Nighttime on Still Waters

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There is a spot of ground that is special to me. Perhaps you have one too. They often are not particularly attractive, but somehow they are places we can go to find quietness. Join me to tonight when we visit one of my special places as we go down to the cattle pond with the help of Wendell Berry.    

Journal entry:

27th July, Wednesday

“Drifts of mist rise and ghost upon the water
 In the pre-dawn light.
 The air is deliciously cool.

The heron is in the cow-splash down by the oaks
 I climb the hill
 And look down on dawn.   

And wish for rain.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I read a very short extract from Simon Barnes’ excellent, quirky, and altogether wonderful, A Bad Birdwatcher’s Companion published (2005) by Short Books.  

I also read Wendell Berry’s poem ‘A Standing Ground’ which can be found in his volume The Peace of Wild Things: And other poems published (2018) by Penguin Books. You can listen and watch Mary Berry read this poem here: ‘A Standing Ground.’ 

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

The forecast hot weather has come and gone, but its psychological, as much as physical, effects feel a bit harder to shift. So join with me tonight as we gaze deeply into the mirrored dome of the night sky and its web of starlight, to discover what stories they tell and their challenge for us to begin to create newer ones.   

Journal entry:

22nd July, Friday

“Every day shakes the kaleidoscope.
 Lift it to your eye.
 Twist the base and look.

Today, three young jackdaws chase each other
 Through the feathery green of the ash tree
 In a carnival of silver rain.

It calls to somewhere deep inside of us,
 Doesn’t it?
 You, me, and whatever is behind
 Our biggest questions
 And lies beyond the heathlands of right and wrong.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I quote a section from Jack Johnson's song ‘Constellations’ which was released on his album In Between Dreams on Bushfire Records in 2005. You can listen to it here: ‘Constellations’.   

I also read an excerpt from Susan Hanson’s essay ‘Deep in the Heart’ found in Let There Be Night edited by Paul Goodard (2008) published by Uni of Nevada.

John Moriarty talks about the impact of western mythology on the psyche and culture of western civilisations in many of his books; particularly, Nostos, An Autobiography (2001) and What the Curlew Said: Nostos Continued (2007). The best introduction to John’s writing is the excellent John Moriarty: Not The Whole Story (2018) written by Mary McGillicuddy. All these books are published by Lilliput Press. 

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

These are the long days. The days of heat and dust. The days of quiet skies and dulled colours. Days of eclipse and renewal. These are the dog days of summer.

Journal entry:

23rd July, Saturday [Should be 16th July - blame the heat!!]

“Martins twist and flit around the large ash,
 Clustering in the branches like cockney parakeets.
 En masse they drop, forking down to the water surface, 
Swimming the air with dolphin-like grace.

We slip the mooring ropes and leave.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I read two short extracts from Miles Hadfield’s (1950) An English Almanac published by J.M. Dent and Sons.

Soundscape of dusk, recorded at Wilmcote (South Stratford upon Avon Canal) at 21.15 on 16th July 2022.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

 Old stories can lift an unfamiliar mirror up to our lives so that we see ourselves anew and as we really are. Tonight, I will tell you an old story. It’s a story about a silvery day of sea fret (mist), rolling ocean waves, empty fishing nets, and a solitary herring. 

Journal entry:

6th July, Wednesday

“I sit on the bank, one leg hanging down. 
 A drake mallard in eclipse, treads water, 
 with slow, lazy strokes of his feet.

He watches me. 
 I watch him.
      We are both waiting for something... 
                     but what?

I smile, but it means nothing to him.
 He softly chuckles, but I hear only sounds and intent,
 But not what that intention is. 

He could be Penny - a little soul staring at each move I make.
 Trying to read me, as I try to read him,
 Or the sheep in the neighbouring field.
 Or the horses, frozen, 
                on the dolphin-backed curve of the hill.

I want to tell him 'it'll be alright'.
 But we both know, it isn't. 

But that is the point, isn't it?

Neither of us live in a world of fairy tale endings.
 We're just trying to find our ways in a crooked world.
 Not so that others will follow the paths we make,

But that they may hear our songs (you, duck, and me) and 
 Know that they are not on their own.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I read a very short extract from Roy Vickery’s (2019) Vickery’s Folk Flora, published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson.  

I also refer to Sharon Blackie’s (2019) Foxfire, Wolfskin and other stories of Shapeshifting Women, published by September Books where you can read her (much briefer) version of the story of the herring and the fisherman. 

Field recording
The waves on a shingle beach was recorded by ‘ermine’ at Felixstowe (14/10/2006) and can be found here. The herring gull was recorded in Scheveningen, the Netherlands (05/10/2020) by ‘Canardo55’ and can be found here.

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

With apologies for sounding like an asthmatic badger, tonight we explore the special qualities of an unremarkable dusk and why we can feel so at peace with it and the darkness it can bring.

Journal entry:

28th June, Tuesday.

“I stop work to breathe in the storm-wind
 And bathe in the whirlpool of its noise.

My shoulders feel heavy
       As If I alone am holding
               up the blanket clouds
       That sag grey above my head.

The water hose, snakes and hisses around my feet.

Head upright, neck relaxed, the cob swan pushes towards me,
 Lazily, doggy paddling a V of disturbance on the water’s surface.

My day begins to smile.” 

Episode Information:

In this episode I refer to an interview with John O’ Donohue recorded by Krista Tippett (2008/2022) ‘The Inner Landscape of Beauty’ on the On Being podcast. 

I also read a very short extract from John O’ Donohue’s (1999) Anam Cara: Spiritual wisdom from the Celtic world published by Penguin Random House. 

I also refer to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s article ‘Nightfall’ published in Paul Bogard’s (2008) Let There Be Night: Testimony on behalf of the dark published by University of Nevada Press. 

I also refer to the following works:

Matthew Beaumont (2016) Nightwalking: A nocturnal history of London published by Verso Books.

Roger Ekirch (2004/2013) At Day’s Close: Night in times past published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson

The episode finishes with a reading of Tom Hennen’s short poem ‘Summer Night Air’ from his Darkness Sticks to Everything: Collected and New Poems published (2013) by Copper Canyon Press. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

It is funny how, looking back, distinct paths and interconnections can be found. It is, sometimes, tempting to see them as clear paths that we are destined to follow. However, sometimes, they are coincidence or simply a case that one can spot significance after the event. But they can also be 'love letters written in canal water'. 

Journal entry:

 21st June, Tuesday, Summer Solstice.

“Mist burns off the water, baptising the canal in red and gold.

Three newly hatched moorhens, a chaos of fluff and bald-headed, 
      walk on water on a broken iris leaf. 

On the opposite bank, a smallish carp, asleep in death, 
      lies in the middle of the towpath, 

            light flecking off the lively scales. 

Just down from here the body of a vole floats on the listless current. 

How do I make sense of all this?
        Can I really live kindly and with joy on this earth?

Those three moorhen seem to know. 
 They walk on water.”  

Episode Information:

For those wanting to watch Steve Tyrell’s wonderfully soothing and informative cruise click this link: Cruising the Ashby Canal!!! The sound of a Gardner 2LW. You can see more of Steve’s videos on his YouTube channel: Narrowboat Precious Jet. It is well worth a look if you are interested in the more practical aspects of boat-life (which I tend to stay away from!).

I also refer to the lyrics of ‘Society’ written by Jerry Hannan and, probably, most famously sung by Eddie Vedder as part of the OST for the film Into the Wild. There are numerous YouTube videos of this song. The official version is: ‘Society’ OST. A version featuring the lyrics (with rather idiosyncratic spelling) is: ‘Society’ with Lyrics.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

The heat of the past few days has broken with sweeping skies filled with rain and lowering clouds. Join me tonight, as we reflect on life on water in the heat of summer, listen to the poetic words of one of our listeners, and discover the wisdom of making bread through the words of another listener and Robin Wall Kimmerer.  

Journal entry:

 14th June, Tuesday.

“The day starts fresh with clean skies and grasses that glitter with rainbows.
 Beneath the rushes, a moorhen fusses.
 The air is scented with summer wine.”

Episode Information:

This episode features the writing of two listeners; Margaret Jacobson and Sue ‘Breadlady’.

I read the poem ‘The Colour of Water’ by Margaret Jacobson and a post by Sue on her love of bread. 

I also read a small extract from:
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s (2020) Braiding Sweatgrass published by Penguin Books.

I also refer to a video created by boat vlogger 'CountryHouseGent' that features the soothing sound of a vintage canal boat accompanied by video of a cruise along a canal. The video cn be viewed on YouTube and is titled: Relaxing Vintage Engine Sound Canal Boat Sleep ASMR

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

This week has been one of extremes that encompasses the splendour of solitude and an onboard visit by three very enthusiastic police dogs (and a puppy)! Alongside all this, we took time to listen to some bats, watch the cygnets as the grow ever stronger and contemplate the hidden depths of the most surprising people.  

Journal entry:

 8th June, Wednesday

"The wind is kicking up among the branches of the ash and oaks while clouds as heavy as wet blotting paper begin to gather. 

There is that excitement in the air that portends change though the barometer stays level. The rooks are playing up and large spots of rain fleck the towpath. 

It is the time to stride across the ridgeways and old greenways in seven-league boots and drink in every second of the howling night... 

it is the time to close the hatches and listen to the rain as it rakes the cabin roof and batters on the window by my bed."

Episode Information:

I am planning to feature bats more fully in a future podcast. 

However, if you are interested in finding out more about bats, there is a very good introductory guide to (British) bats on the Woodland Trust website: Bats.

The bat sounds featured in this episode were a type of pipistrelle. We are not too sure which, but most probably (through population size) they were Common Pipistrelle. For more information: Common Pipistrelle. 

The recoding was made using a Magenta Bat5 bat detector and a Edirol R-09HR sound recorder.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

Send us Fan Mail

On the week that the cygnets of our swan pair hatched, we explore the rather contradictory nature of the canal through the eyes of poets Jo Bell, Nancy Campbell, and Ian MacMillan. We find romance amidst the unromantic and beauty in the unbeautiful.  

Journal entry:

 1st June, Wednesday

"Heron, streak of grey light, 
 Standing on the bank, 
 Coverletted in Moon's-Eye
 And the first flush of poppies of the season.

Rain falls as needles of sunlight. 
 The heron preens for a while
 And then is gone."

Episode Information:

In ‘News from the Moorings’ I refer to Mark Nicolaides’ beautiful and exceptionally informative website on the swan: Swan Life. You can read more about swans’ nesting and hatching behaviours in the section: Incubating Eggs.

There is a very good collection of canal-themed poetry on the Poetry Society’s website where, in conjunction with the Canal and River Trust (CRT), there is a section that includes works from past and present ‘Canal Laureates’: Waterlines.

In this episode I read the following poems:

Jo Bell - ‘How to Live on a Boat’

Jo Bell – ‘Frozen In’

Nancy Campbell (2018) – ‘Recipe for a Towpath Garden’

Ian MacMillan – ‘Canal Life’

For information about Pete Tuffrey’s paintings see his Etsy page.

I am not sure how current Pete’s Etsy page is as most of his more recent artwork appears to be on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TuffreyArtist.

You can also follow Pete on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeteTuffrey 

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

Support the show

Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
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I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. 

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May slowly rolls into June, but is summer really here? The towpaths and hedgerows are garlanded in summer colours and the ducks (and swans) are beginning to move into their time of eclipse. Some of the mallard drakes are beginning to look very travel-worn! Meanwhile, days like these seem to bring a lot of childhood memories to mind.    

Journal entry:

27th May, Friday

"Two hours until sundown and a stillness already settles.
 Shadows creep low and long through the sedge and long grasses on the bank.
 The swan stretches in her nest under an alder that shimmers with blackbird song.

Later the peace will be disturbed and the sky explode with shouts and light.
 But not now. 
 Now all is still."

 Episode Information:

All birds moult (‘molt’ – US spelling) or go into ‘eclipse’. You can find more information about the eclipse or moult that ducks and swans experience on this site: Understanding Waterfowl: The amazing molt. More information can be found here: What is eclipse plumage?

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com. It will also allow you to become more a part of the podcast and you can leave comments, offer suggestions, and reviews. You can even, if you want, leave me a voice mail by clicking on the microphone icon. 

General Details

In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.

Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence. 

Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. 

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Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.

Contact

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw  

I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.

For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters

You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.