Philosophy/reflective Episodes

The archdeacon is one of the colourful local characters who live here. Irascible and combative, he is nevertheless an important part of the social life of this small portion of the watery world. He’s a feral domestic duck with a chequered past and a strong sense of his own importance. A rather restless, listless day resulted in me drinking a lot of tea and reflecting on him and the work of Donna Haraway. Journal entry: 16th April, Saturday "I like it up here. It's not miles away from an...

Just as the wind swung north with its sting of sleet and hail, the first batch of ducklings were hatched this week. It was a far from simple event! However, as winter attempted to reassert itself with some biting winds and sharp frosts, we are reminded that winter’s growl is no match for the roar of Spring. Journal entry: 1st April, Friday "Penny looks up at me, hunched and quizzical, As snow pellets and plum blossom fall. There is nothing remotely romantic about these driven, windbl...

A week of glorious spring weather has heightened springtime activity along the canal sides and nearby fields. It also coincides with a particularly busy period personally. My response and those of the birds and animals around could not be more different. We dip our toes into the worlds of the polar north and the work of Kosuke Koyama to explore some possible explanations for this. Journal entry: 25th March, Friday “The fresh sun glances off the surface of the canal with a shimmering, si...

February has been a month of storms both meteorological and figurative that have left many of us feeling battered and anxious. Such storms leave their marks upon the landscape and familiar terrains can become strange, alien, and threatening. The cataclysmic events of the last few days are difficult to process and have catapulted us into what feels lik a much darker and more fearful world. How do we respond to it all and how do we navigate our way through times of intense darkness and confusion? ...

You join us tonight at the end of a rather windy day. There seems to be a fairly common feeling that we have been encountering a lot of blustery winds recently, both meteorologically and metaphorically. Tonight, we stoke the fire and reflect on the place of the wind in our lives, history and culture. Journal entry: “11th February, Friday. There’s a wrapping chill to the air And the scent of wet earth. Penny unsuccessfully tries to jump a large puddle. One some late winter days The way t...

This week we have been joined by a solitary stranger from the north. Probably blown south-west on last week’s northerly storm winds a wigeon has arrived. The appearance of this diminutive figure prompts us to find out a little more about this little duck and we discover his place in the legend of the Seven Whistlers and its association with the end of the world (but, perhaps, not as we know it).

The remnants of two days of murk still cling to the hedgerows and trees as you join us tonight on the narrowboat Erica. A very slow thaw is polishing the dulled surface of the water making reflected lights once again dance with life. Curl up and let’s enjoy those little shards of distant memories that still colour out present and fill us with such powerful emotions.

As tonight’s full moon is shrouded by the fog that rolls down the hill and curls and drifts upon the water join us aboard the NB Erica as we fall once more in love with the commonplace and overlooked things. The hill may not be named, or even be awarded a contour of its own, but it nevertheless is the place of gentle and unremarkable miracles. Journal entry: “17th December, Friday It didn’t take long For those three years of growth To lie cut upon the ground. Penny sniffs the torn an...

Following the epic weather of the past few weeks, we go back in time to a period that best celebrated this type of weather. In this episode we explore why the enigmatic appeal of Anglo-Saxon poetry and its fascination (or even obsession) with winter casts such an enduring influence on our culture. It is the perfect type of literature for cold winter nights, but there are also other deeper traits that remain deeply rooted in our shared cultural memories that inform our attitudes to winter. Journ...

You join us on (another)stormy night, but this one is moonless and black as tar. It is the night of the new moon – the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. The phases of the moon give us an opportunity to contemplate the intricate play of cycles all around us and how the mirror, challenge and provide direction for our lives. Journal entry: “3rd December, Friday The tops of the trees is Shakespeare’s wood have disappeared in cloud. A defrosted world, smothered in mist and pearled with be...

The pace of autumn is gathering and a chill is creeping into the air tonight, but the stove is warm. In tonight’s episode we go off to encounter Traveller’s Joy, and explore the potency and importance of names. Journal entry: “19th November, Friday The ash tree held its breath as the moon grazed the darkness, Between cirrus sandbanks, in a halo of light. A handful of stars, misplaced and constellation-less, Breadcrumbs, no longer able to lead me home. And now the dawn rises ochre and mauve....

Against all odds, this episode comes a little out of time! Events have conspired resulting in a slightly truncated episode recorded in the afternoon!! Nevertheless, duck chatter and babies (with a little help from John Moriarty) help us to find a path through the tangled thickets that many of us are possibly facing. Journal entry: “10th November, Wednesday A light mist, like smoke, has begun to sweep down the hill turning fields and woods to smudgy greys. Scattered across the gentle curve of ...

What is it about fire that holds our fascination? Last weekend the clocks went back and in the span of one night darkness began to lap at the edges of our late afternoons. The encroachment of night leading the tide of winter into our daytimes can no longer be ignored and it is understandable that at this time of year we are so drawn to the image of an open fire. In this episode, with the help of the poet Robert Service, we explore the ways that fire can touch us so deeply emotionally, reawakenin...

Tonight, you join me on a wild October night with the rain rattling against the cabin roof - so there is a little background noise in some places. But it’s warm and dry inside. Penny is snoring in front of the stove. Settle back as we look at life and Halloweens through the flickering light of a swede-head lantern of my childhood. Journal entry: “26th October, Tuesday Gloaming. Civil Twilight. The ash in the south field is losing its denseness; Filigree silhouette, like a Victorian cut ...

This week Vanessa from ‘The Mindful Narrowboat’ vlog got me thinking and so this week we begin to explore how our knowledge and (perhaps) attitudes to fungi are changing and leading us back to older ways of thinking about the environment and our place within it. Journal entry: “21st October, Thursday A Hunter’s Moon swinging high Across a highwayman’s sky Of racing clouds. The streets of Birmingham run wet With the glittering jewels of Brake lights and shop front signs. Later, A gull soars ...

Although the trees and hedgerows here are still holding on to their greens, further afield their transformation into golds and yellows and reds is unmistakable. This time of year never fails to trigger a memory of a young couple I once saw in a park in the middle of England who were entering a world that was turning to gold. Journal entry: “16th October, Saturday 7 degrees and the dawn is still an hour away. Flecks of dew on Penny’s nose. Not a breath of wind. The still air carries distant so...

These are the mornings of mist that ring with the call of geese. What is it about catching sight of the flight of geese and hearing their wind-borne calls that evokes such feelings restless longing and yearning within us? And yearning for what? We listen to the words of Wendell Berry, BB, David Whyte and Mary Oliver to find ways to capture those powerful emotions. Journal entry: “24th September, Friday A tangle of Victorian girders Russet brown; a lacy filigree of metal, rivets, and mus...

This week we catch up with news of our little swan family and explore the strange word ‘gongoozler’. What does it mean? Where does it come from? In some ways it functions as a shibboleth. Its use identifying the ‘true’ canal people from those outside the community. However, it also shines a light on tensions of modern day living. Journal entry: “15th September, Wednesday Dawn filled with the scent of autumn notes. Rooks stream like smoke or falling leaves Across the ragged sky Haunted by gees...

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, Fri...

After a 3 week break, Nighttime on Still Waters is back with episode 40! In this episode we catch up with what has been happening on the moorings and reflect on the place of night walking in history and culture. Journal entry: “5th August, Thursday High in a tree a blackbird Sings into the night. A river of notes Pours into the cabin. There are no stars Just music.” Episode Information In this episode I refer to: Miles Hadfield’s (1950) An English Almanac published by JM Dent and Sons. M...

This week we explore and reflect upon a wonderful poem by narrowboater Steve May (NB Blue Phoenix), ‘The Magnificent Heron’. There is a growing appreciation of genuine encounters with animals and birds and, with the help of Martin Buber and Jacques Derrida, we reflect upon changing attitudes and understanding about how we relate to the non-human world. Journal entry: “9th July, Friday The air is oppressive and sticky. At this hour only jackdaws have the energy to yap. Chance meeting with a s...

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 p...

The hold of early summer along the canal-side grows firmer each day. However, sometimes the changes and shifts in the season can affect us in surprising and sometimes disconcerting ways. This episode reflects on the birth of the idea that would eventually become the Nighttime on Still Waters podcast, and a reflection on radio and encounters in the night-time. Please note that this episode discusses mental health. Journal entry: “13th June, Saturday The lowering sun is now caught in the feath...

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 ...