In this episode of the Green Pledge Podcast we listen to two dawn choruses, recorded in the month of May, in the same place, but 70 years apart.

In the 1950s on a couple of May mornings, Harry Grimes took his reel to reel recorder to a view point on the Old London Road, just as you head out of Wotton Under Edge.

Harry’s son, Hugo, has turned the recordings into a beautiful CD. He tells the story of his dad, interlaced with the sounds of the birds and an oral history recording made of Harry later on his life, The CD is available at Wotton Heritage Centre

The full length recordings of the birdsong will become part of the Green Pledge collection at Gloucestershire archives as

70 years later, on May 19th 2024, Green Pledge Project manager, Christina Wheeler, returned to the viewpoint and recorded the dawn chorus again.

Hugo and Christina visit Ed Drewitt, a local bird expert, at his home in the Forest of Dean. Ed listened to the two recordings and gives us his insights into what he heard.

For more info
the Green Pledge Project - https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/our-projects/the-green-pledge-project/
Ed's website - https://www.eddrewitt.co.uk/
Wotton Heritage Centre https://www.wottonheritage.com/
https://wottonheritage.bandcamp.com/track/06-hugo-grimes-introduction

John Meadley has spent a lifetime working in agriculture and overseas development. He lives in the Stroud area and has spearheaded many local green projects. He is the co-founder of Pasture for Life, an organisation focussed on pasture fed livestock for the sake of the animal, the soil and biodiversity.

In 2012 John was voted an Environmental Hero by the Heart of Gloucestershire Community Awards.

An important part of the Green Pledge Project is collecting oral history or life story interviews. The aim of the collection is to make sure we have an archive which tells the story of what is happening in our area today. The interviews explore the work of people dedicated to bringing change, or protecting the environment, but also digs a little deeper and asks what their influences were. These longer-form interviews will be available to listen to at the archives. We've edited extracts for these podcasts.

If you know someone who's story you think we should record for the project - please let us know and get in contact with christina.wheeler@gloucestershire.gov.uk