Frequently asked questions:

Can I search this site for keywords?
Yes you can. Type a search word or phrase in the following box to search the entire text of the memoryscape website for key words, including transcripts of the recordings. To come back to this page afterwards, use the 'back' arrow button of your browser.

WWW memoryscape.org.uk

What equipment do I need to experience a memoryscape walk?
All you need is this map booklet, CD set and a portable CD player. If you don't have one, you can buy a portable CD player from Curry's or Woolworths for just £8-£10. To buy a professionally produced CD set of both walks and an eight page map booklet, see this page. If you would prefer to use an MP3 player, you can download MP3s from here. You may also wish to take boots, particularly on the Dockers walk after rain, as the path is badly drained in places and very large puddles can form.

How long do the walks take?
Both walks are three miles or less, but allow two and a half hours for each walk. You may wish to take refreshments with you - there are shops at the beginning and end of each route, but not along the footpaths.

Can you do these walks with a group?
I can organise a walk for your group/class/society by arrangement, and I can provide equipment. Please email me for further details tobybutler@boltblue.com or call 0795 729 4907.

Where exactly did the float hit the bank in the Drifting experiment?
Listening points on the Drifting walk are roughly where the float hit the bank, although not all points were used to make the walk work. If you are interested in locating the exact places, you can find the GPS location references here.

Are the walks accessible?
Both walks follow the Thames Path public footpath. They are completely wheelchair and bicycle accessible with ramp access. However, there are occasional low kerbs and uneven surfaces, particularly on the 'Dockers' walk, which passes through a gravelly aggregates yard. If you are partially sighted or blind, the audio walks should work very well - a group of partially sighted people tried Dockers and rated the experience very highly - but you will need a sighted friend to guide you and describe locations - please note that some stretches of the river path are unfenced with a long drop into the river. I would also recommend taking boots it has rained recently as puddles can cover the whole path in places. If you are deaf or have partial hearing you can still do the walks - full transcripts are available. They can be printed out and read along the way. See this web page for free downloads of the transcripts and maps.

Are the walks safe?
The walks are along public footpaths. hundreds of joggers, cyclists and walkers safely use the paths each day, but as every Londoner knows, walking in any part of the city has its risks and sensible precautions should be taken. I have met someone who was robbed on the Thames path at Greenwich - they weren't doing the memoryscape, and thankfully they were unharmed, but I mention it to impress upon you the importance of a few precautions. Both walks are along isolated stretches of the river and they are mostly unlit at night. I would strongly recommend doing the walks only in daylight hours. Allow enough time (ie two hours) to finish them in daylight. It is always safer to walk with a friend. Leave large sums of money, valuables and expensive equipment at home. Take a mobile phone to call for help if you need it (the emergency services number is 999 in the UK).

Going down to the shore on the Dockers walk at low tide is a great experience, but you must be careful. This is the advice I was given by the harbour master: find out the tide times at London Bridge (here) to avoid times when the tide is rising; wear good boots or shoes as occassionally needles wash up on the shore (and the mud can be deep); ALWAYS stay in sight of the steps you used to to get access to the shore, so you can get back to them; and take a mobile phone. In London the height of the river can change in minutes. People can and do get cut off by the tide. If it happens to you, or you see someone in trouble, call 999 and ask for 'coastguard'. There is a lifeboat station relatively close by at Tower Pier, so they shouldn't be too long...

What about a pub lunch?
There are excellent riverside pubs at both ends of the Drifting walk. Most of them serve food all day. There are also good pubs along the first stages of the Dockers walk. A café/bar at the end of the Dockers walk (the Millennium Motel) is open weekdays before 5pm. Greenwich North underground station has a snack bar.

Can I just play the CD at home?
If you want to, but memoryscape has been carefully designed to bring alive the deeply
personal and often hidden histories of the landscape - listening at home will only give you a fraction of the experience.

Can two people listen at the same time on one player?
Yes, if you attach a speaker to the Mp3/CD player, or you can buy a headphone splitter jack plug from Maplin or Ebay (costs around £1). This is a little plug that turns one headphone socket into two headphone sockets. Two sets of headphones can then be connected to the same player.

How do I get to the walks?

CAR: There are pay and display car parks at the beginning of both walks; a multi-storey car park is almost in sight of the Cutty Sark. At Hampton Court you can pay to park at the railway station or park for free in Bushy Park or on the residential roads in East Molesey after 9.30am.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: both walks are within London's Travelcard zones and have good public transport from the beginning and end of each route. For timetable and route planning advice, call London Travel Information 020 7222 1234 or click here for the Transport for London website.

DRIFTING starts at Molesey Lock near Hampton Court railway station (about 35 minutes from Waterloo station). The walk ends at Kingston, which has regular buses back to Hampton Court, or you can travel direct to London from Kingston railway station.

DOCKERS starts at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. It is only 100 metres from the Cutty Sark station on the Docklands Light Railway, or alternatively, a short walk from Greenwich railway station (a 10 minute ride from London Bridge). The walk finishes at North Greenwich underground station (Jubilee line and regular buses to Greenwich).

Please note that when you buy or download a walk you will receive a walking map to help you find your way - you can also download the maps here.

What is your background?

I have been involved with oral history since I was a history undergraduate, and have organised/worked on oral history projects with communities in the USA, Wales and India. My first experience of designing a trail was as a historian/tour guide at Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London. I later made use of my interviewing skills by moving into journalism, writing for newspapers and magazines about heritage, arts and museums. I became the editor of Third Sector, a magazine for people who work for charities and Foster Care Magazine, for people who look after children in care. I took an MA in public history at Ruskin College, Oxford and a PhD in cultural geography at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Museum of London, where I worked on Linked, a sound art trail by Graeme Miller along a motorway in East London, developed the memoryscape trails and completed a qualification in museum curation (AMA). Currently I am working on several projects including a series of sound/video trails around the Royal Docks in East London in time for the London 2012 Olympics. I have published work in many different books, newspapers and magazines, but this is a list of recent academic publications.

Will you be creating any other walks? Can you make one, or help us make one for our village/town/borough?

Yes! I have a great deal of experience of creating, designing and producing memoryscapes. Current plans include trails near the site of the London Olympics 2012 and a car-based memoryscape in Kent. If you are a local authority, tourism officer, community group, development agency or company that would be interested in creating or commissioning a memoryscape in your area, please get in touch - tobybutler@boltblue.com or call 0795 729 4907.

Can you let me know when any other memoryscapes have been created?

No problem - just send your email address to tobybutler@boltblue.com and I'll keep you posted. I never send spam and your email address will not be used for any other purpose.