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'Life Blood' - If a river could speak, what would it say?

If the Afon Teifi could speak, what would it say? Georgie Styles, a Multitrack fellow, follows this river from source to sea and discovers a song of coracles and pollution.

Water is a live phenomena that twists and shifts with every second. Its flow takes with it stories, energies and sounds from source to sea. For millennia, it has been our life blood. But it is now one of the most polluted natural resources in the world, and the UK is ranked as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality. The Afon Teifi (river Teifi) was named the most polluted river in Wales in 2023. At 75 miles, it is the longest river that exists wholly within Wales, flowing from the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales through Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire before spilling out into the Irish sea at Cardigan bay. The Afon Teifi is the heartland for coracle fishing, a rapidly disappearing age-old tradition, which now only continues in these particular waters. The song of the river has changed drastically in a generation.

Working with renowned Welsh sound artist and composer Gwen Siôn, and Calvin Griffiths, a coracler who has built a life long relationship with the Afon Teifi, we follow the river from source to sea, asking: if this river could speak, what would it say? Using poetry, music, archive and original interview we blend sound ecologies, personal story, and musical voice to interpret this river's song - revealing a sonicscape of our human relationship to water and its long history in Wales.

Presented and Produced by Georgie Styles
Sound Design by Georgie Styles
Original Music by Gwen Siôn
Mixed by Nigel Appleton
Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas
With special thanks to Calvin Griffiths
A Whistledown Production for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

Commissioned in association with the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship for new talent in feature-making.

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Mon 6 Oct 2025 21:45

Broadcast

  • Mon 6 Oct 2025 21:45

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