Nighttime on Still Waters
A narrowboat-based audio journal on canal life, living aboard, the elements, and the night. Perfect late-night listening for dreamers, insomniacs, night owls, nocturnalists, drifters, and nomads. For lovers Fagen's 'Nightfly', Auden's 'Night Mail', Hopper's 'Nighthawks' and the 'drifting sea-dark streets' of Dylan Thomas. For all those who used to listen to the transistor under your pillow, love the sound of distant trains and rain against the windowpanes, canals and drover's tracks, lost music, splashed puddles, fireflies and bats, hares by moonlight, windsong among pines, owl-light, the shipping forecast, and all the wonderful, terrifying, grand and tawdry avenues of the night...
The Seeds of Spring ('Somewhere, right now')
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The temperature is dropping and it looks like a frosty night is ahead of us. So, why not join us in the Erica’s cosy cabin as we contemplate the coming of spring, the therapeutic and philosophical aspects of planting seeds, and joy of sunshine on your shoulders.
Journal entry:
19th March, Thursday
“On Horse Hill
The light scrubbed clean
By the sharpness of frost
Two rooks harry a buzzard pair
Who fly on wings
Of feathered nonchalance.”
Episode I...
An Under-Sung Companion (to the canal)
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Join us tonight as we reflect on that often under-appreciated companion to the canals, the humble towpath. We uncover its vital importance in the past and how in, recent years, its relationship with the canal has been changing. We also meet up again with E Temple Thurston and the good captain Eynsham Harry as the meet a figure of the forgotten past.
Journal entry:
5th March, Thursday
“A warm sun that hums
With the buzz of big bodied
Bumblebees busy among
The soft fall o...
The Seventh Word (Reflections on canal-life - 2)
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In tonight’s episode, with the help of a few of our listeners, I continue to reflect on life aboard the Erica and how it might have changed our lives as well as go on a hunt for the elusive 'Seventh Word'. There is often a lot of talk about how canal-life is helpful for mental wellbeing. Is this really the case? We also go in hunt for some mysterious bramble cutting vandals.
Journal entry:
21st February, Saturday
“A silvered dawn.
Milder air
With th...
In the Belly of Winter
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This year, the Bita kaulo munthos (the little dark month) has brought with it yet more rain. This time of year can be a hard time. Mid-winter; the time of lambing, Imbolc and the Cailleach. Strung halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox, Imbolc heralds the mid-point of what for many seems to be turning out to be a very hard winter. Join us tonight around our fire as we contemplate how this time can help to prepare us for the uncertainties of the coming year.
Journal entry:
6th F...
The Sixth Winter - 200th Episode (Reflections on canal-life - 1)
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Tonight, we’re celebrating our 200th episode while enjoying our sixth winter aboard the NB Erica. To mark the occasion, I’m looking back at how the watery path of canal life has reshaped our lives, sometimes in unexpected ways. So, settle in as we ponder the intricacies of synoptic weather charts to the quiet, unique qualities of living on the water.
Journal entry:
24th January, Saturday
“A silver sun
Leans on a lonely wind
Casting hard light
Upon the world.
I can tas...
Canal Life (Now and Future)
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The failure of the Whitchurch embankment offered sobering viewing for those on and off the canal. This episode responds to listeners’ concerns and questions and then reflects on the wider implication of incidents like these on the future of life on the canals. *Spoiler -it is not all doom and gloom!*
Journal entry:
6th January, Tuesday
“Colder night
But slightly milder dawn
A few desultory snowflakes fall
Flightless feathers
With no wind
Upon which to dance
Will these small flak...
The Remarkable Tale of Bertrum Crane (A story for Christmas)
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It's Christmas on the canal, and the time when we traditionally gather around by firelight and tell stories of wonder and magic. So, tonight, there is an extra specially warm welcome aboard the Erica as we turn the lights down low and listen by firelight to a rather remarkable (and I think wonderful) tale of canal-side Christmases past and the magic hidden along the towpath. Grab a mug of your favourite drink, settle into your cosiest chair and join us into the heart of a canal-side Christmas.
With special thanks to...
An Advent on the Canal
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As advent candles burn into their second half, and berries blaze along the towpath, why not join us tonight aboard the Erica to hear about what it feels like to experience this advent on the cut.
Journal entry:
8th December, Monday
“A ragged river of rooks
Stream across
A watery sky
On purposeful wings.
They rise and circle
Around the One Oak.
The fire of their
Jubilant chatter
Warms the day.”
With special thanks to our <...
The Night Speaks with its Silences
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These are the days of the long nights, when ¾ of our day gives way to the dark. If we listen carefully, their gifts are rich and restoring. In these strange times we need, once more, to slow down, look up, and hear the night speak to us with its silences. Come aboard the Erica and let’s journey into the night.
Journal entry:
27th November, Thursday
"This morning,
The kingfisher wakes
To a softer, kinder day.
The willow leaf
Finds the current
Th...
The Colour of Storms (Storm Claudia passing through)
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Join us tonight aboard the Erica’s warm and cosy cabin as storm Claudia rages outside. Let us experience together the intimate feeling of being snug and safe in a tiny home afloat on the storm lashed canals.
Journal entry:
14th November, Friday
“Sky of smudged greys,
Chalky, sooty, dirty laundry water,
And a light of such silvery metallics
Lead and steel, iron and zinc,
That makes the canal surface shine
And adds richness to berry and leaves.
Why is it, that on...
Morton's Rise (A canal story for Halloween)
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Welcome to Halloween on the canal. It’s a perfect night to turn down the lights, curl up in comfy chair with a warm mug, and listen to a spooky tale. Can anyone explain what really did happen on that celebrated (or notorious) section of canal at Morton’s Rise under the glowering presence of Draid Hill?
Journal entry:
31st October, Friday (All Hallows’ Eve)
“The day grows thin
Between light and darkness
Heron spanned
Silent as owl flight
The canal listens.
Samhain...
A Common Thread (Sunday at the moorings)
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Have you ever wondered what it was like to visit a ‘moorings’ along one of Britain’s waterways and to stand and watch and listen as this small world flows to its own daily rhythms? Although every 'mooring' is different, we explore the common thread that unites them. Why not join us for a sunny autumnal Sunday and listen to the day unfold.
Journal entry:
6th October, Monday
“Wind buffets and rocks the boat
The mooring lines tighten and then slack.
Fenders creak and the cal...
That Very Particular Joy of Friday Nights (and crisps)
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It's a blustery, moonless, and nearly starless night tonight, with the ever-present hint of rain in the air. So, why not come aboard the Erica for a while and reminisce about inconsequential things, the joy they bring, and how they form such strong bedrocks to our lives in an unsteady world?
Journal entry:
17th September, Wednesday
“Summer has left
And strewn all along the towpath
Is the detritus of its sojourn.
Rusting wires of sorrel and dock,
Hogweed spokes like upturned
Discard...
Down to the River (On this blue and grey September day)
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Tonight, for a little while, let’s leave the sleeping canal in peace as it slowly recovers and heals after the summer long drought. Instead, let's go down to the river where the water is alive with light and chuckles and laps under rowing boats and let us see what we can see.
Journal entry:
4th September, Thursday
“Clouds pillow and pile
Black skies behind us
A fleeting sun catches
the scarlet of bryony berries
That wrap themselves around
Spiky vines of midnig...
Under a Canopy of Trees ('Your word')
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A newly born moon is still below the horizon and the parched ground breathes in the quiet of a summer's night. The water levels may be low, but you're assured a welcome that is full and warm aboard the NB Erica as we catch up on life with all its ebbs and flows, and unfuriating complexities that make it all so worthwhile.
Journal entry:
18th August, Monday
“Rain in the night
Woke up to streaks on the windows.
I take the rake off the cabin...
Back from Blacking (And the ingenuity of drydocks)
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Could the humble drydock be the perfect example of canal engineering ingenuity? Find out why in our latest episode and join us back afloat onboard the Erica as we explore some surprising facts about this often-overlooked marvel.
Journal entry:
1st August, Friday (Lammas Day)
“Fields the colour of linen and calico
Under turbulent skies of heavy cloud.
As I chew on a blade of grass
The wind whips up dust devils
Across the dry, hard-baked hill.
Apples fall, half ripened.
Harry, t...
With Tom Rolt on the North Stratford Canal (Summer Readings)
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It’s been a long sweltering day. Darkness is reluctantly beginning to fall, and a restless heat lies heavy over the canal. Let's settle down and listen to some echoes from the canal-side past as we hear Tom Rolt’s account of his journey up the Stratford upon Avon Canal (North) and the ‘battle for Bridge Number 1 (Lifford Lane).'
At a time when many of us are feeling the strain of today’s network, Rolt’s account reminds us of just how far we’ve come — and of the grit and vision of those...
A Summer Wind among the Alders (Speaks of Lludd and Llefelys)
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Stories have always been part of our world. From antiquity, stories create the light that help us find our way through the darkness. We need to rediscover those stories to help us face the dragons in our lives. Join us tonight as we listen closely to the summer wind play among the alders and hear a very old story that understands our modern world.
Journal entry:
3rd July, Thursday
“Walking up the hill.
The grass crackles and scrunches
With each step.
If I clo...
Unsettled at the Still-Point (Of the year)
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It is a hot midsummer night of warm winds that makes the Erica creak at her moorings. Tonight, we find ourselves at a year’s turning point — caught between the stillness and the unsettling. Join us as we explore the solstice, the shifting seasons, the rhythm of carnival swings, and the restless nature of the mind, uncovering the connections between them all.
Journal entry:
16th June, Monday
“Cresting
The eternal now
The carp and I
Share the summer sun”
Episode Information...
A brooding sky and mirrored waters (Fen Country)
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Join us on a quiet night of summer rain as we listen to rooks and explore the beauty and ambiguities of two liminal places with a lot in common. We learn about the web-footed fenmen and are guided by Luke Sherlock to a ruined church under haunting skies.
Journal entry:
6th June, Friday
“We walk through the sheep field
As the rain pours down.
My boot socks still wet from last night.
The rooks muster noisily at the One Oak.
Even the mag...
Erica's Place
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Welcome to tonight’s episode where ‘Erica’s Place’ by Mindshambles awakens a kaleidoscope of reminiscences about Mum and ‘elevensies’ and her never ending supply of fresh scones. As the different memories flow and glide past, it slowly becomes clear how much of ‘Erica’s place’ and Mum’s philosophy still lives on and unconsciously shapes these podcasts. Welcome to Erica's place.
Journal entry:
20th May, Tuesday
“The yellow flag are out.
Unfolding the origami of their petals
From the squashed chrysalis of their buds.
Yellow i...
A Totally Worthwhile Risk - 4
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Tonight, we float upon a starfield of hawthorn blossom under a waxing moon. Why not join us as we continue with the final part of Mum’s account of the ‘totally worthwhile risk that was never regretted.’
Journal entry:
9th May, Friday
“A westering sun
Lays long shadows across
The towpath and canal.
Two geese in a field
watch me from across the water.
A pheasant’s rasp
The scent of may.”
Episode Information:
In this ep...
A Totally Worthwhile Risk - 3
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Join us tonight under a waning April moon as we think about the local ducks preparing for the ‘long sit’ and hear more about what happened to Mum and Dad after they had landed in Canada to start a new life together.
Journal entry:
25th April, Friday.
“Down in the engine bay
De-rusting for painting.
I am once more a clumsy adolescent.
My feet grow too large and my knees
and elbows get in the way.
I no longer can bend as I...
A Totally Worthwhile Risk - 2
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Tonight, clouds build as the high pressure breaks. Speculative gusts of wind kick blackthorn blossom ghostly white along the towpath and the full moon seeps heavy and watery through a blanket of cloud. Join us tonight as we continue hearing Mum's account of a risk that was totally worth taking.
Journal entry:
7th April, Monday
“Warm snowflakes
Of blackthorn float and drift
Along the towpath
Among cowslip yellow
And bluebell blue.
The sheep are loathe
To move, preferring to lie
O...
A Totally Worthwhile Risk - 1
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It's a spring, moonless night - not quite 'Bible black', but nearly! It's a perfect night for stories. Why not join us to hear the first part of Mum’s account of their great adventure when, 68 years ago, almost to the day, Mum and Dad embarked on a totally new phase of their lives.
Journal entry:
26th March, Wednesday
“The ash are heavy with bud
Blistered garnet, raspberry-
Shaped jewels
That glow warmly in
The low sunshine
That picks out the
Slow con...
Cloud Herder (Won't you spin us one last story?)
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Along the towpath, the battle between winter and spring has begun with days of warmth and days of sleet. Although even the young ducks teach us a lesson in conflict avoidance. Join us tonight as we celebrate the lives of two people who were central to the creation of Nighttime on Still Waters.
Journal entry:
12th March, Wednesday.
“The day winds down.
A last walk along the canal side.
Pebbled rings form in the open water.
A kick of sleet
Drives agains...
On the Leading Edge of Spring
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Along the towpath winter slowly fades. If we are not quite in spring yet, we can feel it close at hand. Join us tonight as we celebrate the shifts in light and tone across the landscape and from deep within.
Journal entry:
26th February, Wednesday
“For me, there are few things more beautiful and soul inspiring than this:
Rain on water,
Old growth by the waterside,
Time-bleached reeds
Standing like Nepalese prayer flags.
The song of home.
Signals of transcendence.”
Episode Information:<...
Winter Readings ('The Great Frost of 1895' and 'Day of the 'Iceberg'')
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A winter’s night on the canal, starless and wind gnawed. A snug cabin with a warm stove. A hot drink in a favourite mug (and a biscuit or two). A cosy chair waiting for you. It’s just the perfect kind of night to curl up and listen to some accounts about life on the canals in winters past, when the ice was 2ft 6in deep.
Journal entry:
14th February, Friday
"Steel-grey half-light.
Rooks swing round the naked oaks.
The daily clamour of heading for...
Orion Still Looks Down (On the land my shadow knows)
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It’s a bitingly cold, sleety night. There’s a warning of snow in the forecast for later. It’s a perfect night to sit together around a warm stove snug inside the Erica’s cabin, while the wild world rages outside. The kettle is singing, the biscuit barrel is full. The night belongs to us.
Journal entry:
7th February, Friday.
“Yesterday’s spectacular
Blood-orange dawn
Has given way to a dawn
Without colour or feeling.
We pick our way between
Rutted pothol...
The Changes that Come
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There seems to be an awful of change happening recently, often unasked and with far-reaching consequences. Knowing how to deal with it can be difficult and lead us to feeling unbalanced and overwhelmed. Tonight, we try to find some still-points within the chaos.
Journal entry:
23rd January, Thursday
“A robin, one winter,
Riding out a sleety squall
On the flailing branch
Of pyracantha fire.
He often springs to mind
When squalls hit
And my world lurches
Fearfully beneath me.
Wrapped in Freezing Fog
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Join us aboard the Erica, as we sit around the stove on a raw night of ice and freezing fog. Tonight, we reflect on boat (and other) life in the times of hard frost, the trials of swan and kingfisher life, and we finish with a short reading from Tom Rolt.
Journal entry:
9th January, Thursday
“The shatter of January light
On fractured ice.
The smouldering
Of fallen leaves
Frozen into the ringing silence
Of stilled waters.”
Episode Inf...
Into the Silence (The Undreaming)
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I am probably not the only one feeling a little disoriented and uncertain about what the upcoming year will hold. While it is great to have plans and dreams, these are not always possible and sometimes, I think, not even desirable. There are times for wisdom to be silent and for the 'undreaming' to occur before we can begin to discover new music and new dances.
Journal entry:
1st January, Wednesday
“A dawn of tobacco and salmon
And racing clouds.
A solitary raven rows...
Practically Speaking (Listeners' questions - 7)
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Join us tonight under the soft light of a veiled full moon as we consider the wash of winter tree colours, when to start looking for a mooring, and how practical do you have to be to live on a boat?
Journal entry:
11th December, Wednesday
“All week, a north-easterly
Has raked across the bevelled
Waters, aching and raw,
Rattling the stern hatch doors.
The reeds whisper cold
Lullabies to the moorhen.
A kingfisher darts dimly
Through the dusk...
Winter's Whispers (The wisdom of the long nights)
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Join us round the stove tonight as we celebrate the joys and reflect on the lessons of living on a boat when winter approaches in the good company of Tom Rolt and Christine Rigden.
This episode is dedicated to Dad, who would have been 96 today.
Journal entry:
28th November, Thursday.
“Old moon
Curls with his back
To the dawn.
A slivered, sickled
Crescent of cold silver
That bathes the ivy
In frost.
My feet slide
On beauty...
The Days of No Shadow (... and then a deer barked)
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Recently, Britain experienced a blocking high pressure system, leading to an extended period of ‘anticyclonic gloom.’ Such are the conditions in which myths are created and as Blodeuwedd and Lleu indicate might still be created.
Journal entry:
15th November, Friday
Early light.
Thick mist
Licked with salmon
On the eastern edge.
Frost glitters
Along the cabin roof
And rimes hoary
On the solar panels.
Rooks pour off
The music stave
Of telegraph wires
Whirling around the one...
"Stretched into Tales that Leave a Mark"
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Two rather wonderful things have happened recently that has prompted this episode to take a reflective look back at this podcast and the journey we have taken together. Join us tonight on NB Erica as we celebrate sharing these night-times on still waters.
Journal entry:
31st October, Thursday, Samhain – All Hallow’s Eve
“Still air.
Wood smoke blends with night mist.
A tawny’s call shivers
Across the fields to the south.
I pass a couple of boats
With pumpkin jack o’ lante...
The Long Village (Villages and tribes)
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Tonight, we are hunkered down awaiting another storm. So, come and join us for a cosy night as we reflect on the fairly unique nature of canal-life and the community that it supports, with thanks to Wayne (NB Spudley) for drawing attention to a great new canal-based charity and some wise words from Rich (by Bike & Boat).
Journal entry:
16th October, Wednesday
“October drips onwards.
The towpath washed with mud
And brushed silvers
Wet with fallen leaf
And windfall twigs
Greets me...
A Touch of Autumn (Apple picking time)
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Join us on the narrowboat Erica on a moonless, star-filled night as we celebrate autumns, real and imagined, present and remembered. Although October (at the moment) is far from 'golden', it is apple picking time mem ries of which take us meandering down the wandering paths of my childhood.
Journal entry:
3rd October, Thursday
“Afterglow of sunlight
Ash etched into ice blue
Overseen by a watching rook.
Smoke curls
Listless on no wind.
Cabin lights call me home.”
Episod...
The Consolation of Ducks
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Did you know that ducks participate in ‘coordinated loafing’? But that might not be the only surprising/endearing thing about them. Tonight, we celebrate the joy ducks bring thanks to video posted by a stranger in Canada.
Journal entry:
20th September, Friday
“Hanging at the still-point between
Summer and winter’s
Swing and counter-swing.
Rooks roister joyously westwards,
Red with promise.
Above them, fourteen successive
Straggles of geese
Head eastwards
Flying on swift wingbeats
Against the grain of the day...
It turned a bit wet (Afloat in Hiroshige's rain storm)
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Join us tonight as Erica a wends ‘snailward’ home through a heavy rain storm - recorded, aptly enough, during another heavy rain storm! Hear also about our adventures with a drowning pigeon.
Journal entry:
3rd September, Tuesday
“Cruising through a Hiroshige
Woodblock print;
Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge.
Even the reeds look like bamboo.
A heron pilots us home.”
Episode Information:
During this episode I read a short poem by Issa and read so...
