Immersive 'sound walk' coming to Great Yarmouth high street

Great Yarmouth High Street Sound Walk is part of a series of self-guided, immersive sound walks to take listeners on a journey of discovery.

The audio tour will be available to download from September 10, 2021 and will be available for nine days.

Artist Oliver Payne gathering recordings on Great Yarmouth High Street for High Street Sound Walks. (Image: Wayne Pilgrim)

Listen to the stories of local people who have witnessed the street changing and find yourself immersed in the evocative sounds that capture the street’s unique identity, from the gentle resonance of a medieval Row to the loud and vibrant music heard from outside a barbershop.

Listeners will take a self-guided route, supported by an illustrated map, at their own pace.

Take a journey among shops selling used electronics and Eastern European groceries next to pop-up spaces, medieval architecture and decades-old market traders in "Knapped Flint Cracked Concrete" by artist Oliver Payne.

Mr Payne said: “Great Yarmouth has an otherness about it, a bit unknown and on the edge but at the same time full of energy and activity.

Oliver Payne interviewing Lenny Gordon, whose family have been trading in Great Yarmouth for half a century. Terry now runs Gordon Linens on Regent Road. (Image: Wayne Pilgrim)

"As a child I loved the midsummer cacophony of the amusements, theme parks and the crowds of tourists.

"These days I’m more attracted to the low season and the quiet it brings with it.

"I really wanted to capture this sort of contrast with Knapped Flint Cracked Concrete; the pushes and pulls of the place, the consonance and dissonance, and through the rich and varied voices of its communities.”

Oliver Payne interviewing Karl Trosclair, a community activist linked to the punk and live music/clubbing scene from the 70s onward. (Image: Wayne Pilgrim)

‘Knapped Flint Cracked Concrete’ has been produced in association with originalprojects, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Kaavous Clayton and Julia Devonshire of originalprojects said: “Oliver's work is an exciting contemporary way of presenting the layered heritage of a place.

"By combining the thoughts and reminiscences of people who live here with sounds captured from his own walks, he's created a truly engaging work, giving people the chance to see and hear Great Yarmouth's heritage in a new light and we're thrilled to have been able to help make it happen.”

High Street Sound Walks are available via the Historic England website from 10 September.

Oliver Payne interviewing Lotte LS, who moved to Great Yarmouth in 2019 before setting up the Red Herring Press. (Image: Wayne Pilgrim)