Boat Life Episodes

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 along England’s peaceful (and not so peaceful) waterways while drifting through centuries of hist...

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.

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 wherever. Journal entry: 24th June, Wednesday “Back from a hot city In a hot field ...

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. Journal entry: 12th April, Sunday “From Bridge 55 Children and old men Lean on Georgian ironwork W..

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 Th...

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 the promise of S...

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...

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 fla...

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 lock-wheel...

oin 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....

Have you ever wondered what it was like to visit a ‘moorings’ along one of Britain’s waterways and to stand and wath 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...

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 vin...

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 roof And lower ...

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...

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 v...

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...

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 against my face. Captivated by the gold...

Send us a text 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 home; Roosting time. Th...

Send us a text 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 Information: The shattered glass of...

Send us a text 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 ...

Send us a text 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.” Episode Information: The...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 swif...

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: Rain on the canal An enamel Peter Storm lapel badge like the one that came free with my f...