Nighttime on Still Waters

Send us Fan Mail 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  ...

Send us Fan Mail 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, Mo...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 su...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 gra...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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, Thursd...

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...