WORDS once SPOKEN now CAPTURED

These are the days of swan nests and duck eggs, but the call of a lone swan circling overhead, perhaps captures more precisely the tensions we feel moving through the seasons. The seasonal shifts in the activity of the swans and ducks are becoming increasingly visible reflecting the wider patterns of movement. Boats leaving and others moving in. Everything is in a state of transition; we are all in a state of transition. Journal entry: “13th March, Saturday. Sitting here in the well deck, at ...

The fascination of boots and canals. Boots have always been one of the most essential pieces of equipment for canals and canal-life. In this episode we re-join impresario, journalist and social reformer, James Hollingshead on his journey up what would later be known as the Grand Union in the late 1850s. We will discover his fascination with the footwear of those working on the canals and find out that the importance of the boot for canal-life is every bit as true today as it was in Victorian tim...

Everywhere the world is filled with the whispered spring. The first of this year’s lambs scamper and nuzzle in the field above us and skylarks sing high from under a bowl of Wedgewood blue. A softer, warmer wind blows, and the sun is strong. Humans and non-humans alike emerge to drink in the sunlight and warmth. It’s a spring that the poet John Clare knew well and understood its significance and it’s a spring from which Edward Thomas drew strength. Tonight, the stars of frost garland NB 506812, ...

Stormy nights like this, when then wind howls among the reeds under a hunted moon, are perfect for curling up with a ghost story or two. In this episode we hear about two ghost stories set in locations close to where NB 506812 is currently moored and explore what do these stories tell us about the worlds that produced them and us today. Journal entry: “18th February, Thursday. Each dawn and dusk skeins of geese fill the winter-bruised skies; soundscapes of the enclosing nights of autumn. And ...

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...

One of the first things you will experience when you cast off onto the waterways is, what is sometimes referred to as, ‘canal time.’ What is canal time and how is it different to land time? Canal time functions not so much as a marker for time passing as a recognition of the many streams of timelines of things and lives that fall outside the sphere of human control. However, there is also a deep irony about it too... Journal entry: “3rd February, Wednesday. This morning the tangled thicket by...

This week the first proper snow of the winter fell. For a while, our world was transformed. If you love snow, a boat is the perfect place to enjoy it. If you hate snow, a boat is the perfect place to escape it! Journal entry: “29th January Friday. The last couple of mornings have smelt fresh. The trees bordering the canal sharp with bird song, not just the aural darts of warning calls but flowing rivers of melody entwined on the wind. Below our feet, last summer’s oak leaves swim the flooded...

Another January storm has passed over us. But, tonight we have a stock of gingernut biscuits and the knowledge that each day the daylight gets longer and the spring is coming. In this episode, with its usual sprinkling weather lore, we answer some more questions about the canals – principally – how deep are they? It is a subject that I have first-hand knowledge about! Journal entry: “21st January Thursday. Waxing moon in a Russian sky. A flight of gulls high, in clear air. Turned into golden ...

January 18th (2021) is 'Blue Monday'. The third Monday in January is considered by many to be the most depressing day in the calendar. As we enter the dark days of January, this episode considers the importance of the hope of spring and how the calendar and weatherlore enabled our ancestors to deal with the uncertainties they faced. Journal entry: “16th January Saturday. This morning the cormorant came on slow deliberate wings, swimming the thick grey porridgy skies. It circled twice before a...

What is it like to be on a narrowboat in the grip of a winter’s cold spell? How do you keep warm on a boat? Living and working on the canal systems in winter has been notoriously difficult and hard. In this episode we reflect on what it entails to live on the canals in winter today. We also hear a piece of Victorian reportage by a journalist travelling on the Grand Union Junction flyboat, Stourport, in the late 1850s. We also find out why liveaboard boaters could be viewed as ‘floating hobbits....

For most people, 2020 has been a stressful year of frustration, disappointment, fear and anxiety. It is not surprising that we look forward to welcoming in 2021. Join me on Narrowboat 506812 as we reflect on the significance of new beginnings (no matter how arbitrary), and the importance of having opportunities to re-evaluate and reset our lives. Journal entry: “New Year’s Eve, 31st December Thursday. Another frosty and icy start. This morning, in the dark as I got off the boat, I heard the i...

A chance to say to you Merry Christmas. This episode celebrates a Christmas Eve that is different and yet, in a number of important ways very similar to those our ancestors experienced. Journal entry: “Christmas Eve 24th December, Thursday. Last night’s storms have swept the sky clear. The on-coming tide of sunlight washes the eastern horizon the colour of blood oranges. This morning was the first morning this winter I have really needed gloves. The boat is a haven of warmth when we return. ...

A first-hand account remembering life aboard a small boat with a small family during the harsh winter of 1962/3. The time we lived on the Kathy were always very precious to Mum and she later wrote about them. Her writings evocatively describe life-aboard at a time when the canals were beginning to transition from working to increasingly residential and leisure use. In this week's episode, I read an extract from her writings in which she describes the winter of 1962/63. Journal entry: “16th...

Why is the swan an oxymoron and if it is so unlucky to kill a swan why are there so many recipes for them? In this episode we reflect on the place of the swan within its natural and cultural environments. Lockdown and being located within ‘Tier 3’ has meant that we have been more static this autumn and winter than we had previously intended. However, the positive side of this is that it has enabled us to get to know the local communities that live around our boat. These include my beloved rooks,...

The temperature is just above freezing and the ground is slick with mud. Join me tonight for a night-walk to Bearley (Odd) lock to see what sounds we can hear and feel the quiet stillness of the canal in the depths of winter’s night. Journal entry: “2nd December, Wednesday. The swan is back. Its serpentine reflection ghosts the water. I indulge myself that it is the same juvenile cob that disappeared a month or so ago. It now has a mate and the water carries them effortlessly like tw...

As the weather gets increasingly wintery and frosts burn the air, we look at the waterways and the practicalities of boating. How do you turn a 58ft boat in a narrow canal? Can you boat through the night? What happens to the canals during the winter? Journal entry: “27th November, Friday. It would have been Mum’s birthday today. And there’s a November moon sailing in November skies. My breath is silver fire. My fingers burn deep in the my pockets. The rooks are no longer visible among the b...

‘The cut’ is one of the old vernacular names given to the canal. It was the one most of us used during my childhood. The name reminds us of its history and construction. This episode explores the strange and sometimes ambivalent place that canals inhabit within our natural and cultural environments. Journal entry: “14th November, Saturday. Charcoal sketched tree against a rain faded sky. Clawed branches tangle in the dawn light. The cormorant is back, Pterodactyl winged, oily slick. A univers...

The UK enters its second lockdown. Movement on the waterways is once again restricted to 'essential needs only.' It's the same, but different. This episode reflects on this and what it can teach us about ourselves. There is also more on the language and terms used by the original working boatmen and why to call a boatman ‘a sailor’ was the highest insult. Journal entry: “7th November, Saturday. A quick silver moon ghosting through a glistening night, caught in the branches of the old elm tree w...

In this episode we walk through NB Erica and answer some of your questions about life aboard a narrowboat. We touch on the vexed question of whether it is 'port and starboard' or 'left and right', and we learn about tumblehome. Journal entry “28th October, Wednesday. Yesterday. More rain. Damp clings to the air. The sky is filled with greys and Prussian blue. The oaks on the skyline still hold on to their full summer shapes even though the ground is a patchwork of sodden leaves. Three Shetland...

In this episode we explore the history of NB 506812 before she became our home and meet the Erica behind the Erica. Journal entry: “16th October, Friday. The canal continues to thread its silent way through autumn. There’s a hint now of mist on colder dawns. Today, it lies still and steely. Penny trots ahead, tail up, relaxed, contentedly sniffing the trail and foil of the unseen world. The hedges are garlanded with crimson, rosehip lanterns and bryony’s poisonous fire. The air is filled with th...

Join me on the first Nighttime on Still Waters podcast. It is really a getting to know you podcast where I introduce you to the Erica 58ft narrowboat and this is the beginning of our audio journal about our life aboard and the changes and shifts we encounter following our move from land to water. These nighttime reflections draw upon our experiences and on life in general. On thing I have noticed is how our nearby ducks call out to each other in the night and in this episode I explore that commo...