In this episode of the Green Pledge Podcast we listen to two dawn choruses, recorded in the month of May, in the same place, but 70 years apart.

In the 1950s on a couple of May mornings, Harry Grimes took his reel to reel recorder to a view point on the Old London Road, just as you head out of Wotton Under Edge.

Harry’s son, Hugo, has turned the recordings into a beautiful CD. He tells the story of his dad, interlaced with the sounds of the birds and an oral history recording made of Harry later on his life, The CD is available at Wotton Heritage Centre

The full length recordings of the birdsong will become part of the Green Pledge collection at Gloucestershire archives as

70 years later, on May 19th 2024, Green Pledge Project manager, Christina Wheeler, returned to the viewpoint and recorded the dawn chorus again.

Hugo and Christina visit Ed Drewitt, a local bird expert, at his home in the Forest of Dean. Ed listened to the two recordings and gives us his insights into what he heard.

For more info
the Green Pledge Project - https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/our-projects/the-green-pledge-project/
Ed's website - https://www.eddrewitt.co.uk/
Wotton Heritage Centre https://www.wottonheritage.com/
https://wottonheritage.bandcamp.com/track/06-hugo-grimes-introduction