Melissa Harrison told us about a new magazine that has just appeared on-line called The Clearing. It’s early days but it’s already interesting and, being published by Little Toller, I’d say well worth following. This is what they say about themselves: THE CLEARING publishes writing and artwork concerned with landscape and place. Each week on Friday afternoon we will showcase new work that probes, prompts, inspires or interrogates. Follow us on twitter for regular updates or just drop in to see what’s happening.

A new project by the London Sound Survey: What Does London Really Sound Like? THE AIM OF this project is to explore a way of describing variations in sounds across London within the limits of having only enough time to record in a few of the city’s innumerable streets, parks and other public places. 12 Tones of London proceeds by using statistical analysis to select 12 out of London’s 623 council wards (not counting the City of London) in the hope that their sound profiles can be generalised across relatively large swathes of the capital.

Cheryl Tipp posted a highly enjoyable article (complete with audio) on the British Library’s Sound & Vision blog: Simon Elliott has recently retired after 35 years in the NHS, building an international career in medical ultrasound scanning and technology. He has been an active member of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society since joining in 1975, and has collaborated with the British Library Sound Archive for over 30 years. He believes strongly in the role of the British Library in making the world of sound freely available for science and education.

Thanks to the Lines of Landscape blog for bringing this BBC R4 broadcast to our attention: A View Through A Lens – Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison combines location recordings with personal narratives which highlight the uniqueness of human experience and the beauty of nature. Produced by the ever brilliant Sara Blunt.

Dickie Straker recently wrote to us and incuded a link to a film of Samphire Picking in Blakeney, Norfolk, 1961: As we are in the season, all too briefly, for being on the receiving end of the mermaid’s kiss (harvesting and taking delight in the natural delicacy that is marsh samphire) I thought CBTR readers might be interested in this delightful film (the others in the archive are worth a look at too).