Our Inspiration

Three Idle Women originally met thru the Oxford Canal Heritage Project in 2013, which was a fantastic lottery funded community project, at the centre of which was a audio heritage trail along the Oxford Canal from the centre of the city out to Dukes Cut, the second junction where the canal joins the river Thames. This project was initiated by the trio’s good friend Kate Saffin, who is passionate about making canal and waterways history visible and connecting it to wider audiences.

As part of the project there were also schools workshops, art competitions and a big musical concert. The organisers of the concert were looking for performers to celebrate the canal in song and, alongside lots of other wonderful performers, Jane, Steph and Charlie were all asked separately to become involved and do a short set together at the concert.

First ever performance together

This was the start but it was just a one off happening and after this initial performance of just three songs they didn’t meet for a while. But soon, of course, there was another local canal event happening and they were again asked to come along and do their songs. Several more one off events later, and still with only three songs, they decided it was so delightful to be singing together that they would like to work up a few more songs and try and become a more permanent trio.

And so it properly began, three women who were strongly connected thru canals and waterways and fascinated, as modern canal people, by the links to our boating history, past canal people and waterway places.

The name Three Idle Women is a homage to the trainee women who worked on the canals during World War Two, helping to keep essential cargos moving around the country. These women were given a badge saying ‘National Service IW’, which stood for Inland Waterways, but after one of the trainee women, Susan Woolfitt, wrote a book about her experiences, her daughter came up with ‘Idle Women’ as the title and this ironic name stuck and so that is name that these women are usually known as now.

Three of the original Idle Women

It’s coincidental that, just like the singing Idle Women, these women worked in groups of three, working a motor boat and a butty boat between them.

They came from all walks of life, some were horrified with what was expected of them and left even before their first trip. Others really took to the lifestyle and stayed on boats and within the boating community long after their war work had ended. Many other fabulous people have inspired the trio too.

Jane was lucky enough to meet Jack and Rose Skinner, retired working boaters, in her early boating days, when she was still new and  inexperienced, and they generously taught her many boating skills and techniques, but almost more importantly they told her so many wonderful stories of their boating life, sparking a massive interest and desire in Jane to find out more about the people that she was connected with, via the canal network, across time.

Jack and Rose in the 1990s when Jane met them

The song Roses and Castles tells the story about Jack, Rose and Barbara Castle, who was another inspirational character who did so much for our inland waterways. Barbara was the minister for transport at the time when canals were being de-funded and abandoned. She was instrumental in saving and revitalising them into the leisure resource that they are today, herself describing that they should be “developed into centres of beauty or fun”. Her transport act in 1968 provided public funding for the restoration and development. 

She was a narrowboat enthusiast, spending weekends with friends on some sections of the Rochdale canal that were still open at that time. 

Barry SURNAME? is another canal character who inspired a song. Although not a boater, he spent most of his time at Wolvercote lock on the Oxford Canal, where he helped boaters through the lock, told people his stories and became part of the canal community in that place.

FRIENDS

Alarum Theatre company
Telling stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things.
Founded by the great Kate Saffin, the company write, perform across the country bringing canal heritage alive to audiences.

The Village Butty
Increasing the overall jollity of the nation by hosting infectious arts-based events, poetry writing, music events, open-mic nights and radio recordings all aboard their push tug Lion and day boat vanadium.

Tooleys Boatyard
Tooleys is not only deeply anchored in the history of the Oxford Canal, as one of the oldest working boatyards, it’s also a favourite venue of our to perform, singing in a dry dock, with the sound of flowing water

Kilsby Boat Project

Historic narrowboat Kilsby is being rescued, restored and repurposed as a community boat, offering educational trips, storytelling and theatre on the Oxford waterways.

The Oxford Canal Heritage Project

Not only is it the origins of where our trio formed, it is also a rich resource of oral heritage which continues to inspire us today.

Longway home’s production The Idle Women
Is an original musical that tells the story of four intrepid boat women in World War 2. Although very different from what we do.

Idle Women
Based in Lancashire, originally founded by artists aboard a boat in 2015 they have grown to create a The physic garden and have a couple of boats and venues.

The Village Butty
Increasing the overall jollity of the nation by hosting infectious arts-based events, poetry writing, music events, open-mic nights and radio recordings all aboard their push tug Lion and day boat vanadium.

Tooleys Boatyard
Tooleys is not only deeply anchored in the history of the Oxford Canal, as one of the oldest working boatyards, it’s also a favourite venue of our to perform, singing in a dry dock, with the sound of flowing water.