History (Canals) Episodes

One of the first things you will experience when you cast off onto the waterways is, what is sometimes referred to as, ‘canal time.’ What is canal time and how is it different to land time? Canal time functions not so much as a marker for time passing as a recognition of the many streams of timelines of things and lives that fall outside the sphere of human control. However, there is also a deep irony about it too... Journal entry: “3rd February, Wednesday. This morning the tangled thicket by...

Another January storm has passed over us. But, tonight we have a stock of gingernut biscuits and the knowledge that each day the daylight gets longer and the spring is coming. In this episode, with its usual sprinkling weather lore, we answer some more questions about the canals – principally – how deep are they? It is a subject that I have first-hand knowledge about! Journal entry: “21st January Thursday. Waxing moon in a Russian sky. A flight of gulls high, in clear air. Turned into golden ...

‘The cut’ is one of the old vernacular names given to the canal. It was the one most of us used during my childhood. The name reminds us of its history and construction. This episode explores the strange and sometimes ambivalent place that canals inhabit within our natural and cultural environments. Journal entry: “14th November, Saturday. Charcoal sketched tree against a rain faded sky. Clawed branches tangle in the dawn light. The cormorant is back, Pterodactyl winged, oily slick. A univers...