Gair Wood Sounds is a live audio stream from a newly planted woodland in Leeds. Listen in real time, and return as the sound shifts over days, seasons and years.
Gair Wood is one of the major woodland creation projects in the North of England. As a living laboratory managed by LEAF (Leeds Ecosystems, Atmospheres and Forests research centre, University of Leeds), the site supports research, teaching, and public engagement, bringing together ecological monitoring, environmental science, and community access as the woodland establishes over time.
In July 2025 a solar powered streambox developed by Soundcamp was placed at a central point in the woodland, surrounded by over 60,000 saplings.
The site, around seven miles north of Leeds, was formerly farmland. It is exposed and the sound of wind is persistent. Various species of birdlife are audible, with occasional traces of mammals. Sounds from the neighbouring farm carry across the landscape, while human activity is ever present through the surrounding roads and aircraft passing along the Leeds Bradford flight path. The soundscape shifts throughout the day, shaped by changes in traffic and ecological activity. Two microphones are oriented to the south west.
Alongside the live feed, the project is building an archive of daily dawn and dusk recordings, gradually accumulating an ecological audio record of the site across seasons and years. GWS operates as a proposition: a platform through which listenership can emerge, and through which different forms of engagement, attention, and research might develop.
Gair Wood Sounds is a collaborative project. It is indebted to Soundcamp, Locus Sonus, the Acoustic Commons network and to related initiatives such as Wilding Radio.
How can listening connect us to the environmental changes taking place in Gair Wood as it establishes and grows? Can we hear shifts in species, weather, and activity as the woodland develops over time? What happens when we return to the same sounds of this place across days, seasons, and years? What kinds of relationships, knowledge and attention can be developed through sustained listening with Gair Wood?
Leave a listening note, thought or impression or to get in touch about the project or to ask a question.