Finding Erica (On choosing a boat)

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There’s a warm welcome aboard the Erica tonight. But why the Erica? Why not any of the other boats we viewed and discussed? What was it about the Erica that made her special enough for us to buy, even though there were other boats that seemed to be stronger contenders? How did we know she was the right choice? Jo Bell’s brilliant book Boater helps us to find some answers.

Journal entry:

12th April, Sunday

“From Bridge 55

Children and old men
Lean on Georgian ironwork
Warmed by the sun
And gaze in silence
Into the waters below.

One sees time
Like slow waters
Drifting past,
The other the wonder
Of a world unfurling.

Maggie plunges her head
Under calm waters
Retrieves a stick
And I thought I saw
A smile in her eye.”

Episode Information:

In this episode I talk about and read a couple of short extracts from poet and industrial archaeologist Jo Bell’s Boater: A life on England’s waterways including her poem ‘A Marriage.’

With special thanks to our lock-wheelersfor supporting this podcast.
Ana McKellar
Susan Baker
Mind Shambles
Clare Hollingsworth
Kevin B.
Fleur and David Mcloughlin
Lois Raphael
Tania Yorgey
Andrea Hansen
Chris Hinds
Chris and Alan on NB Land of Green Ginger
Captain Arlo
Rebecca Russell
Allison on the narrowboat Mukka
Derek and Pauline Watts
Anna V.
Orange Cookie
Mary Keane.
Tony Rutherford.
Arabella Holzapfel.
Rory with MJ and Kayla.
Narrowboat Precious Jet.
Linda Reynolds Burkins.
Richard Noble.
Carol Ferguson.
Tracie Thomas
Mark and Tricia Stowe
Madeleine Smith

General Details

The intro and the outro music is ‘Crying Cello’ by Oleksii_Kalyna (2024) licensed for free-use by Pixabay (189988).

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

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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.