Silence
of Invisible Footfall - Greestone Steps – Lindum Hill to Minster
Yard
Halfway
along Lindum Road a set of stone stairs leads to the top of the
escarpment with an arched gateway partway along. The journey up is
wholly different from the one down. Pause under the arch and notice
the auditory transition - hear the marked soundscape change from the
busy road up through the medieval gateway into the protection of the
upper city. Greestone steps were built to give direct pedestrian
access. So many feet over many years have trod up and down, shaping
the stones with their passage, as yours are. You can almost taste the
mineral grittiness in the sound. Can you hear the panting, wheezing
of ascending pedestrians on errands and the scuff and slide of those
descending, and all the chatter? Many will be the cathedral cleaners
who lived nearby.
From
the height and the view gained by passing up through the gateway,
distant sounds begin to arrive from the far horizon on the other side
of the river cut in contrast to the enclosed sounds of your footfall
on the steps.
And
as strange unexplained sounds and gruesome sightings have been
reported along this passage over many years, the night-time
experience could be very different than in the day – the choice is
yours!