Event Type : Walks

Escape the everyday and climb the summit; with a voice to guide, inspire, and help you on your way.

An immersive audio experience created by Ventnor Exchange & Glastonbury Poetry Slam Champion Toby Thompson, as part of the ‘Bays in the Biosphere’ project which aims to explore new ways for audiences to engage with the natural world.

Toby has previously written commissions for the RSC, Royal Geographical Society and National Portrait Gallery. Collaborating with musician Harry Christelis, they have together created a soundscape to transform an ordinary walk into a unique and personal experience.

This experience starts at the bench at the top of Grove Road and takes you to the top of St Boniface Down, the highest point on the Island.

If you need more help, head to Ventnor Exchange where our team can talk you through the technology.

Practical Information 

Audiences can take part in this experience at any time. It’s free, with no need to book and can be done as a group or (as we’d recommend) as an experience on your own.  You will need a smart phone and your own headphones.

To take part you just need to download the ECHOES app, sometimes also listed as ECHOES interactive sound walks. Once downloaded on the homepage in the ‘Near You’ section you should see ‘Inwards & Upwards (St Boniface Down)’ as the first event listed.

As signal in Ventnor can be patchy and to ensure a smoother experience, we recommend downloading the walk before you start. You can do this by clicking the blue arrow pointing downwards next to the button displaying ‘Steam Walk’ which will then be replaced with a ‘Start’ button. Make sure you allow the app to know your phones location as it will use GPS to work.

The experience is led at your own pace but will take approx 60mins, and we estimate around 30 mins more to return to the starting point.

There are no obstacles to climb but the walk is quite steep, climbing to the summit of a hill so we would suggest wearing comfortable shoes and clothing.

We’d love to hear your feedback about this experience, let us know: hello@ventnorexchange.co.uk or there are paper feedback forms in Ventnor Exchange