Reels Adrift at Fenward Cut

≈ 4 min

Between 22:00 on Sunday 10 August and 06:45 on Monday 11 August 2026, an unknown number of original master tape reels disappeared from the tape store at Fenward Cut Lock Yard. The reels belong to the River Sessions archive, a collection of field recordings made between 1967 and 1989 by sound archivist Edmund Thrale. Your task is not to name who took the reels, but to profile the behaviour of the person or persons responsible.

The scene

Fenward Cut Lock Yard, a working river lock keeper's yard on the Fenward Navigation that doubles as a small-batch sound archive and tape-restoration workshop

In the file

Ros Thrale — Archive manager and trustee
Marcus Fell — Tape transfer technician, freelance
Pete Aldous — Lock keeper, resident on-site
Greta Sund — Canal-boat resident, moored opposite the yard
Odette Carre — Sound researcher, visiting academic

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This case first aired on August 11, 2026. A fresh profile runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.

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