The Knockers' Ballroom

An original short story by Wyl Menmuir, read by Tristan Sturrock.

A crew of miners sits around a decorated table in a mineral-encrusted chamber, deep beneath the Cornish sea bed. There's a sound above the pounding of the waves. It's coming from somewhere beyond the rockfall that has imprisoned this party of miners who, for the first time since breaking ground here, have entered their mine without their tools...

This is a story about our relationship with the ground beneath our feet, the choices we make to exploit the riches that live there, and the consequences of those choices.

Wyl Menmuir is a Booker-nominated novelist, and prizes for his non-fiction include the prestigious Roger Deakin Award, for The Draw of The Sea. His exploration of our relationships with trees, The Heart of The Woods, was released in 2024. His short fiction has been published in Best British Short Stories, and beyond.

A BBC Audio Bristol Production
Reader: Tristan Sturrock
Producer: Becky Ripley