The great surge is on – to get all my text written up for the website pages, all the audio files formatted and the right size for inclusion on the website for when it (hopefully soon) goes live. I am overwhelmed by the amount of content I have to prepare. It seems hard work getting it ready but encouragingly it is also a reflection of all the great recordings I have in my store and the wonderful contributions from so many writers and actors. And this must be an ongoing process: as the content is introduced to listenupnorth.com in stages, more must be prepared in readiness for the coming months.
Last week I recorded Newcastle writer and creative writing tutor G.F.Philips who read a short story and a selection of his poetry at Core Music in Hexham. In a couple of weeks I am looking forward to a trip to Easington Colliery with sound engineer Richard Davison to record the Easington Writers. Fingers crossed that the building works outside the Miners’ Welfare Hall don’t provide too much background noise!
Loving the buzz, but occasionally need to find an antidote and a corner of the UK where there is no election fever! I find this with the family on a walk in The Simonside Hills in Northumberland near Rothbury on a fresh bright day. Unfortunately by the time we reach the top of The Simonside itself, the hail bounces off us and the panoramic view we had promised ourselves was somewhat reduced. However, the low cloud soon lifts to reveal Northumberland in all its glory.
Coming off the hills we stop off to visit the prehistoric cup and ring marks at Lordenshaw; its permanency putting into perspective the sound bite society of today. Enough philosophy - off to Rothbury for a cuppa and a cake then back to the fray.
