Nighttime on Still Waters
A narrowboat-based audio journal on canal life, living aboard, the elements, and the night. Perfect late-night listening for dreamers, insomniacs, night owls, nocturnalists, drifters, and nomads. For lovers Fagen's 'Nightfly', Auden's 'Night Mail', Hopper's 'Nighthawks' and the 'drifting sea-dark streets' of Dylan Thomas. For all those who used to listen to the transistor under your pillow, love the sound of distant trains and rain against the windowpanes, canals and drover's tracks, lost music, splashed puddles, fireflies and bats, hares by moonlight, windsong among pines, owl-light, the shipping forecast, and all the wonderful, terrifying, grand and tawdry avenues of the night. Cosy listening for bedtimes.
Episodes
As advent candles burn into their second half, and berries blaze along the towpath, why not join us tonight aboard the Erica to hear about what it feels like to experience this advent on the cut.
Journal entry:
8th December, Monday
“A ragged river of rooks
Stream across
A watery sky
On purposeful wings.
They rise and circle
Around the One Oak.
The fire of their
Jubilant chatter
Warms th...
These are the days of the long nights, when ¾ of our day gives way to the dark. If we listen carefully, their gifts are rich and restoring. In these strange times we need, once more, to slow down, look up, and hear the night speak to us with its silences. Come aboard the Erica and let’s journey into the night.
Journal entry:
27th November, Thursday
"This morning,
The kingfisher wakes
To a softer, ki...
Join us tonight aboard the Erica’s warm and cosy cabin as storm Claudia rages outside. Let us experience together the intimate feeling of being snug and safe in a tiny home afloat on the storm lashed canals.
Journal entry:
14th November, Friday
“Sky of smudged greys,
Chalky, sooty, dirty laundry water,
And a light of such silvery metallics
Lead and steel, iron and zinc,
That makes the canal surface s...
Welcome to Halloween on the canal. It’s a perfect night to turn down the lights, curl up in comfy chair with a warm mug, and listen to a spooky tale. Can anyone explain what really did happen on that celebrated (or notorious) section of canal at Morton’s Rise under the glowering presence of Draid Hill?
Journal entry:
31st October, Friday (All Hallows’ Eve)
“The day grows thin
Between light and darkness
Heron ...
Have you ever wondered what it was like to visit a ‘moorings’ along one of Britain’s waterways and to stand and watch and listen as this small world flows to its own daily rhythms? Although every 'mooring' is different, we explore the common thread that unites them. Why not join us for a sunny autumnal Sunday and listen to the day unfold.
Journal entry:
6th October, Monday
“Wind buffets and rocks the boat
...
It's a blustery, moonless, and nearly starless night tonight, with the ever-present hint of rain in the air. So, why not come aboard the Erica for a while and reminisce about inconsequential things, the joy they bring, and how they form such strong bedrocks to our lives in an unsteady world?
Journal entry:
17th September, Wednesday
“Summer has left
And strewn all along the towpath
Is the detritus of its so...
Tonight, for a little while, let’s leave the sleeping canal in peace as it slowly recovers and heals after the summer long drought. Instead, let's go down to the river where the water is alive with light and chuckles and laps under rowing boats and let us see what we can see.
Journal entry:
4th September, Thursday
“Clouds pillow and pile
Black skies behind us
A fleeting sun catches
the scarlet of bryo...
A newly born moon is still below the horizon and the parched ground breathes in the quiet of a summer's night. The water levels may be low, but you're assured a welcome that is full and warm aboard the NB Erica as we catch up on life with all its ebbs and flows, and unfuriating complexities that make it all so worthwhile.
Journal entry:
18th August, Monday
“Rain in the night
Woke up to streaks on the wind...
Could the humble drydock be the perfect example of canal engineering ingenuity? Find out why in our latest episode and join us back afloat onboard the Erica as we explore some surprising facts about this often-overlooked marvel.
Journal entry:
1st August, Friday (Lammas Day)
“Fields the colour of linen and calico
Under turbulent skies of heavy cloud.
As I chew on a blade of grass
The wind whips up dust dev...
It’s been a long sweltering day. Darkness is reluctantly beginning to fall, and a restless heat lies heavy over the canal. Let's settle down and listen to some echoes from the canal-side past as we hear Tom Rolt’s account of his journey up the Stratford upon Avon Canal (North) and the ‘battle for Bridge Number 1 (Lifford Lane).'
At a time when many of us are feeling the strain of today’s network, Rolt’s acco...
Stories have always been part of our world. From antiquity, stories create the light that help us find our way through the darkness. We need to rediscover those stories to help us face the dragons in our lives. Join us tonight as we listen closely to the summer wind play among the alders and hear a very old story that understands our modern world.
Journal entry:
3rd July, Thursday
“Walking up the hill.
The grass cr...
It is a hot midsummer night of warm winds that makes the Erica creak at her moorings. Tonight, we find ourselves at a year’s turning point — caught between the stillness and the unsettling. Join us as we explore the solstice, the shifting seasons, the rhythm of carnival swings, and the restless nature of the mind, uncovering the connections between them all.
Journal entry:
16th June, Monday
“Cresting
The eternal now...
Join us on a quiet night of summer rain as we listen to rooks and explore the beauty and ambiguities of two liminal places with a lot in common. We learn about the web-footed fenmen and are guided by Luke Sherlock to a ruined church under haunting skies.
Journal entry:
6th June, Friday
“We walk through the sheep field
As the rain pours down.
My boot socks still wet from last night.
The rooks muster nois...
Welcome to tonight’s episode where ‘Erica’s Place’ by Mindshambles awakens a kaleidoscope of reminiscences about Mum and ‘elevensies’ and her never ending supply of fresh scones. As the different memories flow and glide past, it slowly becomes clear how much of ‘Erica’s place’ and Mum’s philosophy still lives on and unconsciously shapes these podcasts. Welcome to Erica's place.
Journal entry:
20th May, Tuesday
“T...
Tonight, we float upon a starfield of hawthorn blossom under a waxing moon. Why not join us as we continue with the final part of Mum’s account of the ‘totally worthwhile risk that was never regretted.’
Journal entry:
9th May, Friday
“A westering sun
Lays long shadows across
The towpath and canal.
Two geese in a field
watch me from across the water.
A pheasant’s rasp
The scent of may.”
Episode Infor...
Join us tonight under a waning April moon as we think about the local ducks preparing for the ‘long sit’ and hear more about what happened to Mum and Dad after they had landed in Canada to start a new life together.
Journal entry:
25th April, Friday.
“Down in the engine bay
De-rusting for painting.
I am once more a clumsy adolescent.
My feet grow too large and my knees
and elbows get in the way.
I no l...
Tonight, clouds build as the high pressure breaks. Speculative gusts of wind kick blackthorn blossom ghostly white along the towpath and the full moon seeps heavy and watery through a blanket of cloud. Join us tonight as we continue hearing Mum's account of a risk that was totally worth taking.
Journal entry:
7th April, Monday
“Warm snowflakes
Of blackthorn float and drift
Along the towpath
Among...
It's a spring, moonless night - not quite 'Bible black', but nearly! It's a perfect night for stories. Why not join us to hear the first part of Mum’s account of their great adventure when, 68 years ago, almost to the day, Mum and Dad embarked on a totally new phase of their lives.
Journal entry:
26th March, Wednesday
“The ash are heavy with bud
Blistered garnet, raspberry-
Shaped jew...
Along the towpath, the battle between winter and spring has begun with days of warmth and days of sleet. Although even the young ducks teach us a lesson in conflict avoidance. Join us tonight as we celebrate the lives of two people who were central to the creation of Nighttime on Still Waters.
Journal entry:
12th March, Wednesday.
“The day winds down.
A last walk along the canal side.
Pebbled rings form in ...
Along the towpath winter slowly fades. If we are not quite in spring yet, we can feel it close at hand. Join us tonight as we celebrate the shifts in light and tone across the landscape and from deep within.
Journal entry:
26th February, Wednesday
“For me, there are few things more beautiful and soul inspiring than this:
Rain on water,
Old growth by the waterside,
Time-bleached re...
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