Listen to our trailer to get a feel for our new podcast.

‘The Ballad of the Crocodile and the Underpass' - Stories of Washington New Town’, is a podcast ballad partnership between Washington Heritage Partnership, We Make Culture, University of Sunderland, Baseline Shift and Arts Centre Washington. Since April 2024 this partnership, podcaster and musician Grace Stubbings and the Washington community podcasting group have been working with people and organisations in Washington to collect and share experiences of life in a new town.

Musicians Paige Temperley and David Brewis (Field Music) have been working with community members and young people at Arts Centre Washington to turn stories of Washington into songs.

The songs, interviews, sounds and archive recordings have been woven together to create unique ballad podcasts. The group have been influenced by the radio ballad work of Charles Parker, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger who made radio ballads about working class stories in the 1950s and '60s for the BBC.

You can listen to Episode 1 immediately after this trailer.

Subscribe now to hear episodes 2-5, which will be released in November 2024.

Sea Beats took place throughout the summer months of 2022. Musicians Hannabiell Sanders and Yilis del Carmen Suriel (co-founders of Harambee Pasadia) worked with coastal communities and organisation Mental Health Swims across Seaham and Sunderland.

Through a series of collaborative music making workshops, they helped foster new connections with the coastline through rhythm and percussion, storytelling, and music making with traditional instruments and objects found on the beach.

In this episode, we hear from musicians Hannabiell Sanders and Yilis del Carmen Suriel, and participant and member of Mental Health Swims Seaham, Suzanne Green.

Find out more about the project here.

Producer: Lottie Steele

Whitburn Resonance is a community project that focuses on the sounds of the medieval fishing village of Whitburn on the North East coast. The project aims to understand how the local soundscapes have changed over time by combining archaeological data and sonic research.

The project emphasises connecting people to the area and encourages reflection on the coastal environment. Through participatory research and acoustic mapping, the goal is to foster a stronger sense of stewardship and appreciation for the marine heritage and seascape among coastal communities.

In this episode, we hear from Professor Caroline Mitchell, Artist; Shelly Knotts & participants; Ian Bower and Elsie Ronald.

Find out more about the project here.

Producer: Lottie Steele