Nighttime on Still Waters

Send us Fan Mail 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 J...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 plac...

Send us Fan Mail 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 scen...

Send us Fan Mail 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 el...

Send us Fan Mail 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 d...

Send us Fan Mail 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  Bliste...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 wate...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 giv...

Send us Fan Mail 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 p...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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  L...

Send us Fan Mail 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  Tha...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 dr...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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.”   Epis...

Send us Fan Mail Traditionally, August has been the time for Britons to head off to the seaside for their annual holiday. This week’s episode celebrates this custom and causes me to reconsider the momentous moment when I saw the sea for the first time.    Journal entry : 23rd August, Friday “All night the winds blew;  Battering and hooliganing  Around the boat.  Perhaps that’s why I woke  In a dis...

Send us Fan Mail We’re on HOLIDAY! And so, a rather truncated and spur of the moment podcast tonight. However, join us as we enjoy a spot of tranquillity canal-style. We also hear a lovely story from one of our long-time listeners and lock-wheelers.   Journal entry : 25th July, Thursday “The sun flashes off the canal  in a shimmering dance of light. Sweet fruit hang amid  The dappled leaves and bu...

Send us Fan Mail Join me tonight as I recount a strange and rather unnerving experience that I had just over a week ago, of feeling as if I were walking in the footsteps of Meursault, the main character of one of my favourite books, Albert Camus’ The Outsider . Please note that this episode contains themes relating to death and cremation. Journal entry : 25th July, Thursday “First light of iron an...