WORDS once SPOKEN now CAPTURED
Oct. 29, 2023
Autumn Forest
I am not sure if it is just me, but so far autumn doesn’t feel quite so ‘autumny’ as it usually does. Therefore, I think that it is a perfect time to savour a reading from one of my most favourite childhood books, Brendon Cha...
Oct. 22, 2023
The Rebellious Light of Beauty (The last dandelion of summer)
It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the global events of the last couple of weeks. Following the battering of Storm Babet, this week’s episode offers a space for us to reflect on a world that can be often violent and far from p...
Oct. 15, 2023
Words & Music (Listeners' questions - 4)
The temperature outside is dipping down towards zero, so join us for a cosy night by the glow of a hot stove, as we chat about two subjects close to my heart and the surprising way that living on a boat has altered my attitud...
Oct. 8, 2023
Swings and Roundabouts (Listeners' Questions - 3)
There's an old and trustworthy adage on the canals: when two or more boaters meet up it is only a matter of time before the conversation will turn to the subject of toilets. So guess what the topic of this week's episode is?!...
Oct. 1, 2023
Under the ghost of a Harvest Moon
A week of serious problems with our internet has meant that I have been unable to record the episode answering listeners’ questions. However, join us tonight to enjoy a special meeting under the ‘ghost’ of a harvest moon. Jou...
Sept. 17, 2023
Uncertain Futures (Listeners' questions - 2)
There’s a chill in the air tonight and there will be mist on the water in the morning. Join me tonight as I answer some hard questions about how viability is a long term in the Erica on the canals? Journal entry : 21st Septem...
Sept. 17, 2023
'No Regrets' (Listeners' questions - 1)
On a dark night that is damp with an autumnal chill, join us as tonight I answer some of the questions posed by the listeners of this podcast which range from the decisions and motivations behind our choice to live afloat to ...
Sept. 10, 2023
Home thoughts of a Pilgrim (Chasing the wind)
It's a hot sultry night in the late eve of summer. Join us tonight as we spend time with the gentle words and wisdom of a friend of mine. Journal entry : 6th September, Wednesday “This evening The wool of traveller’s joy has ...
Sept. 3, 2023
Roots do not hold you down (Hedge wisdom)
The hedges are ablaze with colour and they call to us of lessons that we have long forgotten. Journal entry : 2nd September, Saturday “At the edgings of the day. A delinquent V of geese Transect a sinking sun. As they reappea...
Aug. 27, 2023
As long as the rain talks (I will listen)
A warm dry week has ended with chasing shadows and showers. It looks like a dampish Bank Holiday! Therefore, this might be a good time to consider more deeply on the quality that rain has to touch us both physically and emoti...
Aug. 20, 2023
An August-coloured Evening
Tonight, we celebrate and enjoy a special August evening at the moorings, filled with golden light, gentle chatter, a rolling wind, duck call and church bells. A rare ‘August-coloured’ evening. Journal entry : 15th August, Tu...
Aug. 6, 2023
Adventures and Departures (The 'Kathy' Chronicles - pt 4)
Life afloat can throw up some rather singular challenges from being frozen in to sinking, running aground, being attacked by wild kittens and the dangers of runaway working boats!! Join us tonight as we ride out Storm Antoni ...
July 30, 2023
The New Baby Arrives (The 'Kathy' Chronicles - pt 3)
What was it like to give birth on small 30 ft boat in the 1960s? Mum continues her account of her life afloat on the Kathy in this week’s instalment of ‘The Kathy Chronicles’. We hear about the some of the challenges and joys...
July 23, 2023
Crochet by Lantern Light (The 'Kathy' Chronicles - pt 2)
What was it really like to live on board a 30ft canal boat in the late 1950s before there were such things as service points and fully equipped marinas? This week we continue with ‘The Kathy Chronicles’ where Mum describes ho...
July 16, 2023
Low along the Fox Paths
It’s a wild and wet July night of wind and rain. So why not step aboard for a while as we meander down some fox trails and contemplate the pleasure of sunshine and dark skies. Journal entry : 11th July, Tuesday “A quarter to ...
July 9, 2023
Changes (lessons from a field edge)
Join us tonight on a hot sticky night of lingering light and stubborn twilight. With the summer’s tilt shifting wider and deeper changes are felt. "Life is a motion. Life is growth. It is never static," says the corner of a f...
July 2, 2023
Facing the Fears with Maggie
This has been rather an unexpected and eventful week. This is a special episode where we welcome a board a new fellow traveller (along the canals and through life). Journal entry : 30th June, Friday “Endless motorways. Endles...
June 25, 2023
Five Finger Widths (above the horizon)
Watching the sun sink below the horizon, particularly after long sunny days such as these, can evoke a mass of mental and emotional responses that seem to tap into something deep within us. Join us this week as week count dow...
June 18, 2023
These are the Long Days (on Windmill Hill)
These are the days when the nights are short and the days are long. On the cusp of the summer solstice, the year's turning reaches its zenith, join me tonight in celebrating the unique joys (and challenges) of the long days w...
June 11, 2023
'A Little Clinker-Built Boat' (The 'Kathy' Chronicles - pt 1)
Travel back in time to the scorching summer of 1959. Although the canals were still mainly used by working boats, leisure cruising was growing in popularity and so too the idea of living on a canal boat. Tonight, I take us ba...
June 4, 2023
In Praise of Locks (and lock-keepers)
There’s something almost indefinably special about canal and river locks. Tonight, I relate my struggle to outwit the ghost of Odd Lock as well as take time to celebrate the lock-keepers of old and their newer iteration – the...
May 28, 2023
The Sun that Shone on Eden (still shines upon us here)
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 abo...
May 21, 2023
A Nightingale Sang (and the world listened)
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 r...
May 14, 2023
Up on the Roof (Waiting for the rain)
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 v...