London Sketches – Lend me your ears

Are you an eavesdropper? A stealer of sounds? An acoustic snoop? Well! London’s the place! It is a city that is never silent; a place where you can hear the thunderous grumbling of a train across tracks. The tooting of horns from irritated drivers, the drone  of aircraft, the clang of gates or the ear-splitting shrill of a builder’s jackhammer. If you are near the river, you can add in the chugging of boats, the disco-beat of a party vessel, the swish of the tide and the honk and squawk of river birds. At mass or evensong,  augment the soundscape with the melodic peal of church bells or the gloomy toll of a funeral service. Domestically, as you pass windows, there’s the gurgling of ill-sorted plumbing, murmured or raised voices, the chime of mobile-phones, the grizzling of babies, the clank of kitchen dishes, and, if the walls are thin, the sharp inhalation of a cigarette.
Everywhere, you will pass snippets of conversations:
“You won’t believe this, you’ll be amazed, wait till I show you my…”
“Honeysuckle, Honey?”
“ Kings and Queens, like in America…”
“ ‘Barefoot’ is that like a shoe brand?”
If you seek silence in London, you may seek the spacious nooks of the wealthy: The Inns of the Temple, the Guildhall, weekend Westminster streets, or a public park just as the sun rises – even then, you will hark not the lark, but the steady thrum of a dawn jogger or cyclist.