February Dawning

All along the canal side, the wintery tees and hedgerows are filling with spring song and life. Subtle shifts and changes, the play of light through the trees, the shimmering reflection of an old oak, auger new seasons awaiting us. It might still be winter and cold weather is on the way, but why not join me tonight in a ‘secret’ spot, canal-side, where we can listen together to February dawning? 

Journal entry:

 1st February, Wednesday.

"The conclave of oaks at the top of the hill
 Bask in this golden morning.
 Their tiny buds touching the sunlight
 Alive with the chilling south-westerly wind.

The hill rolls down towards
 The owl-chapeled oak
 Who stretches tall shadow shapes
 On a velvet gown of grass."

Episode Information:

In this episode I read Philip Larkin’s ‘Coming’ from his collection The Less Deceived (1955).

The recording used for ‘February Dawning’ was taken in the early morning near ‘Mile 19’ on the Stratford upon Avon Canal on 4th February 2023 using an 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
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Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:

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.