The Story of British Canals - VHS - 1993 (Canal History Docu)

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  • Опубликовано: 13 янв 2017
  • 1993 VHS on the history of canals in Great Britain. It is a bit dated in its style (and incidental music lol) but still an enjoyable little program with some very interesting footage.

Комментарии • 234

  • @kokopelli314
    @kokopelli314 6 месяцев назад +2

    On a gloomy winter morn, this with crumpets and a hot tea is exactly what I needed

  • @jayant9578
    @jayant9578 3 года назад +16

    This is my favourite thing about Britain. Absolutely love this.

  • @rogerusa9696
    @rogerusa9696 4 года назад +11

    A wonderful video. When you see those narrow boats on the water it's hard to believe what a major part they played in bringing about the industrial revolution. Elsewhere, in the low countries, they built bigger and wider canals, but in England they had to cut through hills and the cross valleys by building viaducts, so the seven foot system worked best for them, and they did it quickly. It is also worth remembering that the Industrial revolution started in England and changed the economy of the world, thanks to the narrow boat.

  • @ceeceety2320
    @ceeceety2320 4 года назад +15

    My wife and I truly hope to visit the canals one day. It all seems so beautiful and serene. Have been wondering about the history of them. Now I know a bit more.

  • @StuffOffYouStuff
    @StuffOffYouStuff 2 года назад +7

    Thanks so much for uploading this! Love oldschool British documentaries, esp narrated by actors with cosy voices :)

    • @jakewhite3163
      @jakewhite3163 Год назад

      They most definitely instill a sense of comfort and reassurance in the world. It makes you feel like there is no wrong, and for 57 minutes you are immersed in 1990s campy/eggy glamour that has aged ten fold, but is so wonderfully vivid and classic.

    • @aaronwelfare2138
      @aaronwelfare2138 Год назад

      I was trying to think where I'd heard his voice 🤔he was the games teacher in Kes 👍

    • @mplsmark222
      @mplsmark222 3 месяца назад

      I also appreciate a well trained voice doing narration. They used to give these jobs to qualified people. Unfortunately, often that is no longer case.
      I’m also a great admirer of the canal system and the efforts to preserve and even add to it. I don’t know if I would cruise it myself because of the slow pace, but it’s nice to see others living on and enjoying the system.

  • @cathydyer3774
    @cathydyer3774 Год назад +1

    Fantastic video and old films. I really learned a lot. Thank you. Also at about 51 minutes it showed Bratch Lock in Wombourne, South Staffs, where we lived for a few years, 34 years ago. We used to enjoy walking along the canal there.🦆🦆🌻🌺🌳

  • @griffca4814
    @griffca4814 3 года назад +4

    I love how he said Steering around a cut like it's some hard core war fighting.

  • @shrinewitch
    @shrinewitch 4 года назад +5

    Thanks so much for uploading this!

  • @Oscarsadventures
    @Oscarsadventures 6 лет назад +27

    This seems nostalgic for some reason.

  • @eleanorchapple8772
    @eleanorchapple8772 3 года назад +5

    Wonderful documentary! Thank you for this!

  • @mathewgreen4099
    @mathewgreen4099 4 года назад +1

    Fascinating documentary & Brian Glover’s narration was a perfect addition. Many thanks for posting.

  • @plezurhounds
    @plezurhounds 4 года назад +29

    Lovely doco, written with interest and narrated by Brian Glover with just the right amount of passion... Thanks for the upload:-)

  • @LaszloPanaflex
    @LaszloPanaflex 6 лет назад +10

    That aquaduct from 1805 is amazing! Great post.

  • @jamesa7506
    @jamesa7506 4 года назад +2

    A wonderful film! Thanks for sharing this. Well done!

  • @maureenkidd6629
    @maureenkidd6629 3 года назад +1

    That was so very interesting and informing. Thank you for this enjoyable video of the history of the waterways.

  • @RapaciousUT
    @RapaciousUT 4 года назад +4

    Most excellent documentary. Thank you very much!

  • @susancronk8512
    @susancronk8512 5 лет назад +24

    A great documentary. Well narrated and very interesting. Wish we had more canals like this in America where you could crisscross the land this land. Am enjoying watching the narrowboat vlogs, too.

    • @sthompson4049
      @sthompson4049 4 года назад +2

      been wondering the same thing

    • @sarahredactedyl8742
      @sarahredactedyl8742 4 года назад +7

      I'm happy to hear you enjoy this mode of transportation. I am actually going to college to become a Civil Engineer - and I intend to change a lot about how we trade and transport (with canals and other things)

    • @skimND
      @skimND 4 года назад +4

      The Erie Canal is pretty extensive for US

    • @maureenkidd6629
      @maureenkidd6629 3 года назад +2

      @@skimND One lock after another would do my head in.

    • @thisisforonecomment
      @thisisforonecomment Год назад +2

      @@sarahredactedyl8742 hope it’s going well ⛴⛴

  • @sarahredactedyl8742
    @sarahredactedyl8742 4 года назад +7

    The music is my favorite part; it's tied with the history of course.

  • @pastorflaps6819
    @pastorflaps6819 4 года назад +2

    That was fantastic stuff thank you for providing it to watch

  • @GodOfReality
    @GodOfReality 3 года назад

    This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for uploading.

  • @johnferguson4089
    @johnferguson4089 4 года назад +2

    A fascinating docco telling me of something I never knew about, many thanks.

  • @lesleyburton9999
    @lesleyburton9999 3 года назад +2

    Loved it all, Brian Glover's voice just right and the music.Would love to have a narrow boat owning friend able to spend retirement exploring , keeping fit and happy.

  • @yashizuko
    @yashizuko 3 года назад +2

    I did not know this even existed, not even a documentary has been made on this topic in italy, so interesting

  • @zamirosorov2399
    @zamirosorov2399 7 лет назад +26

    Wonderful story! Thank you!

  • @johankotze42
    @johankotze42 4 года назад

    Thank you for sharing. It adds to the two narrow boat chanels I am following.

  • @Mr7valentine7
    @Mr7valentine7 4 года назад +1

    Highly enjoyed. Thank you!

  • @320ifq
    @320ifq 4 года назад +11

    Many of the canals, especially in Birmingham survived alongside the railways because industrial customers often had docks on site, the lack of lorries meant goods were offloaded at stations onto boats for the final few miles of delivery by canal.

  • @michaelhiggins7365
    @michaelhiggins7365 4 года назад +1

    Although this is quite dated, it gives a rather thorough and quite interesting education and history of Britain's amazing system of canal's. This is well worth the watch.

  • @sprint955st
    @sprint955st 4 года назад +3

    That was brilliant. I already knew most of the main stuff but Brian Glover’s narration was enthusiastic and added excitement. Wish he alive so I could let him know. Cheers.

  • @cliffcollins2497
    @cliffcollins2497 3 года назад

    Thank you for a most enjoyable history. Take care!

  • @steveevans4093
    @steveevans4093 6 лет назад +9

    Would like to see the canals but probably won't happen in this life time. Thank you for posting, RUclips . . . the next best thing!

    • @lauriestlyon8773
      @lauriestlyon8773 5 лет назад +2

      There are boats to hire for days, weekends or weeks.

  • @jimsmith3971
    @jimsmith3971 4 года назад

    Lovely video. The British canal system is such a valuable resource in many ways.

  • @WildaConnell
    @WildaConnell 11 месяцев назад +2

    Hi Thank you so much . I have been watching 'The Great Canal Journeys' starting from the beginning. This is a remarkable & full sharing of the rich history of the British canals that helps fill in the blanks for me. This documentary, so thoughtfully put together is the sort of effort that makes RUclips & the internet continue to be so worthwhile.

  • @CoherentChimp
    @CoherentChimp 4 года назад

    Interesting and entertaining documentary. Well worth a watch. Thanks!

  • @fletcher3913
    @fletcher3913 4 года назад +2

    I enjoyed this documentary. Thank you.

  • @buckwildproductions7354
    @buckwildproductions7354 4 года назад +2

    I really enjoyed this! Fascinating!!!

  • @Light-gp9hk
    @Light-gp9hk 3 года назад

    AMAZING!!! TY SOOOO MUCH...aaah what a bliss! :)

  • @polygamous1
    @polygamous1 Год назад

    What a beautiful Brilliant n relaxing documentary many thanks for uploading just Amazing

  • @janetmcgrorty8701
    @janetmcgrorty8701 6 лет назад +3

    Megan I really enjoy your short films.
    Thank you for sharing.

  • @narrowboatingwithmrrollo8949
    @narrowboatingwithmrrollo8949 3 года назад +2

    Really enjoyed this history. Now the proud owners of the Helen Louise, I hope we do not forget the 'roots' of these amazing, network of canals and working narrowboats. Can't wait (but Covid-19 demands we do) to cruise those ancient; now modernized, English canals.

  • @lukegreen5341
    @lukegreen5341 Год назад +1

    0:43 This Music Is So Funky. Thanks Mate. X

  • @jean-lucpicard5510
    @jean-lucpicard5510 4 года назад +40

    The narrator is so Yorkshire a bowl of pork pie and mushy peas appeared in my lap, and I now own a whippet.

    • @hereandthere4763
      @hereandthere4763 4 года назад +1

      Sounds like Jimmy Savile

    • @lonewolfgeoff
      @lonewolfgeoff 4 года назад +4

      Here and There naaa its that bald actor who was the boss on the prison planet in alien 3 lol

    • @KlunkerRider
      @KlunkerRider 4 года назад +3

      That explains the tweed cap that suddenly appeared on my head XD

    • @garywhiterow
      @garywhiterow 4 года назад +8

      The late great Brian Glover.

    • @lonewolfgeoff
      @lonewolfgeoff 4 года назад

      W anchor thats him, ta

  • @andyrbush
    @andyrbush 4 года назад

    Superb video factual, informative and entertaining.

  • @osvaldocristo
    @osvaldocristo 6 лет назад +2

    Great film! Thank you very much to share it!

  • @rolandcrombez936
    @rolandcrombez936 6 лет назад +10

    Thank you for the post.. Wish I live on England canals before I bloody die...

  • @robertmason2747
    @robertmason2747 4 года назад +3

    Great vid. - as a yank I’ve been following the narrow boat vlogs - such history ! Thanks

  • @romzimus893
    @romzimus893 4 года назад

    Great documentary I learnt a lot from this

  • @xlenau
    @xlenau 3 года назад +1

    I really loved how whole family lives and work together.

    • @nevillemason6791
      @nevillemason6791 2 года назад

      It was terrible. They had a squalid existence all living in a very small cramped cabin at the back of the barge. Before the coming of the railways the boatmen's families lived in cottages. When the railways took away a lot of canal trade the boatmen were forced to cut costs. Their families came to live on the barges and help with their operation so no extra man was needed (to guide the horse). The children had no chance of any education because they were never in one place long enough to go to school.

  • @NarrowboatNatterings
    @NarrowboatNatterings 3 года назад +1

    Loved this! As a Vlogger though, I'll be avoiding this soundtrack!

  • @altitude1039
    @altitude1039 4 года назад

    Thanks Rob!

  • @gregbolitho9775
    @gregbolitho9775 4 года назад

    nice 1 m8s, is there a spot that has more photos of the interior crew space of a working narrow boat?

  • @cliffwoodbury5319
    @cliffwoodbury5319 4 года назад +1

    i don't understand how the narrow canals ever went out of use. The restoration of the canals with a well thought out plan could be a huge boost to logistical transport and touism. I just found out about the narrow/broad boats and the canals they navigate and love watching the videos. With restoration of proper shore facilities there could be many underutilized sections of the economy that could grow. By making the narro/broadboats part of intermodal logistics (linking them better to road and rail hubs/yards) that could make goods cheaper across the islands. By incorperating them more into urban life, like new rail station sit could revive neigboorhoods that were long left derelect. One day i hope to cruise in a narrow boat.

    • @MrDorbel
      @MrDorbel 3 года назад

      I hope that you do get to cruise the cut one day Cliff, but they won't ever carry commercial traffic again. Even if the canals were dredged and maintained, a pair of narrow boats leaving London with 50 tons of cargo takes 4 or 5 days to get to Birmingham! That's also assuming that they aren't held up by having to slow down for miles of pleasure boat moorings and wait at the locks while holiday makers dither about! Sorry, it's just a pipe dream.

  • @nate8551
    @nate8551 4 года назад +1

    I live by the Coventry canal. Thank you

  • @danieldelewis2448
    @danieldelewis2448 2 года назад

    You know it's going to be a good one when a documentary starts with a quote from Mr.Rat

  • @dave1001
    @dave1001 4 года назад

    Wow was very interesting to watch as well as learn

  • @ramjam25
    @ramjam25 4 года назад +5

    moving into a boat was the best thing I ever did

    • @mikestirewalt5193
      @mikestirewalt5193 4 года назад +1

      WHY?? Was it a choice between a narrowboat and assisted living? Were you at the end of your rope and just wanted to peacefully watch the canal banks go slowly by as you neared the end of life?
      Really . . . the only challenge to life on a narrowboat is ice in some winter months, if you want to go somewhere. But where to go? You can only go one way . . . or the other way. No navigational skills required. The ancient arts of Prince Henry and James Cook and Francis Drake are something to only read about in those narrow little boats that would completely turn turtle if you tried to go somewhere even as close as Ireland. Narrowboats are on rails of a sort. In the nicest parts of the year, for a few months, it must be pleasant to drift through the green English countryside watching sheep and cows. One thing . . . the horses appear to be remarkably healthy in this video - not at all the poor, beaten beasts portrayed in images of horse-drawn London cabbies and carriages. Magnificent animals in this video. I'm sure this life has its charms but they don't seem all that conspicuous - not when you can buy a boat for the same money, or less, that will strike out on real water and take one somewhere. These boats are not free to go anywhere except one way, or the other. Interesting for historical reasons surely, for a couple months or so.
      Loved the old photos and history.

    • @ramjam25
      @ramjam25 3 года назад +1

      @@mikestirewalt5193 I'm on a seaworthy lifeboat and have been on a trip from Limehouse to Calais .
      It's a good less consumer life style and there's the nature

  • @g.bishop35
    @g.bishop35 5 лет назад +1

    Wonderfully narrated and absorbing history of a vital aspect of Britain’s Industrial Revolution.

  • @christopherjameslee3341
    @christopherjameslee3341 4 года назад +2

    Some of my ancestors [Knott] worked the canals from Bardney, Lincs.

  • @mattwillis2434
    @mattwillis2434 6 лет назад +8

    Thanks for posting. Loved Brian Glover narration, hated (hated) background music.

  • @davidboskett5581
    @davidboskett5581 4 года назад

    an excellent video

  • @hazchemel
    @hazchemel 2 года назад

    Thank you, fantastic; and very admirable the way free men and their families made a way of life that meshed with the needs of the time; and the predictable outrage this causes among the very concerned and vocal few.

  • @Evie-vs6vb
    @Evie-vs6vb Год назад +1

    well explained!

  • @bigimskiweisenheimer8325
    @bigimskiweisenheimer8325 4 года назад +6

    I wonder if anyone ever said " I'm watching this to hear hurdy gurdy music"

    • @lonewolfgeoff
      @lonewolfgeoff 4 года назад +1

      Rob Dunkes sr yep they did lol

  • @rosemarypalmer3603
    @rosemarypalmer3603 4 дня назад

    Brilliant!!

  • @hughtierney9109
    @hughtierney9109 3 года назад +1

    For any foreigners listening to this: the narration is in Yorkshireguese.

    • @roddersfiftynine
      @roddersfiftynine 2 года назад

      and in Yorkshire they don`t have the letter "H" in their alphabet.

  • @SecretSquirrelFun
    @SecretSquirrelFun Год назад +1

    Brilliant 6:35 ONE YEAR 😳😳 amazing 🤩
    10:50 all of that original documentation is wondering isn’t it. ❤

  • @anthonyxuereb792
    @anthonyxuereb792 3 года назад

    Thoroughly enjoyed this, it's very detailed. Have Roman aqueducts survived in Britain?

  • @jimcameron9848
    @jimcameron9848 4 года назад +1

    This was an evolutionary documentary that explains how we arrived at Thomas the Train and Friends.

  • @andychumbley2196
    @andychumbley2196 5 лет назад +3

    Nothing but fantastic.

  • @andrewclack4881
    @andrewclack4881 2 года назад

    what a great video.

  • @Richardj410
    @Richardj410 2 года назад

    Very enjoyable.

  • @jeffolsen4983
    @jeffolsen4983 14 дней назад

    Thanks!

  • @stevek8829
    @stevek8829 4 года назад

    The sign on the boat at: 28:33, "Drink Delicious Ovaltine." When is that from, 1850? Now I have to buy some Ovaltine. Oh, nice informative video. Thank-you.

  • @dutchvanhelsing6671
    @dutchvanhelsing6671 6 лет назад +3

    Brian Glover...he was grrrrreat ! Man.

  • @BoyTrain872
    @BoyTrain872 6 лет назад +3

    That's the storyteller and actor brian glover who did the little red tractor stories and doctor who attack of the cybermen.

    • @bear_chills
      @bear_chills 3 года назад

      Was it him who was in the film Kez

  • @GeeMak999
    @GeeMak999 Год назад

    That was wonderful

  • @stephenmorse8811
    @stephenmorse8811 5 лет назад +1

    Absolutely first class, with loads of old black-and-white footage.

  • @rogerwilco2
    @rogerwilco2 4 года назад +3

    I don't understand why the UK never upgraded their canals, but stayed at the technical limits of the 1770s with their narrow boats and 7 feet wide locks?
    We built many canals in the Netherlands in the same era, and upgraded them over time.

    • @duncanhart3501
      @duncanhart3501 4 года назад +1

      And we love them! A great pleasure to navigate through your canals and rivers particularly as we have no equivalent here in Australia...(not to mention a lack of water in many states).

    • @MrDorbel
      @MrDorbel 3 года назад

      Many canals did of course have 14' wide locks, but the reason that we never moved on to having canals that could take barges of the continental sizes was just the terrain. Not only are the low countries flatter, but they connect to the great rivers of Europe, making canal traffic economic, as it is to this day of course.

  • @wyllgreenewood1931
    @wyllgreenewood1931 5 лет назад

    What a lovely video, thank you.

  • @nickknott6521
    @nickknott6521 4 года назад

    🇬🇧🇬🇧🤔Great stuff 😀 teaching us how history is made 🧐👍👍✅🌹🇬🇧🇬🇧

  • @urbanrider7981
    @urbanrider7981 5 лет назад +3

    My grandparents worked for Fellows Morton and Clayton,my mum was born on the boat,they had the Clay and the Perch.

  • @briggsahoy1
    @briggsahoy1 3 года назад

    Very, very, interesting.

  • @lewisspear91
    @lewisspear91 Год назад

    does anybody know what those works were at 13:16 ? lovely brick chimneys

  • @justintai8725
    @justintai8725 5 лет назад +1

    Awesome

  • @kiwitrainguy
    @kiwitrainguy 2 года назад

    This reminds me of what I heard about when my Grandfather was a lad in the 1890s. As children they used to go swimming in the canal (in Surrey) to cool off in the Summer. The girls kept their knickers on and the boys went in "starkers". Am told that their Mother would've had a Blue Fit if she'd found out what they had been doing.
    Also Thomas Telford: Was he the one who stayed in bed on the day that his canal-on-a-bridge, aka aqueduct, opened because he was afraid that it would be a gigantic failure?

  • @lennoxpeters7792
    @lennoxpeters7792 3 года назад

    What a classic 🤙

  • @fishyphill5099
    @fishyphill5099 4 года назад +1

    bloody love canals

  • @ronaldheit196
    @ronaldheit196 2 года назад

    This Yank definitely enjoyed this bit of English history I'd never heard about.
    Much more entertaining than some horribly trashy "unreality" tv show.
    I'd love to own a brightly painted narrow boat to live on and cruise Florida's St. John's river.
    The only river in America that flows northward.
    I've done a houseboat cruise on it but a narrow boat would be far more suitable.

  • @bobm2331
    @bobm2331 2 года назад

    Can someone explain how horses "passed" going in opposite directions on the same tow path? Thanks much. Except for lifting the tow rope over another boat I just can't seem to figure it out.

  • @nickyl9040
    @nickyl9040 4 года назад +3

    I'm an American kayaker who did not know that these canals existed until yesterday
    I would love to fly to the UK , rent a kayak and spend a couple of weeks paddling these canals
    Does GB have an infrastructure that will support those who want to paddle these canals

    • @retrorambles517
      @retrorambles517 4 года назад

      Possibly
      There would be local trusts who would look after certain sections and could possibly do it
      Google it

    • @Krieghandt
      @Krieghandt 4 года назад +1

      you would probably want a hire boat, and spend your nights there.

    • @stevewebb7318
      @stevewebb7318 4 года назад

      Nicky L they have Kayaker clubs so you would be welcome

    • @blokerama
      @blokerama 4 года назад +1

      Yes. The company I worked for arranged for a group of us to canoe all the way from Birmingham to London Docks - about 180 miles. I'll never forget going through tunnels with water dripping through and gingerly paddling along aqueducts, afraid of falling over the side 50 or 80 feet ! A great time, so unbelievably quiet and leisurely and relaxing. No special permit is required, I believe . .

  • @xtemplarx
    @xtemplarx 4 года назад +1

    That music, though...

  • @narrowboatmoonshine
    @narrowboatmoonshine 3 года назад

    would love to share this on our page if possible

  • @brianrayment5019
    @brianrayment5019 4 года назад

    Most enjoyable

  • @robtyman4281
    @robtyman4281 3 года назад +2

    Great video, but my god the music is dire! ....you can tell this video is from the 90's hence the awful 'daytime TV style' music. An archive classic though. Much has changed since then.

  • @jabbertwardy
    @jabbertwardy 2 года назад

    Interesting to see the entry to the Harecastle Tunnel before the fatality several years ago, and the unrestored Anderton lift discussed in the past tense.

    • @Claudia_K.
      @Claudia_K. Год назад

      What happened?

    • @jabbertwardy
      @jabbertwardy Год назад

      @@Claudia_K. Sadly, a man was knocked unconscious by the low ceiling, fell off the back of his narrowboat and drowned. CRT now strictly controls and monitors passage through the tunnel.

    • @Claudia_K.
      @Claudia_K. Год назад +1

      @@jabbertwardy Oh no. I’m sad to hear that. Thanks for answering.

  • @annteve
    @annteve 4 года назад +1

    Would be lovely if someone did an update now 30 years later.

    • @davids6533
      @davids6533 4 года назад

      Episode 187 CruisingTheCut channel Digging Deep

  • @royquatermass7593
    @royquatermass7593 4 года назад +1

    Classic documentary

  • @BernardSamson-hf6fc
    @BernardSamson-hf6fc 3 года назад +2

    I still think that to save the environment, heavy non-perishable goods should still be moved via canals. This still happens in Europe.

    • @MrDorbel
      @MrDorbel 3 года назад

      It happens in some parts of Europe because the canals take barges that carry several hundred tons. Even when the English canals were maintained and dredged to a standard that permitted commercial traffic, the maximum load of a narrow boat was about 25 tons. I am afraid that the days when a canal boat took four or five days to travel from London to Birmingham with that sort of load are long gone!

  • @lukegreen5341
    @lukegreen5341 4 года назад +2

    Brain Glover Also Appears In The 1974 BBC Prison Comedy Television Series Porridge The Original Series With Ronnie Barker And Fulton Mackey From The 1968 BBC Wartime Comedy Series Dad's Army The Original Series In 1968. Thanks Mate. X

    • @lukegreen5341
      @lukegreen5341 4 года назад +1

      Oh Yeah Right. Thanks Wonderful Life Mate. X

    • @BigBadLoneWolf
      @BigBadLoneWolf 4 года назад

      @@lukegreen5341 and he played the PE Teacher in Kes

    • @roddersfiftynine
      @roddersfiftynine 2 года назад

      @@BigBadLoneWolf Brian as "Bobby Charlton" "you moved, the penalty will be taken again".

  • @jongadsby1623
    @jongadsby1623 6 лет назад +5

    wonderful !!! When Britain was great!!!!

    • @manib6594
      @manib6594 5 лет назад +2

      Britain is now great as well