Welcoming the Sounding Art Trail to the Kent Downs

Our Turkish partners from Culture Routes society posing with North Downs Way Trail Manager Pete Morris and his dogs.

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15th April 2026

We were delighted to welcome the Sounding Art Trail project to the Kent Downs in March, coordinated by the Culture Routes Society (CRS) and supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture programme. The project took place along the North Downs Way National Trail, using sound‑based and artistic practices to highlight sections of walking routes at risk from climate change, while building a creative connection between the UK and Turkey through walking and listening.

The project team—including artists Dystopic Symptoms and representatives from CRS—visited sculptures along the North Downs Way Art Trail, travelling through Dover, Chilham, Canterbury and the surrounding area. The field trip focused on exploring the relationships between sound, memory, industry and ecology through direct, on‑site experience. Along the route, the team also collected sound recordings to inform future soundscape works.

Dover and the Coastline

The programme began with a visit to Dover Museum, offering an introduction to the route through layered narratives of migration and maritime history. From there, the group followed the coastline along the North Downs Way, guided by Peter Morris, Trail Manager, experiencing the installations along the art trail. Alma Tischlerwood’s We Are All Winners is embedded in everyday coastal life and invites reflection on encounter, participation and chance in the public realm. Inscribed with ‘victores sumus omnes’ (We Are All Winners), the work offers a playful and uplifting moment within a lively seaside setting—an ideal place to mark the quiet achievement of completing a long walk.

One of the most striking stops on the route is the Abbots Cliff Sound Mirror, a pre‑radar structure built in 1928 to detect incoming aircraft. Often described as a colossal concrete ear, it remains a powerful historical trace of how sound once shaped relationships with the landscape, evoking a past defined by vigilance and distant threat.Nearby, After the Black Gold focuses on the region’s coal‑mining history and its environmental and social impact. This robust structure at Woolage draws attention to the area’s industrial memory through carved wooden panels on its rear. The bird and cage motifs etched by visitors reference the canaries once used as early warning systems in coal mines.

Canterbury and surroundings

The project team then ventured inland to explore installations set within rural and natural landscapes. Designed by Tchonova & La Roi, Coppice Oratory is a site‑specific architectural structure crafted from local chestnut trees. It offers a meditative space that encourages visitors to pause, listen and attune themselves to the surrounding soundscape. The nearby clearing where the structure was shaped highlights the architects’ hands‑on process, embedding the work deeply within its woodland context. Kezia Cole’s Feel Our Voice explores sound as a collective and participatory experience. The bench’s rib‑like, undulating form creates subtle interactions of movement, perception and sound as visitors pass by. Located within orchards once threatened by a proposed solar energy development, the work carries a quiet sense of fragility.

Sound Walkshop in Otford

Following the site visits, a Sound Walkshop was held in Otford, facilitated by Andrew Stuck from Walk Listen Create. Participants from different cities gathered to explore walking, listening and creative production together. After visiting key locations with Chris Sutton—North Downs Way Ambassador and Chair of the Darent Valley Community Rail Partnership—participants took part in guided listening exercises and learned practical sound‑recording techniques. The workshop also offered hands‑on advice on recording, editing and geotagging, encouraging mindful listening and creative production using everyday tools.

Next Step: The Lycian Way

The next stage of Sounding Art Trail will take place in May 2026, along the Lycian Way in Turkey. Site‑specific artworks, sound‑based research and participatory processes will be re‑imagined within this new landscape. More details will follow closer to the journey—check back soon to listen in as this next chapter unfolds.