Elaine talks about Barrow

Had a great chat at the last Meet The Artist day at Lanternhouse with a Barrovian lady called Elaine. She talked about growing up in Barrow and how hard it could be at times being a women in a 'beer and skittles' town, why she left and then why she returned after traveling the world.

Elaine also recited a poem she wrote in Scotland about people hating others for where they come from and who they are.

I have had some amazing chats with Cumbrian people and would still love to talk to more of you. Listen to what others have told me to get an idea of the sort of thing I'm collecting, we can just meet up and have a chat that I record to edit out little parts of conversation to add to the project.

A Happy Life and Socialist Sunday Schools

A 1 minute track sent to Hal McGee for his International Email Audio Art Project. This features a recording of Mr Pritchard singing an old piorotte song he remembers from his youth.

It is quite a strange task to write a 1 minute track, especially as an ambient based writer, where long form is the standard, some of my tracks being over 20 minutes long. You really have to think hard about what is included and what is not needed...It was an interesting process - hope you like the results....

http://www.halmcgee.com/IEAAP.html for more information about the Internatioanl Email Art Project



Have been having a little Facebook correspondance with Mark Harris, an amazing musician from Birmingham since I posted These Things Shall Be, he sent me a link to another version of the hymn/poem and brought my attention to the concept of Socialist Sunday Schools and wondered whether Arthur learned it at one of these? Certainly would be aound the right age....I hope to catch up with Arthur for a brew and another chat to ask him. He said he learnt it via the Co-op education system so...

There is a copy of the John Ireland version of These Things Shall Be on his 70th Birthday concert CD recorded at the Albert Hall available from Amazon recorded in 1949.

These Things Shall Be

A new film to go with new music. The music is the first track I've produced using the recorded interviews I am making for the project. This one features Arthur from Ulverston, Lanternhouse's 92 year old neighbour who I had the pleasure of meeting one of the times he popped into the building for a brew. The poem is an old school hymn that was popular when he was a child. Look at the words here.

The music features processed field recordings from around Cumbria, including rain on my attic window, Whitehaven harbour and wind on Bardsea beach with harp made using Thumb Jam on my iPhone.

The film was started in a Meet The Artist session and is a collaboration with Geoff Benson from Kendal who came to check out digital film making after liking my work at the film night and chatting about new, cheap digital cameras. All the footage I used in the film are from Geoff's first go at using a digital film camera. More of his work will be in the next VJ pack that will be getting uploaded soon.

Cumbrian People

I have edited and uploaded the first round of interviews with Cumbrian people for the website. They are all available for download so you can add them to the remix packs we have already put out. The first Cumbrian sample pack will be available very soon also.

There is a great selection of people's memories starting to take shape. Thanks to Arthur, Eric, Eunice, Janice and Betty for talking to me and to Jack & Ian for donating some recordings.

Cumbrian People by cumbriaremixed

If you would like to be interviewed or know someone that might be interested please contact me at info@shaunblezard.com or phone 07743822114.

You can also pop into one of our Meet The Artist days at Lanternhouse. They run from 11am - 3pm on Wednesdays 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th March. Please come and have a little chat or why not try your hand at remixing the sights and sounds of Cumbria?


Sample Pack can be downloaded here - available for free download at The Internet Archive

Eunice and Eric Talk Chips

A recording of Eunice and Eric, who had a business in Barrow for many years then moved to Grasmere and had a very successful business there too. They are aged 92 and 93. Here they talk about when Eric's mam and dad had a fish and chip range fitted in their front room in 1925 when Eric was 8.

Many thanks to Christine for recording it and sending it in. Christine runs a great blog about the Lake District - check out http://englishlakes.wordpress.com/ for some amazing images and thoughts about the area.


If you have a story to tell, maybe a song or a piece of Music about Cumbria. Maybe you have a recording of the area: bird song, the sea, you doing the ironing - we are on the look out for sounds to add to the Cumbria Remixed sound bank.

You can send a sound either through our soundcloud drop box or email to info@shaunblezard.com

Janice reads Bessie's Postcards

Janice Benson talks about postcards that belonged to her grandparents that she played with as a small girl.

She then reads some postcards from her Great Grandmother Bessie that Bessie sent to her family.

They are around 1904-1910 or so and Bessie was in service in one of the big houses on Abbey Road in Barrow-in-Furness.

The thing that really stood out to us looking through the postcards is the way postcards were like the text messaging of their day.

Simple unadorned messages from one person to another to get a small piece of information over leaving bigger stuff to letters/email. There's nothing earth shattering in any of the postcards just simple family communication, very similar to texts my family send to each other - 'you fancy pizza tonight', 'leaving now, back at five' type things.

Pierrot Songs

Donated today by Gary Bridgens of The Pierotters, 3 short recordings of a gentleman from Barrow called Mr Pritchard singing snatches of pierrot songs he heard in his youth on Walney.