Nighttime on Still Waters

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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 December, Wednesday.

Venus hangs above Bearley Lock. 
 A hard diamante stud puncturing the smooth bowl of lacquered blue and satsuma orange fire at the rim
 We stand above the pool eroded by the summer-pastured cows. The water looks like spilt Indian ink that would go on forever and ever

Penny sniffs at the torn soil and a lone duck slips into the air.

Later today, the lacquered bowl will become roughened and dull, and rain will whip and pit the mirrored surface of the water. 

But that is later. This is now… and we are both absorbed in our own worlds.”

Episode Information

Photographs of the Kathy and our family on the boat can be found on the podcast’s Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

In this episode I mention the delightful Weather Folk-Lore of the Sea and Superstitions of the Scottish Fishermen.

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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 
 

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

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, but has also given me a fresh perspective on a species I have not really thought much about; the swan. 

Journal entry:

“12th December, Saturday.

Icy Phaethon tracks the fearless dark and touches the Earth with a scatter of mercurial light. As silent as owls’ wings, as swift as falling angels, the stars fall. 

Frosted crystal beneath our feet and clouded breath. We walk on in wonder...”

Episode Information

Photographs of our pair of swan and of the ducklings can be found on the Nighttime on Still Waters Facebook page; Instagram and Twitter feeds.

For more information on haunting presence of Phaethon, the assumed 'parent' of the Geminid meteor shower, go to: Astronomy.com: Explore Phaethon

‘The Swan’ by Mary Oliver was published in The Paris Review 124, (Fall) 1992.

I also refer to WB Yeats’ poem ‘The Wild Swans of Coole’. You can read and hear it by following this link: Poetry Foundation.

In this episode I read a short extract from page 82 of Richard Jeffries’ (1881) Wood Magic: A Fable published by Cassell and Co.   

I also read from An English Almanac written and illustrated by Miles Hadfield (1950) published by JM Dent and Sons. 

Lots of folklore (and recipes) for the swan can be found in Stefan Buczacki’s (2002) Fauna Britanica published by Hamlyn. [I rather mangled his name in the episode – apologies Stefan!]

There is a great website featuring the audio clips of the different sounds swans make: Rattling Crow: Mute swan acoustic communication.

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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 
 

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 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 two pampered puppies carried on cushions.

They take food from me; soft sibilant vocalisations, as I drink my mid-morning tea. One snortles and blows through its nose. I hope it’s normal. Avian flu is attacking swans.

I feel rather foolishly protective and invested in their alien lives.”

Episode Information

Photographs of Bearley or Odd Lock can be viewed on the podcast’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages – details below. 

For pictures and information of Bearley Lock on the Geograph website click here: Bearley Lock 

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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]

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

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 branches.
So I follow the stars homeward
        Always tracking slightly westward.

Thank God for the sunrise.
          And November buds.”

Episode Information

This episode featured the lovely poem ‘Boatlife in Autumn’ by Julia Pearson onboard NB Omega. You can read her poem on her Instagram account here: https://www.instagram.com/boaty7/ 

I also mentioned the wonderful photographs of night-time boating taken by the working coal boat NB Alton. You can see their photographs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coalboat_alton/  

 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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 
 

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 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 universe that barely touches mine. 
 It raises its head and looks up into the sky
          As the rain falls.
 At least we hold that much in common.”

Episode Information

Floating our Boat

Fran and Rich’s (Floating our Boat) podcast can be heard here: Floating our Boat podcast.
Their vlogs are a great way to experience life when living permanently aboard a narrowboat. You can watch them on their Youtube channel here: Floating our Boat Vlogs.
 
 

In this episode I refer to E Temple Thurston’s book The Flower of Gloster, published in 1911. Sadly, it is currently out of print, but second-hand copies are still available. There is also a free-access electronic copy (containing some wonderful illustrations by W.R. Dakin) is available at the Hathi Trust Digital Library . The link to the book is: The Flower Gloster. The reference to John Aiken and Anna Laetitia can be found on pages 40-48.

In the intro and 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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 
 

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 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 where the jackdaws call.”

In this episode I read an extract from the early 17th century English printed volume by Nicholas Breton of the 15th century The Kalendar of Shepherds. You can read a digitised reproduction of this book, with its wonderful woodcut engravings, in the Welcome Library: The Kalendar of Shepherds: Being devices for the twelve months.

 Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 Episode Information
Extract read from ‘November’ in The Kalendar of Shepherds.

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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.

All other audio recorded on site. 

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

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 ponies, stoic and comic in their friendly solidity, graze. Rain drips off the manes and coats. Their breath rises in clouds of sweet-smelling steam. We stand in a small group, each of us gazing in a different direction.  

Suddenly, the sun, stratus-cataracted, metallic, still wet from the waters of night, breaks through. Everything is transformed; an epiphanal transfiguration. 

The field shivers silver in the steaming air. The three ponies stand haloed in a fiery-white light, platinum bright, mute and solid. 

The air is filled with drifts of pearls that run down our faces. Is this Matthew’s field in which was buried a great treasure? How fitting he chose the Greek word θησαυρός [thesaurus] to describe it. 

Who knew that the treasure of great price was sun… and rain… and dawn’s imagination.” 

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]
 
 Episode Information

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 interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
 
 All other sound recorded on site. 

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

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 the smell of damp earth, leaf mould, wood smoke. Together, we walk through the mystery of autumn.” 

Contact details
For pictures of Erica and the Kathy can be seen by following me on:

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

I have really appreciated the comments and questions and would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
 
 Episode Information
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 interludes written and performed by Helen Ingram

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

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 common need for, what Charlie Connolly describes as, 'voices flung out under the stars.'

Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts 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]

Episode Information
During the podcast a read a passage from Charlie Connolly's (2019) The Last Train to Hilversum: A journey in the search of the magic of radio. Bloomsbury Publishing (loc 258)
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. 

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.