Nighttime on Still Waters

Send us Fan Mail Tonight, we walk through deep time. Ours is a generation who are the witnesses to the Great Unravelling, but we are also part of the Great Remembering. With handfuls of seeds and ancient soil, we walk out of our books, our learning, and our language, to pick up something once lost.  Journal entry : 16th October, Friday “Robin song and yellowing leaves  Float down upon the silent c...

Send us Fan Mail While work pressures have made tonight’s episode a little shorter than usual, the pause feels serendipitous. This evening, we embrace the quiet, celebrating the small, sacred pockets of stillness that naturally invite us in and away from an increasingly tumultuous and noisy world. It is a gentle reminder that even a brief moment of reflection can anchor us, offering the support an...

Send us Fan Mail The slow drift from summer into autumn is underway and with it comes gentle shifts (both seen and unseen) that are the pulse and rhythm of the earth and life along the canal. Join us tonight on the Erica as we celebrate this slow dance of the seasons. We also join Jeff Van Booven for a special night-view from his window in the sultry darkness of a summer midnight in Missouri.     ...

Send us Fan Mail It’s a beautiful night, but there is an autumnal damp chill in the air. So, snuggle up with us aboard the Erica as we enter the mysterious, but perhaps not so different, world of geese, and we find out what happened when nine of them flew in on one late summer’s afternoon.  In celebration of the life of Wendell Berry, we read his poem 'Wild Geese.'   Journal entry : 3rd...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Erica on a still summer’s night. The canal may seem quiet, but below the surface the fish are busy and it is far from silent. Join us tonight as we listen in to their world and find out what it sounds when ducks swim above your head. We also get to step aboard the NB Precious Jet and take a look at the view from her duck hatch.   Journal entry : 20th August, Thursda...

Send us Fan Mail It is a glorious summer’s night, but the canal is officially closed. Join us tonight, as we ponder over what this shutdown means for permanent liveaboards and the fragile ecosystem left behind. Plus, we playfully ask: does the canal miss us when we are gone? Journal entry : 6th August, Thursday “From here, the alders look black  The sky behind them afire  With the sun’s setting. D...

Send us Fan Mail Summer is finally here, and nothing quite beats finding a cool and last spot (preferably in the dappled shade of a willow tree or two) and idling away a few hours while losing yourself in a captivating book. Why not wrap up your evening with us tonight for this year’s review and recommendation for your Summer Reading? Join us as we explore a wonderful book that gently carries you...

Send us Fan Mail A welcome breeze plays among the reeds and carves ripples on the canal. Tonight, the Erica is moored on a perfect summer’s night. We welcome you to join us as enjoy the quiet and go searching for older attitudes to summer, the shifting dates of Midsummer's Eve, and just why Midsummer Night’s Dream was so unsummery.   Journal entry : 10th July, Friday “Sitting chatting over a...

Send us Fan Mail As the heat begins to settle, join us tonight on the narrowboat Erica as we enjoy that special time of a summer’s day, when evening falls and cool breezes ripple the water’s surface. The heat and work pressures have meant that tonight we are freewheeling a little. We also take a peak out of The Land of Green Ginger's window. Settle back in the cool and enjoy a gentle ride to...

Send us Fan Mail As we edge towards midsummer night, we’re reminded how everything is in constant change. This is particularly the case in the fast-moving world of podcasting. It is a good opportunity to reflect on what it all means for this podcast; the challenges and plans for the future, and also why is everyone suddenly so interested in Vanessa's age (and why would they think that I know...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the night of a blue moon. Following a hot and busy sunny day the canal settles down into a contented stillness. It’s a perfect night to join and to sit back, let the quietness wash over us, to relax and to let our minds play with some big ideas.  Journal entry :  23rd May, Sunday “Voices lift across the water  No words, just sound  A copy of Baisao in my hand  Lingering over...

Send us Fan Mail Tonight, as the rain falls softly outside and the kettle sings on the hob, we are letting our thoughts roam free. Together, we shine a light into the forgotten corners of history to explore a quiet, essential rhythm; the often-overlooked role of the people who wound the parish clocks, and the precious gift they gave, the burden of time, Journal entry : 11th May, Monday “Mother and...

Send us Fan Mail Join us tonight, in the golden glow of a late spring twilight at our favourite mooring spot under the Forest of Arden’s mysterious gaze. As twilight begins to fall settle back, relax and enjoy the majestic splendour of the ancient evensong of the wild; a symphony in which every voice has a part.  Journal entry : 1st May, Friday, Beltane “The dip and swell  Of these gently folding...

Send us Fan Mail There’s a warm welcome aboard the Erica tonight. But why the Erica ? Why not any of the other boats we viewed and discussed? What was it about the Erica that made her special enough for us to buy, even though there were other boats that seemed to be stronger contenders? How did we know she was the right choice? Jo Bell’s brilliant book Boater helps us to find some answers.   Journ...

Send us Fan Mail Join us on a noisy and stormy night of high winds at the tail-end of winter as we contemplate the messiness of these between times that lie at the edges of the seasons. In a world used to binaries, these times can feel messy, frustrating and even unsettling. The old idea of ‘borrowing days’ helps us to navigate these ‘untidy’ seasonal borders in a different way.   Journal entry :...

Send us Fan Mail 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 harr...

Send us Fan Mail 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, Thu...

Send us Fan Mail 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 vand...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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,...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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....

Send us Fan Mail 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 ch...

Send us Fan Mail 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 king...

Send us Fan Mail 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...