BBC Radio 3 has revealed that it will be building on its ‘Slow Radio’ initiative by giving it a permanent slot. 

Beginning on October 4, the monthly programme will offer subject matter ranging from night time at the zoo to the sounds of Durham Cathedral. The half hour programme will also be available for download as a podcast.

In addition, for three hours on Christmas Eve, listeners will invited to experience the sound of walking in a German forest for three hours with writer Horatio Clare, a project inspired by the 'idea of “the wanderer”, a widely celebrated figure in 19th century Romantic art, music and literature.’

Alan Davey, Controller of BBC Radio 3 said: ‘A regular slow radio slot and our annual commitment to the pastime of walking are part of a deliberate effort to help people escape the frenzy of everyday life. We feel strongly about offering the public a mindful experience, a place, a haven, where they can lose themselves in audio and sonic experiences.’

Other initiatives announced by Radio 3 this week include ‘Sounds of Silence’, which will present a series of specially-commissioned ‘sonic memorials’, contemporary sounds from notable battlefields from around the world to mark the centenary of the 1918 armistice. Meanwhile, it will also broadcast the first-ever voice-activated version of a Radio 3 programme; listeners will be able to customize the order in which they hear an adaptation of BS Johnson’s 1969 novel The Unfortunates – a novel designed to be read in a random order – using Amazon Alexa.