The Spirit of Water

In Summer 2025 I volunteered to help out with the Witch Festival at Ennis Gardens, it was an interesting day that stimulated a thought that I had been carrying for several years.

As a van dweller I enjoyed mobility and having a new garden across the UK but sometimes it was missing an element. It could be rather noisy and during the summer it became pretty busy. I have always been a restless soul but one of the few places that I would sit and listen watching the wildlife and ripples was by the water, whether this was a spring, stream, river or the sea. It was like a magnet to me.

Then there was the fear of deep water, which I had struggled for sixty years to manage. An early childhood incident with water, my godmothers fish pond and I had set in motion a fear of going into deep water. This did not stop me taking part in kayaking, sailing and other water sports during my school years and when I was in the armed services. I was like a moth to the flame. Michelle Marie Elliott told me at Witch Fest that it was because I was a water witch. I really struggled with this concept because of my dissonant relationship with being in water. But this was not about me being in the water. This was about me honouring the water and the life it brings.

Lets be honest we are a high percentage of water, if we do not drink enough our cells shrink we become dehydrated, our heads hurt, skin becomes dry and our blood slows its surge around our bodies thickened and sludgey. We mirror the poisoned rivers, dammed and thick with sewage when we do not look after our bodies.

Water is the life blood of the planet, and it is the life blood of our body and brain. We will not survive without it. So why do we ignore what is going on with the water that we drink? Why do we ignore the rubbish on the river banks or tow paths?

What does this have to with being a water witch? it is about honouring the land through its life source ‘Water’.

I acknowledged the pull of water and started to look at narrowboats, I will be honest the canals felt a bit safer for a foundation of water living than the rivers and I could build myself up with the necessary skills.

My objective was to be able to sit on my boat and be with the waterways and the living beings that choose it to be their home.

I was initially drawn towards a historic narrowboat called Malvern, and I will be honest she is a embedded in a part of me. I had viewed her in January 2026, Malvern is a Fellows Clay Morton Historic Boat that was a horse drawn narrowboat, carrying supplies. There was a significant dossier about her history. When I viewed her the first time she felt welcoming and ready for input, I missed some details and I was optimistic that I could arrange the work that she needed to have done. I read the survey report which suggested that it was not all bad. Then we returned for look number 2 on February 1st (Imbolc) and my son in law’s foot squidged into the bedroom floor which had lifted. I had never quite seen laminate separate quite like this. It was a layer sponge of soggy wood particles. We investigated the engine leak with a measure and it was several inches flooding the bay floor. The owner had left personal items behind which were furry with mould after the recent rains. Water was coming in and it was ruining Malvern.

Another aspect to this that the owner may not have considered was that we found her YouTube channel and she had quite a significant following, there were frequent trips with Malvern and unfortunately it became clear that funds had never been allocated to fix Malverns hull or the more expensive maintenance costs that had been identified at earlier services.

Malvern is still for sale This is over six months of not being maintained she attracts a lot of interest her sale photos do not show the shadows but her heart and soul is calling out to be rescued. As a 72 foot narrowboat with a deep draft she would benefit from being taken out of the water. She needs overplating for a start and then the whole rickety inside needs to be removed. She is closed to being a salvage operation but still there is something about her. The connection that I do not want to let go of completely.

Green Man

I had to accept that I did not have the skills to rescue Malvern and that as a curiosty seeker travelling the midlands she was going to require skills that I did not have yet as a solo boater. So we chose to look at the other boats for sale.

It was Imbolc and we met Green Man, it felt auspicious and I am a sentimental old fool. Green Man wins the battle for supremacy over Jack Frost and the sunny day shining on our viewing suggested it was a good omen.

So I put an offer in and then the new adventure started.

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