It’s an hour after dawn when the sun finally rises above the head of the valley. There’s an eagerness to the light, keen to get going after its slow start, and within moments the entire valley – the trees, the river and the banks of snow-white blackthorn – is a cauldron of light and life. Birdsong bubbles from the woods, the conversation of herons and their newly hatched young staccato from the melodious tones of wrens, great tits, and blackbirds.

Recorded by Daniel Graham and presented by Hannah Tribe.

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