For more than half a century, a shared love of canals and narrowboats has been inseparable from the marriage of Timothy West and Prunella Scales. The two iconic actors have spent many of the happiest days of their life together enjoying the calming pleasures of watching land and nature unfold before them at four miles an hour. In 2014, Tim and Pru took to the canals of Britain and beyond with a television crew and a brief to record their best-loved trips along the most beautiful waterways they could find. Not only does OUR GREAT CANAL JOURNEYS recount their careers and travels, but it also explores the trials - and the joys - of ageing, and how Prunella's struggle with dementia has both changed, and yet failed to change, their lives together.

Today there are more craft on our canals than even during their industrial heyday. Thanks to the pleasures of boating, our canals are vibrant and thriving once again. Yet this would have astounded the people who built them and lived hard lives to keep the boats and their cargo moving. In Barging Round BritainJohn Sergeant sets out both to explore eight of the best trips among our more than three thousand miles of canals and to tell the fascinating story of their origins and workings. Opening up a too-often neglected world right on our doorstep, he seeks out pleasures and sights while stopping to examine the part the canals and their extraordinary builders played in our industrial heritage - from Josiah Wedgwood's need to safely transport his fragile bone china, to engineer James Brindley's visionary solutions to complications of geology and landscape. Exploring the history of British inland navigation through eight of the most celebrated waterways - including the Caledonia, Grand Union and the Trent and Mersey Canals - travelled by John Sergeant in the ITV series Barging Round Britain, this book will delight seasoned boaters and encourage those dreaming of their first canal holiday to dip their toes in the water. It is the book for anyone with a passion for Britain and its waterways. 'There is something very British in the way we cherish the canals. It takes us back to a time when the pace of life was slower. . .'

For a hundred and fifty years, between the plod of packhorse trains and the arrival of the railways, canals were the high-tech water machine driving the industrial revolution. Amazing feats of engineering, they carried the rural into the city and the urban into the countryside, and changed the lives of everyone. And then, just when their purpose was extinguished by modern transport, they were saved from extinction and repurposed as a 'slow highways' network, a peaceful and countrywide haven from our too-busy age. Today, there are more boats on the canals than in their Victorian heyday. Writer and slow adventurer Jasper Winn spent a year exploring Britain's waterways on foot and by bike, in a kayak and on narrowboats. Along a thousand miles of 'wet roads and water streets' he discovered a world of wildlife corridors, underground adventures, the hardware of heritage and history, new boating communities, endurance kayak races and remote towpaths. He shared journeys with some of the last working boat people and met the anglers, walkers, boaters, activists, volunteers and eccentrics who have made the waterways their home. In Britain most of us live within five miles of a canal, and reading this book we will see them in an entirely new light.

Barging Round Britain by David Bartley is a beautifully-illustrated guide to a unique and fascinating part of our history: the canal network. Explore the people and places that have forged this national treasure, from the birth of the Industrial Revolution to the leisure explosion on our waterways today. Fully-illustrated with maps and photographs, the book will trace canal routes across the UK, from the Georgian grandeur of Bath to the dramatic splendour of the Scottish Highlands. This is the official tie-in to the ITV series, coming to prime-time TV in January 2015. David Bartley's Barging Round Britain includes a foreword and chapter introductions by the presenter of the TV series, John Sergeant.

Canals of Britain is a comprehensive and absorbing survey of the entire canal network of the British Isles - the first of its kind. It provides a fascinating insight into the linked up waterways as well as the isolated cuts and quiet waters which may not be fully navigable by larger craft. Infinitely varied, it passes picturesque open countryside, wild moorland, coastal harbours, historic industrial buildings, modern city centres, canalside public houses and abundant wildlife. Stuart Fisher looks at every aspect of the canals - their construction, rich history, stunning scenery, heritage, incredible engineering, impressive architecture and even their associated folklore, wildlife and art. Enticing photographs give a flavour of each place and places of interest close to the canals are included. For those who are keen to explore that little bit further, taking smaller boats to points beyond which others usually turn back, there is information on little-known parts of the system, offering a new insight into this country's unique, surprising and beautiful canal network. Attractive, inspiring and foremost a practical guide, this has proved popular with canal enthusiasts and boaters wanting to get the most out of Britain's canals. This second edition features new canals and more colour photographs.

Take a trip down the waterways of England during their hey-day

This guidebook to walking along the Kennet & Avon Canal covers the 94 mile (152km) route from Reading to Bristol. The canal walk is split into 7 stages of fairly easy, level walking, of between 9.5 and 18.5 miles, with advice on splitting or shortening the stages if needed. The book also includes 20 easy circular walks, ranging from 4.25to 9 miles, taking in the best sections of the canal and visiting sites nearby, making this two guidebooks in one. Alongside OS map extracts and detailed route descriptions, there are plenty of details on the history, heritage and wildlife encountered along the way. An itinerary planner is included for walkers who want to create longer or shorter stages, and there is useful practical information including details on accessing the walks by public transport and a list of accommodation available along the route. The result is a highly useful and fascinating companion to exploring the canal and its surroundings. In the early 1800s the Kennet and Avon Canal provided an important direct trade route between London and Bristol. Today the waterway weaves its way through the rolling chalk contours of the North Wessex Downs to the southern edge of the Cotswolds, passing vibrant towns and cities as well as picture-postcard villages with thatched cottages, ancient churches and cosy pubs. Fascinating features - such as Crofton Pumping Station and Beam Engines, the impressive Caen Hill flight of locks at Devizes, the aqueducts at Avoncliff and Dundas, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Georgian Bath and Bristol's vibrant Floating Harbour - are explored as the canal makes its journey across southern England.