Hello! Its May!
and what a May its already been! We are fresh back from Ashburton and celebrating our exhibition. It’s on until May 23rd so do be sure to stop in at Field System to see it.
No rest for the wicked however as we’ve LOTS coming up this month.
First up tonight at the Verdant Taproom in Penryn we will be having a chat about all things folk before Lally takes to the decks with some folky classics… it’s free do come along if you’re around…
Then on Tuesday 12th we are headed to London for this magnificent event where Matthew will be chatting Jimmy Cauty and Jim Finer about their musical project The Standing Stones at Rough Trade East… You can nab tickets here
And then on Saturday 16th Lally will be in conversation with Carl Gosling of the most magical bookshop in the world (Real Magic Books) about her book The Lost Folk at Get Together Festival in Sheffield. Tickets available here.
and on Saturday 23rd Lally will be hosting a Folk Fayre at the Buttermarket in Redruth. 1pm-5pm, with a Morris dancing at 2.30pm and a book chat at 3pm. It’s free!
It’s true! You heard it here first.
We’ve been asked on multiple occasions if there is a way people can continue to plop money into the pot after the initial sign up, and until now it’s been a totally one off payment. We’ve now added an optional renewal option on the website. For this renewal you’ll continue to get the same great content but you’ll also get a snazzy new badge (!) and a renewed membership pack.
YOU CAN CONTINUE TO BE A MEMBER HERE
We are obviously enormously grateful for your support and will continue to bring the best in stone related news and goings on.
First up a fantastic sounding event here in Cornwall:
TRANSMISSION I: Ambisonic Listening Party
Jamie House | 12th May 2026 | 5.30–8pm | 10-Speaker Installation | CAST, Black Box, Helston
Artist Jamie House presents a unique ambisonic listening party at CAST. The event is part of his ongoing collaboration with Natural England at Goonhilly Downs SSSI. Audiences are invited to experience a 10-speaker soundscape revealing the hidden sonic worlds of this extraordinary Cornish landscape.
About the Work
Jamie House has developed an evolving archive of field recordings across Goonhilly Downs, capturing surface atmospheres and subterranean textures. Using ambisonic microphones alongside contact mics, hydrophones, and geophones, he records dew-soaked sphagnum, wind-shivered gorse, freshwater pools, standing stone resonance,and the metallic tremor of historic satellite dishes. These natural sounds are interwoven with electromagnetic fields, seismic vibrations, VLF radio, and shortwave transmissions, blending heathland life with planetary and cosmic signals.
Set against the 2025 solar maximum, the recordings capture atmospheric whistlers, ionospheric crackles, and geomagnetic shifts. Audiences are invited to slow listening, attuning to the barely perceptible sounds of more-than-human voices and Red Data Book species. This collaborative experience explores sounds beyond human perception, co-learning with the unique environment of Goonhilly Downs amidst climate and social challenges.
The Listening Experience
The installation unfolds in three movements:
1. Ephemeral Pools (20 mins): Underwater plant resonances and nocturnal insects
2. Transitions (20 mins): Dusk-to-dawn soundscapes with nightjars, bats, and infrasonic insects
3. Barrier Thresholds (20 mins): Night recordings near the Earth Station, merging human-made and geophysical signals
Audiences are invited to reflect on human and non-human interconnections, from seasonal regeneration to planetary and cosmic scales.
About the Artist
Jamie House is a UK-based author and sound recordist transforming natural and technological soundscapes into immersive experiences. Mentored by Chris Watson and Lawrence English, he works across landscapes including Goonhilly Downs SSSI and Europe’s oldest oak forests at Blenheim Palace, blending ecological science with artistic experimentation.
His work has been featured at the Barbican Centre London, in New Scientist and The Guardian, and at international symposia and galleries. Jamie engages communities through collaborative listening, exploring biodiversity, climate change, and acoustic ecology. Recent projects include a soundscape album on Presque Tout Records (France) and exhibitions at PS1 Gallery, FENSTER KARST Gallery, and international forums including IAPT Cyprus and the Photographers’ Gallery London.
next up an event from our friend’s at Northern Earth
Paul Whitewick, archaeology/landscape YouTuber (247,000 subscribers)
James Attlee, award-winning psychogeographical writer
Louise Ryland-Epton, early modern historian and John Aubrey expert
C.M. Taylor, award-winning filmmaker and writer
and finally from Avebury Papers:
The Avebury Papers – Southampton City Art Gallery
The Avebury Papers is a four-year UKRI funded project to digitise, explore, and share the multimedia archive of Avebury’s Neolithic origins and ongoing investigation. To encourage creative reuse of the archive and inspire new stories, The Avebury Papers Project commissioned two artists, Gayle Chong Kwan and Kialy Tihngang to respond to the wealth of material making up the Avebury Papers.
With Oneiric Archaeologies, Gayle Chong Kwan reimagines Avebury as a stone circle through which you are transported to surreal dream landscapes populated by collages, clay objects, tools, lidar scans, archaeological objects, and more-than-human encounters. She draws together historical and contemporary archaeological dreams about Avebury to reenact and reimagine the collective re-shaping of standing-stones since the Neolithic period.
In The Bluest Eye, Kialy Tihngang’s starting point is the theory that Avebury’s stone circles were built to commemorate the domestic dwelling of a group of early farmers who migrated to southern England some 5,800 years ago. These people risked their lives, crossing the channel and bringing skills to enrich the country. Drawing upon notions of the circle and the ripple, alongside the materiality of sediments and standing stones, she visualises the hopes, experiences and challenges encountered by new peoples and ideas arriving in Britain.
Changing Landscape: The Photography of O.G.S Crawford – Southampton City Art Gallery
From the prehistoric sites of Avebury and Wessex to the streets of Southampton during the Blitz, the archaeologist O.G.S. Crawford transformed our understanding of the landscape through groundbreaking aerial photography. His images revealed histories hidden in plain sight. Crawford’s Southampton photographs record a city in transition after 45,000 buildings were destroyed. Shown together for the first time, these images tell the story of changing landscapes, accompanied by Crawford’s own words.
They’re also hosting a selection of events at online and at the gallery over the summer:
Online Talk: Excavating Avebury with Professor Mark Gillings and Professor Josh Pollard. Wednesday 24 June 2026. 7:30pm - 8:30pm More info here
Avebury Papers Talk – OGS Crawford and His Legacy in Southampton Talk with Jo Wren. Wednesday 8 July 2026. 11am - 12noon More info here
Avebury Papers Talk: Avebury and World-building. Saturday 19 September 2026. 11am - 12noon More info here
This month’s stones are from Alison Ray (Member no: 2214)
and they are The Rollright Stones.
“As she looked at the map and marked where she had been with little bleeding footsteps of red ink, she was enchanted afresh by the names and the bridle-paths, and, forgetting the blistered heel and the dissatisfaction of that day’s walk, planned a new walk for the morrow.” - Sylvia Townsend Warner, Lolly Willows (1926)
Although I grew up in major US cities, I spent a large part of my childhood in the west of Ireland, where ancient stones and medieval ruins are woven into dramatic coastlines. After a decent stretch in various concrete jungles, I found myself living in Canterbury and quickly fell under the magic of old pilgrim trails, saintly legends and local folklore.
This burgeoning love to church crawl and stone club was interrupted by Covid lockdown and the loss of loved ones in a short space of time, leaving me drowning in grief. I found great solace in escaping to the west again with dear friends to explore beehive huts and holy wells (and 99 ice creams!).
Once I found my feet again, I moved to Oxford and was shocked to find myself so close to the Cotswolds. Buying up every map, Pevsner and guidebook I can find, I relish any chance I get to roam the Oxfordshire Way in search of stone circles and church towers. These beautiful spots inspire my amateur film photography, and I recently rambled 15km with my 1950s Yashica A medium format camera and a picnic to reach the Rollright Stones, my muses for the day.
Like one of Philip Larkin’s ruin-bibbers, I want my pictures to reflect the meaning and history of these sites, and experimenting with colour negative film like this Lomochrome Turquoise helps me to appreciate the mysteries of the King’s Men and Whispering Knights. I don’t know where my trail will lead to next, but I feel as if a part of me is now tied to this incredible landscape with them.
Issue 4 (!) of Ancient Times is in the making! Please do email us articles and other delights before May 30th.
Thanks for reading folks! See you next month for more news n stones!
Lally & Matthew x
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