Sounds of Our Shores: National Trust asks public to record 'sound map' of UK's coastlines

The initiative wants people to record their favourite seaside noises and upload them to the project’s website

Musician and producer Martyn Ware on Brighton beach, as the public is being asked to record the noises of seashores across the UK in order to build up a 'sound map' of the country's coastline which will be added to the British Library's Sound Archive (PA)

There’s nothing quite like an old song or a distinctive sound to take us right back to a particular time and place.

Now the National Trust is tapping the unique evocative power of noise in a new project that asks the public to record the sounds that define our relationship with the coast to create a “sound map” of Britain’s coastline for the British Library website.

It may be the sound of a fishing village, gulls screaming, the kettle whistling from inside a beach hut, or people slurping on ice creams – whatever it is, the “Sounds of Our Shores” initiative wants people to record their favourite seaside noises and upload them to the project’s website.

Cheryl Tipp, the curator of wildlife sounds at the British Library, said: “There is something really evocative about the sounds of our coast: they help shape our memories of the coastline and transport us to a particular time or place whenever we hear them.” Martyn Ware, of the pop groups The Human League and Heaven 17, will turn some of the noises into a piece of music.

The project runs until 21 September, and the public can upload sounds to the map via the website or app of audioBoom, which allows people to listen to, record and share sound files. The recordings should be a maximum of five minutes long and words and images can be added.