The Singer and the Sea

Down by the lapping waves we talk folklore, legend and landscape with the singer and story collector Liz Pearson, who plays us some of the beautiful, mesmerising sounds she makes as Chalk Horse Music. The name comes from the figure of a horse carved into the side of a hill in the Cuckmere Valley,

A warm, hazy evening on the edge of England seems a million miles away from London and LA in the late Nineties when Liz and her partner Darren were turning out hits. Returning to her native coastline, they chose to engage with the magic, the memories and the history of the places all around them, giving very old stories a striking, contemporary musical setting.

As the last of the day trippers make the most of the high tide, Liz, Cole and Emily contemplate taking a dip and discuss how the stories embedded in the hills of Sussex are the inspiration behind Chalk Horse Music’s new releases, The songs featured in this episode are used with permission and can be found, along with many other beautiful tracks, at chalkhorsemusic.com.

Season Two, Episode Five: Winnie Sings!

In which Cole springs a surprise and Emily is astonished to be able to hear the voice of a woman with whom she has become obsessed: Winifred Barnes, beautiful young star of the West End stage during World War One, who gave up her career to live, as an eccentric, on the edge of the cliff at Holywell. Featuring recordings from 1917, rescued and restored by Dominic Combe as part of his Palaeophonics project.

There are some gorgeous images of Winifred on the National Portrait Gallery site here.