording, and to hear it, please visit Radio Lento’s Podbean page. Radio Lento is also available on Spotify and other major podcast providers.

A “beautiful reminder of how special Abney is”

Radio Lento’s creators, Hugh Huddy and Madeleine Sugden, said:

“We were delighted to partner with the Trust on this episode. We were excited to find out how the Park would sound on a day which is usually so quiet. The sound of the song thrush at the start of the episode is a beautiful reminder of how special Abney is. We are delighted to be able to share this with everyone.”

Tom Walker, Chair of the Abney Park Trust, said: 

“Visiting the Park to help Radio Lento set up this episode was a Christmas adventure for the Trust. Abney was Hackney’s first designated statutory local nature reserve, and this partnership is just one example of our continued commitment to biodiversity and creativity.”

Listen to a short clip here:

Listen to the full recording on Radio Lento’s podcast.