For us the river of the year has, so far, been roaring and fierce. It is difficult, at times, to see the bank or to even know whether we are floating or sinking. However, that is only one small part of the picture. What follows is a rather incoherent attempt to find coherence amid the noise.    Journal entry: 10th April, Wednesday “This morning dawned in chilled silver  I wore my coat up to my chin.  Now the sun is out  And coltsfoot down dances  On a warm wind.” With special thanks to our...

As the slow march of Spring travels along the canal and towpaths, tonight I answer two more questions: How do we keep the boat from freezing when we have to leave it unattended, and how long does it normally take to buy a narrowboat? Journal entry: 7th March, Thursday. “A grey wind blows  From a grey sky  Troubling the surface  Of the canal. Damson blossom  Torn from branch  Spun snow-like  With each gust. Sweet smell of woodsmoke  And the throat-catch of coal  Crosses my path, head...

As a family, we gained a reputation for the way our 'short  walks' often turned into marathon hikes which invariably meant staggering home long after dark (usually without a torch). In this week’s episode I reminisce on the lessons learnt, their prescient significance, and living in a culture that does growing old and dying so astonishingly badly. Journal entry: 24th February, Saturday. “Cloud cliffs, grey and climbing  Early spring sunshine  Catching the stonework traceries  And Benedictine...

Welcome aboard the NB Erica on a wet winter’s night. It is a perfect night to snuggle down and listen to JM Synge’s turn of the 20th century accounts of his travels to the Aran Islands in a small currach on stormy seas.  Journal entry: 14th February, Wednesday (St. Valentine’s Day) “Outside,  No coat,  On the hill that runs down to the cut. Warm sun, fleeting,  Cloud chasing with the gulls  And the circle of two buzzards. Maggie sits, watching,  From a throne of dried grass  And teasels. I...

It has been a rather tempestuous year so far! Currently, I am many miles from the boat and have not been able to record any podcasts. I have rather rushed this episode out to update you on the reasons why I have been so quiet of late and to bring you up to date with what has been happening.   Apologies for the sound quality of this episode. I do not have my recording gear with me at the moment.  Episode Information: In this episode I read parts of the lyrics from ‘Sit Down’ by James,...

You are invited to join us for a very special episode  as we celebrate Christmas Eve onboard the Erica and remember the Christmas Eves of our childhood.  Journal entry:  21st December, Thursday, Winter Solstice “The year’s turning  And the longest night. There’s a rough wind  And angry skies. The polestar oak  Finally felled. The ducks don’t seem  To notice."   Episode Information: Can I take this opportunity to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy NEW YEAR!   With special thanks to...

You have seen the Instagram photographs/videos of happy boat-dogs gambolling along summer towpaths, dense with colour and sunshine, or happily curled up in front of cosy fires, but what is the reality of sharing a boat with a dog really like, especially in the winter?   Journal entry:  15th December, Friday. “All night,  The owls echoed  Along the valley  In the long tunnel  Of the night. This morning,  A magpie scratched  Her jagged song  Across the metalled dome  Of first light.” Episode...

Join us on a stormy December night to listen to the next part of ‘How Mum met Dad’ in celebration of Dad’s 95th birthday. This week, we hear about their crack of dawn wedding and their honeymoon on the Norfolk Broads in the Whippet.  Journal entry:  7th December, Thursday “Untidy smoke trail of jackdaws  Stream across an iron sky  Of scalding wind and rain flail. Maggie and I pick our way  Across the sheep field,  December sings through the oaks.” Episode Information: For more information,...

This week is a very special episode as we celebrate Dad’s 95th birthday and we go back in time to hear about how a 1938 Hilman Minx was instrumental in how Mum met Dad. Journal entry: 1st December, Friday “Short sections of the canal  Are covered in a frosted skim of ice.  Wafer thin  But firm enough to bear a moorhen’s weight. She walks parallel to the offside bank  Left foot raised in a high arc  Then place it flat upon the ice  Slide it forwards half an inch or so. Pivot Right foot raised...

Autumn is a good time for contemplation and a place by the fireside encourages reflection. Recently I have been revisiting the journals of Thomas Merton and, with the help of John Moriarty, I have found myself relearning some valuable lessons. The Edens of our flourishing are sometimes not quite what we dream them to be.  Journal entry: 15th November, Wednesday "Across the fields,   A train clatters it's way to Birmingham.  The lit carriages flickering like   A procession of glow...

I've always felt that there is something rather singular about the month of November. Tonight I try to find out what it is and end up recounting the time when Guy Fawkes wore my old dressing gown (which might or might not have anything to do with it!).  Journal entry: 8th November, Wednesday. “Look down for the healing.  A reluctant dawn this morning,  South wind plays with stray raindrops  And birch leaves.  Scars of grey paving slabs lined with green.  Willowherb, spurge, dandelion.  Green...

It’s a foul November night, so why not come and join me aboard the Erica by the warm glow of fire light. I have with me a lovely book that I found last year in a second-hand bookshop and think that it's perfect for a night like this.    Journal entry:  1st November, Wednesday. “November is born brave  This morning. The dark water is alive  With movement  And a scatter  Of light. The walk from the boat  To car  Is under a starfield and  A bold moon.” Episode Information: In this episode I read...

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...

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 ecstatic...

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...

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...

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 I read...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Rain has a quality to touch us both physically and emotionally. Thomas Merton and Tristan Gooley are two very different people, but 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 smoke.  A moorhen scatters at our approach  Leaving only a fading trace in the water.  Maggie methodically sniffs the undergrowth  While I search for gold in the clouds.  A bee...

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: In this...

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: You can see some family photographs from this time by going to the...