WORDS once SPOKEN now CAPTURED
The Sun that Shone on Eden (still shines upon us here)
May 28, 2023
Come with me for a walk by the canal and I will show you something wonderful! This week we explore how names and memories have the power to root and reinforce our connections with home and tell us something very important ab…
A Nightingale Sang (and the world listened)
May 21, 2023
This week marked the anniversary of what has been considered by many to be one of the most important cultural events of the twentieth century. Tonight, we try to recapture that moment and explore why its power to move still …
Up on the Roof (Waiting for the rain)
May 14, 2023
We are back! Spring sunshine and showers are transforming the fields and the canal and it is wonderful to be behind the microphone once again! The roof of a narrowboat can acts as a special extra room offering you panoramic …
The Three of Seven (At the conclave of oaks)
March 26, 2023
Tonight's episode will be the last for awhile. I am trying to juggle too many things and I am not coping. I hope to be back soon. Thank you for all your support it means and has meant so much to me xx Tonight, the clouds are…
When blackbirds learn to sing
March 19, 2023
After a blustery week of wild, mad, March weather, why not join us tonight as we enjoy a sunny moment beside the canal and contemplate on the powerful word-play of some very old Celtic bards. Journal entry : 17th March, Frid…
Night Swimming (After the snows)
March 12, 2023
Curl up with us tonight as we enjoy the warmth of a cosy cabin as snow gives way to sweeping rain and our stove glows brightly in the gathering darkness. Journal entry : 10th March, Friday “The convocation of oaks rises to m…
The Miles We Have Walked (You and Me)
Feb. 26, 2023
This episode is dedicated to my pair of walking boots who has shared life with me for nearly 45 years (and both of us are still going strong). We have walked miles together. Where have they taken me and to what (and to whom)…
Songs to the Younger Part (Hymn of the Pearl)
Feb. 19, 2023
Blustery late winter nights are perfect for retelling old stories. Tonight we listen again with new ears to the ancient story told in the 'hymn of the pearl' and explore how old myths and folktales can weave such powerful ta…
Lock Wheeling
Feb. 12, 2023
Any boater who is faced with the prospect of numerous locks ahead will know how wonderful it is to find someone who is prepared to take on ‘lock-wheeling’ duties. This episode takes some time out to reflect on the podcast as…
February Dawning
Feb. 5, 2023
All along the canal side, the wintery tees and hedgerows are filling with spring song and life. Subtle shifts and changes, the play of light through the trees, the shimmering reflection of an old oak, auger new seasons await…
A train in the distance ('Night Mail')
Jan. 29, 2023
Canals and railways are often very close near neighbours and so trains can be a frequent part of the canal soundscapes. This week we explore why the sound of a train in the distance (thanks to Paul Simon) can be so evocative…
One day last summer
Jan. 22, 2023
Join us around the warmth of a glowing stove tonight as ice once more grips the boat and freezing fog thickly mantles the winter-naked trees. On nights like these, it is good to remember summer days and so, tonight’s episode…
Tuesday Morning, 5.30am (The Voyage of Bran)
Jan. 15, 2023
Rain and mud are all around us at the moment, but there is wonder there too. The ancient myth of ‘The Voyage of Bran’ helps us to find the extraordinary within the ordinary and (with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel) the bea…
When darkness falls (Skating on 'un-time')
Jan. 8, 2023
Happy New Year! New Years can be exciting times, marking new beginnings, a clean page, awakening dormant dreams and ambitions. However, sometimes it is not always like that. This year, in particular, many face the new year w…
The Christmas Heron
Dec. 24, 2022
It’s Christmas Eve and the perfect time for a canal-side story. Have you ever heard of the Christmas Heron? No? Well, there’s probably a very good reason for that, but I will tell it to you anyway. So, curl up in your specia…
'Earth stood hard as iron...'
Dec. 18, 2022
Join us around the stove tonight, on a very cosy NB Erica that is currently ice-locked into a frozen landscape, as we think about the Fimbulwinter of old, and why Midwinter might be mid-winter after all! Journal entry : 14th…
Those eyes of old (look out at me)
Dec. 11, 2022
“Those eyes of old look at me and, through the haze of your futures, I look back at you…” On this freezing December night, snuggle closer to the stove as I reflect on the strangeness of coming across an old photograph of me …
Nightwalk 2 (Moon shadows across the water)
Dec. 4, 2022
The night is chill and crisp, a bright moon rides the racing clouds and stars shimmer on the surface of the canal. It’s a perfect night for a night walk. Snuggle down and wrap up warm as you join me on a canal walk washed by…
Rainy town (as darkness falls)
Nov. 27, 2022
Tonight, we enjoy the special beauties of a rainy town in central England as darkness begins to fall, listen to Thomas Merton on city rain, and spend awhile at a window seat in a small café and create for while our own versi…
Stories are for listening: Blisworth Tunnel (Ian Douglas)
Nov. 20, 2022
As the nights draw in and the cosy glow of a fire gets evermore inviting, it is the perfect time to share stories. It is not surprising that ghost stories have an enduring appeal. Many stories of the canal feature them. Ghos…
Of cormorants and graduands
Nov. 13, 2022
This week saw the return of the cormorant which prompts a visit to Ernest Ingersoll to find out why they have no voice. A fairly severe reaction to the Covid jab meant that I missed attending this year’s graduation ceremony …
Today I held back time
Oct. 30, 2022
This weekend the clocks change (in the UK). These small markers in our calendars can touch us in deep ways. Join me tonight as we stop the clock, step out of time, and savour together the unspent, untouched hour as the world…
'By badger light and lantern's sigh' (Magickry)
Oct. 22, 2022
Tonight, as the evenings draw in and autumn takes a firmer hold of towpath and fields, let's gather close beside a woodland campfire for some unabashed romanticism. For life teaches us two things: 1. Romance does the heart g…
Autumn colours the tattered garments of summer
Oct. 16, 2022
The colours of autumn this year promise to be spectacular and the towpaths are being transformed by the brush of autumn’s artistry. Join us tonight as we drink in some of the sights and ponder why this season can evoke such …