WORDS once SPOKEN now CAPTURED

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 Chase by BB. Journal entry: 26th October, Thursday. “Darkness. Mizzle transforms the water Into star-fields of pinpricks of light. Evanescent. Like walking Through the tangle Of watery Spiders’ webs. A dance of tiny droplets In the torchlight’s beam. Cloud-walkin...

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 perfect. Journal entry: 13th October, Friday “Battered by the winds of the world I stop to watch the free-flight of rooks Diving from an oak into the full force Of a westerly gale. Gothic wings outspread, They surf the blast Hanging on its back In a rage of ecstat...

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 attitude to them. Journal entry: 13th October, Friday “Battered by the winds of the world I stop to watch the free-flight of rooks Diving from an oak into the full force Of a westerly gale. Gothic wings outspread, They surf the blast Hanging on its back In a rage of ecs...

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?! Journal entry: 3rd October, Tuesday “Light fades. Dew Falls. Maggie follows a rabbit’s scent-trail Through the long, wet grass. Two rooks head east into darkness. I struggle in the half-light With the padlock on the gate So we head upwards over the hill Then dow...

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. Journal entry: 29th September, Friday “Early this morning, We met the swan slipping Light upon the night-time mists. Behind us, Cows stood knee deep in milk- white meadows. This is the stillness that falls After the storm.” Episode Information: In this episode...

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 September, Thursday “For a short while this evening The crescent moon and the setting sun Shared the same length of skyline. A fiery bronze heart and the ghost of bone. Then a robin sings as rain drops fall. Here is tranquillity and peace. The horned moon And evensong a...

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 canal etiquette. Journal entry: 14th September, Thursday “Thin drizzle. The jackdaws sound like Monosyllabic gulls this evening. Woundwort heals the breach between The canal and me. Red berries. Some days that is all you need: Rain and red berries.” Episode Infor...

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 caught afire With the westward Apricot sun. And look at how the nettles glow Translucent with the touch Of unspeakable wonder.” Episode Information: In this episode I read Chasing the Wind by Tony Bell ©2020 If you have a question, drop me a line on nighttim...

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 reappear Another flight has joined them. They continue in a loose straggle North. A cool whisper of air As we round the base of the hill. Distant voices float across the water. As the sun sinks below the west The chant of jackdaws.” Episode Information: In this episode ...

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 emotionally. Thomas Merton and Tristan Gooley are two very different people, but they both offer insights into the language of rain and what we can learn through listening to it. Journal entry: 24th August, Thursday "We drop down the hill To field-edge and thistledown sm...

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, Tuesday “Chasing clouds and sunshine. The ground still wet from yesterday's rain We walk the loop, Maggie reacquainting herself With familiar places. Me too. It seems a while. It's good to be out again. The air smells green and fresh." Episode Information: Snatching...

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 (apologies for some background rain patter) for the concluding reading of The Kathy Chronicles, where the decision is made to leave life on the canal and embrace new adventures. Episode Information: The Five of Us: Me, Mick, Erica, Kismus (puss), Wendy Photograph taken be...

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 of bringing up two very small children on a boat as well as Dad’s battle with the Pithers stove and a strange event that remains a mystery. Episode Information: Mum holding me in the entrance to the Kathy's galley. Dad, Mum, me, and Wendy on the Kathy On the moorings ...

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 how they began to settle into life afloat, whilst making extensive alterations, as well their plans for the arrival of a new baby. She provides a fascinating picture of the realities of what it was like to live-aboard a canal boat in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Episode ...

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 midnight. Lying in bed and listening To the drum of rain On the cabin roof. All day I have watched the dark Clouds boil in the cauldron Of the west. Storm heads tower In castle greys. Maggie and I stood On the hill with no name Watching the ragged veils Of clou...

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 field. Journal entry: 4th July, Tuesday "Goldfinch carnival Among the teasel heads And early sun. Dark clouds to the west Bringing rain. Spindrift of fine drizzle Freewheels on the breeze. The cows are in no hurry Neither am I." Episode Information: The e...

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. Endless traffic. Red lights all the way. A frightened face and soulful eyes. I sit on the stairs out of sight; out of the way. A short drizzle of rain. The smell of hay in fields. Sitting as darkness falls, My arm is licked by a new friend." Episode Information: Welc...

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 down a setting sun and reflect on the rich culture it created. Journal entry: 23rd June, Friday. “The alder saplings are growing thick at the water’s edge Vying with the green spears of teasel And purple knapweed plumes. This time last year Some of them were forming...

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 with a special visit to Windmill Hill (Grid reference SP 33 42). Journal entry: 14th June, Wednesday “Sun down. A lone swan swims up the canal. Serene strokes from strong feet. Each ripple she makes catches fire. The goldcrests’ chatter falls silent And the bank-side...

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 back to that world as I read Mum’s reminiscences of the decision to live on a boat with a young baby, eventually finding their future home, the Kathy, and their nail-biting journey taking her to their home mooring. Some of which could sound all too familiar to modern canal use...

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 volunteer lockie (I’m guessing at the spelling!) Journal entry: 2nd June, Friday “North easterly winds Grey skies. But there are five ducklings Braving the bluster And a swallow scissors low over A meadow of buttercups. This light makes the yellow Irises blaze." Ep...

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 about ourselves. Journal entry: 27th May, Saturday “Late afternoon sun slants into The tobacco-coloured waters. Fifteen or more carp weightless Among the cow pastures of weed-drift. With a flick of a tail, they all glide as one In a lithe piscine murmuration Look! T...

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 remains today. Journal entry: 18th May, Thursday, “Is there anything more beautiful Than the softness Of April and May light While the clouds scramble For height Amid a sky of towering blue?” Episode Information: Apologies for the lack of sound during the 'Tuesday' ...

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 views of a world of thee worlds. Why not climb up here and join us up on the roof of the Erica to enjoy rook play and the approach of a thunderstorm. This episode is dedicated especially to Stu and Vania. Journal entry: 10th May, Wednesday “A game of Pooh-sticks a...