Natural World (General) Episodes

When I meet people who listen to this podcast, one of the most frequently mentioned features is the inclusion of the weather log with which I end each episode. This week I talk about what inspired it, one of which is my childhood love of the BBC’s Shipping Forecast. What makes these stark lists of climatic data ring so powerfully in our minds? Journal entry : “8th October, Friday Laundry-water coloured skies Heavy dews Clumps of willow-herb hang like desolate sodden paper tissues. The sock on my...

How did the willow threaten a powerful king? What has bloody fingers to do with St Withburga? How much does our knowledge of the world dictate the way you see it? The names we give things are useful (vital even), but they are not passive. Names frame the way we view the world. In this week’s episode (with apologies to Henry Reed) we ‘unname the parts’ to find how rediscovering local names and stories can connect us in new (or older) ways with our environment. Journal entry : “3rd September, Frid...

Is August high summer, late summer, or early autumn? Does the Queen own our little cygnet that went missing? Who looks after the canal banks? This week’s episode addresses all these pressing questions, as well as dealing with my existential angst at the threat of being robbed of ‘summer’. Journal entry : “19th August, Thursday This week, each day fills and swells with the stresses and anxieties of work. Familiar pulses of panic surge up as the seconds tick by. They overwhelm my skies. It feels a...

Did you know that each evening we experience THREE twilights? Each one with distinctive features and that during this period we respond in physiological ways. Similarly, our ancestors appeared to have taken advantage of these liminal periods of transition in ways that we might do well to remember. We finish the episode with a lovely passage from Tom Rolt’s Narrow Boat and there is also some sad news from the moorings. Journal entry : “1st July, Thursday The day dawns with a silver light that pre...

The hot weather has broken with rain and slab-like grey/white skies. While we wait for the sun’s return, it’s probably a good time to remember those lazy sunny days of long ago (and not so long ago). In this week’s episode we explore the sounds of canals in summer from bees to lock sluices and enjoy the words of John Betjeman and E Temple Thurston. We also discover the meaning of the word 'haysel'. Journal entry : “16th June, Wednesday The summer heat has come, dustily settling across the fields...

The world is filled with new life, fledglings of all kinds. It is noisy, messing, sometimes cruel, and so full of vitality and life. It’s an boisterous energy that cannot be contained or ignored. From vetch, to rabbits and birds and even humans, fledglings fill this world with a fragile, exuberant colour. In this episode we also discover some of your ‘first poems.’ Journal entry : “2nd June, Wednesday Great God, I love this weather. When mounting, rock-grey slabs of clouds climb into the sky and...

Back where we belong. Under an old ash tree and a full April moon. After nearly five months of restricted movements, we’re back home, out on the canal! Join us as we stop over at one of our most favourite places to tie up for the night. The sun is warm, the air is soft, and the moon is big. Journal entry : “23rd April, Thursday. Sitting up here on the roof of Erica I am surrounded by warmth and the sounds of life. The water beneath my feet shifts in tessellating patterns of light; It is the taup...

At the beginning of the week we were waking up to snow and each nights the temperatures have been slipping below zero. However, the days are filled with sunshine and warmth, and a vibrancy fills the word. Spring has arrived. A few years ago, I discovered something wonderful that the isophenes of Spring tell us about the the progress of the season. We also join the poet, writer, and naturalist, Edward Thomas, at the end of his 1913 bicycle ride in Pursuit of Spring and finds, high on the Quantoc...

The journey from winter into spring is often messy and ill-defined. Sometimes it feels as if we are making progress and at others the cold and damp of winter days returns. As we are also contemplating moving from lockdown it is not surprising that we can feel a bit of kilter. Reflecting on an encounter in WH Hudson’s book A Shepherd’s Life , there are times when we feel like a small boy lost among the ocean waves of the South Downs and at others the man on the bicycle. Journal entry : “18th Marc...

Tonight, the NB Erica is locked in ice. There’s a wolfish southeaster blowing and the night is filled with rasping creaks and groans. There are times when the ice sings. Acoustic lightning flashes that dart across the frozen water surface. Journal entry : “9th February, Tuesday. Last night’s snow low uneasily on the ground, like a miser’s blanket, threadbare and uneven. But it’s enough to see the lacework of indistinct and broken-formed tracks of night-time life. For once, I can see what Penny s...