Read all about the Three Idle Women in Waterways World Magazine, Winter 2023 - Here

The Three Idle Women

The Three Idle Women were forged by a shared love of the Oxford Canal and a fondness for close harmony singing, folk music and stories that are carried through song. Working together since 2013, the Oxford trio bring share their diverse musical skills, instrumentation and an intimate knowledge of the life on, and along, the Oxford canal.

They have been, writing new material, re-arranging older songs and spreading their infections fondness for the canal and the waterways. Performing at events such as the canal heritage concert, the Canal festival, the night market in oxford, sessions and open-mics in Oxfordshire and arranging the successful soiree Roses & Castles. The trio are not merely traditional folk singers, they are interested in quirky instrumentation, rich vocal harmonies and strong stories which emerge from the heritage and histroy of the canal.

The Idle women borrow their name from the women who worked the canals as part of the WW2 war effort, the waterways equivalent of the women's land army. 'IW' stands for 'Inland waterways' and every woman who did national service was issued with a badge emblazoned with the IW logo. There are many rumours stipulating where the name 'Idle women' came from but the name was given to Susan Woolfitt by her daughter once she had written her book – published under the name of 'Idle women'.  Despire the name the women certainly weren't idle, they worked extremely hard,  lived in extrenely close quarters and learnt a lot about boats, engines and carrying cargo.

We are:

Jane Rouse – Vocals, concertina, accapella
Charlie Henry – Vocals, Accordion, musical saw, baritone & soprano Ukulele, basic cello
Steph Pirrie – Vocals, piano, whistle, trumpet, flugal horn, arrangement