Name: Hand-Me-Downs by Mark Vernon
Duration: 8 min 45 s
Description: From the 2025 album 'Unforced Errors' on Vice de Forme.

Piers Plowright begins his series by visiting the source of the River Thames.

First broadcast on 29th April 2013 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Piers Plowright
Produced by Alan Hall

Thames Crossings: Beginnings 1/5

Piers Plowright returns to Oxford where, 50 years ago, he studied history.

First broadcast on 30th April 2013 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Piers Plowright
Produced by Alan Hall

Thames Crossings: Learning 2/5

Piers visits Ewelme, a small village in the Chilterns, where his sister is buried.

First broadcast on 1st May 2013 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Piers Plowright
Produced by Alan Hall

Thames Crossings: Pilgrimage 3/5

In Cookham, Piers views the river through the work of his favourite artist Stanley Spencer

First broadcast on 2nd May 2013 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Piers Plowright
Produced by Alan Hall

Thames Crossings: Words and Flesh 4/5

Piers's pilgrimage along the river reaches its conclusion in south west London.

First broadcast on 3rd May 2013 BBC Radio 4
Presented by Piers Plowright
Produced by Alan Hall

Thames Crossings: The Boat is Waiting 5/5

From the 2025 album 'Unforced Errors' on Vice de Forme.

Hand-Me-Downs

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this first episode, he returns to the small Welsh village he was evacuated to during the Second World War, to find the family that took him, his mother, and sister, into their house.

With four of the Thomas siblings, now all in the 80s, he explores their different, sometimes conflicting, memories of the years 1943 to 1945 and remembers and recreates the sounds that surrounded them.

Produced by Alan Hall
First broadcast on 10th August 2015, BBC Radio 4

Stepping Stones: Stick By The Sea: A Childhood Tale 1/5

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this second episode he revisits Stowe School where, in the 1950's, he fell in love with Shakespeare's language while acting his plays in the open air. Piers compares notes with present day 'Stoics', in the middle of rehearsing this year's Shakespeare productions, to find out what his language means to them.

Produced by Alan Hall
First broadcast on 11th August 2015, BBC Radio 4

Stepping Stones: Wordplay: Theatre in the Open Air 2/5

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this third episode, Piers goes for a drive with his two daughters in a Morris Minor, the same model and vintage as the one he owned between 1968 and 1990. As his only car, he discovers just what made it so special when the family was growing up.

Produced by Alan Hall
First broadcast 12th August 2015, BBC Radio 4

Stepping Stones: The Chuckler: A Short Ride In A Smart Machine 3/5

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this fourth episode, Piers goes for a winter swim in the Men's Pond on Hampstead Heath and discovers how special the sounds are - wild-life, swimmers, the distant hum of London - on a January morning.

Produced by Alan Hall
First broadcast 13th August 2015, BBC Radio 4

Stepping Stones: Splash: The Water in Winter 4/5

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this last episode of the series, jazz pianist and teacher Louis Vause examines, with Piers, one of the great Blues performances of all time - New Orleans pianist James Booker's interpretation of True at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival.

This is a performance that has haunted Piers since he first heard it and has come to speak to him of all the longing and grief - and maybe hope - that the Blues express.

The programme includes an interview with Lily Keber who made the recent film about Booker, Bayou Maharajah.

Produced by Alan Hall
First broadcast 14th August 2015, BBC Radio 4

Stepping Stones: True Blues: A Cry from the Heart 5/5

For bookings: meagreresource@hotmail.com

Mark Vernon is a Glasgow based sound artist who works with found tapes and acousmatic presence. His work explores themes of magnetic memory, audio archaeology, voyeurism and nostalgia. His solo music projects have been published through labels including Kye, Glistening Examples, Flaming Pines, Misanthropic Agenda, Entr’acte and Canti Magnetici. He co-runs and curates Glasgow art radio station, Radiophrenia and has produced programmes for stations internationally.

Hand-Me-Downs

Mark Vernon

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