Acoustic convergences in British seaside amusement arcades

British seaside amusement arcades are enduring sites, yet their acoustic dimensions remain underexplored. This In Practice paper investigates the sonic environments of three seafront amusement arcades in Blackpool, United Kingdom, through a novel artist-ethnographic methodology that integrates five interrelated methods: walking, soundwalk field recording, time-based transcription, reflection and place writing. Together, these methods establish a process of embodied engagement, sensory documentation, interpretation and creative representation. Through this approach, the three amusement arcades are shown to be complex acoustic convergences that have evolved over time. This generates new understandings of the sonic, spatial and temporal dynamics that characterise contemporary British seaside arcades, demonstrating their contribution to the role of sound in seaside resort place experience. More broadly, the paper offers a transferable qualitative methodology for creatively and critically investigating complex sensory place experiences and producing new accounts of place. This extends existing sensory ethnographic and participatory observational frameworks, with relevance across interdisciplinary art, ethnography and human geography.