Quote from the BBC Radio 4 website:
A dynamic and powerful soundscape of Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Station using location recordings to tell a story of twenty-four hours
in the life of this station - from the spring solo of a robin at dawn on
the street outside to the pounding roar of the heavy goods trains which
thunder along the rails past deserted platforms in the darkness of the
night.
The sound recordist Chris Watson, regularly travels to and
from this station and became fascinated by the sounds and acoustics of
the building, so when he was granted permission to record inside, he
leapt at the chance, visiting at various times during both day and night
over several months, to capture the sounds within; from the quiet
crackle of the overhead wires on a misty dawn morning to the terrifying
roar and clamour of footballs fans and police dogs when Newcastle were
playing at home to Sunderland, and the chanting voices and shouts of the
fans overwhelmed even the sounds of the trains.
Newcastle upon
Tyne Central Station was designed by John Dobson and opened by Queen
Victoria in 1850. Entering through a grand sandstone portico " that
would give dignity and certainly put Newcastle on the map" says building
historian, Grace McCombie, one is immediately struck by the acoustics
of this grand Victorian building. The great sweeping curve of the
platforms and the vaulted roof above add to the visual grandeur and
scale of the Station, "you stand at one end.. and your eye sweeps along
the curves and it's just beautiful... brilliant, brilliant design" says
Grace "It's like a huge concert hall" says Chris "and it stamps that
acoustic on any sound that is generated within the station; the ebb and
flow of people, the tide of trains, ... everything that happens in
there".
You can listen to the interesting programme via BBC website.
