Boat Building Near Flatford Mill - 2nd October 2025

Diners with trays of food and drinks from the cafe, the air con unit drone, this year is a ‘mast year’ for local trees which can be evidenced by the abundance of acorns on the ground, mast years are possibly a way that trees work together to create more fruit/seeds in one year that can possibly be eaten by seed eating animals and increasing the likely hood of seedlings growing next year, peduncle, the aircon clicks off, geese, lots of interest in the microphone as it’s in a very public place but I keep a low profile, conversations of diners, a dog barking, trays being returned to the rack, a tiny twister picking up leaves, hikers in brown boots and blue jumpers, the kissing gate slamming sound travelling on the wind, a lady carrying a bag full of poo, two dog bowls at different heights, my coffee finished, as is the flapjack, Table 123, walking sticks, ‘John!’, John acknowledging where his party are seated, the smell of soup, the Site Manager coming over for a chat about the weekends workshop, a pile of bricks, two yard bags on pallets, ‘Hort Loam’ printed on the site of one of them, two men being curious about the mic.

A never-ending stream of people, interested, curious, wanting to explore, experience and learn. They’re passing by here, passing, being born, passing by and passing again. Here is still here but for how long will the cycle continue?

Slowly the cafe activity is winding down towards closure and as the localised sound dies down sound from further afield can reach us, such as a tractor ploughing a the field. The Flatford Accessible Shuttle Citroen electric vehicle, a woman carrying a bunch of yellowing oak leaves, a man opening and closing the gate for the car to pass through, it has slightly flat tyres, a conversation about birds that I don’t quite catch, chairs in the cafe being rearranged, cutlery being moved on the collected trays, a puff of wind moving all of the leaves at once but only by a couple of inches, the door to ‘back stage’ being closed by Maddie, a very slow wheezing pug in a blue harness, a window being closed, a door being bolted, the last diners leaving the garden, a moment of reflection.

The earth wearing lands cape
Land belongs
We long to live
Live to die
Die to land the dream of love
Love of another
The other is wise
Wise of words
Words escape
A cape of good hope
But we’ll need much more than that.

Birds identified are Dunnock, Robin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Great Tit, Magpie Wren and Spotted Flycatcher!

Listen to the whole hour on YouTube, or a 20 minute excerpt below.

Stuart Bowditch · Boat Building Near Flatford Mill - 2nd October 2025 (excerpt)