Great Canal Journeys - Rochdale Canal

Good morning!  I am going to continue with the lovely series Great Canal Journeys with Pru and Timothy.  This time I am doing an episode from the first season.  I know that I am doing this series out of order however, I found them as I could on the Absolute Documentaries Channel.  The downside of this channel is that the summaries are very poor.  This time Pru and Timothy are taking on the Rochdale Canal.  The run time for this episode is 46:18.

Pru and Timothy are trying out a canal they have never tried before: the Rochdale.  They are going to Yorkshire, a county that they both have connections to.  It is going to be physically demanded from Pru.  However, Samuel West, their son is going to join them for part of the way.  They are also going to be touring the longest and deepest canal tunnel in the world. 

The canal was opened two hundred years ago and helped fuel the Industrial Revolution.  The pair arrive at Sowerby Bridge, where they will start on their journey.  They are renting a canal boat for their trip and are surprised to see a bathtub in the canal boat.  There are a lot of locks on the canal because it is a very steep climb.  It was built to transport textiles.  Sowerby was connected to the world through this canal.

They start off on their trip and are immediately greeted by a series of deep locks.  These are some of the deepest locks in the UK.  To fill one of the locks it takes 200,000 gallons of water.  The pair are facing the first challenge under the watchful eye of the lock keepers.  The water is carefully allowed in and the pair are on their way.  It was amazing to see the pair handle these locks at their age.

After that hard work, they now have a moment to enjoy the scenery.  They are on their own on this lock and they are enjoying the experience.  Years ago, this canal was the center of Britain’s textile industry.  This canal would have been clogged with boats transporting goods.  Eventually, the textile industry collapsed and the lock was abandoned.  Eventually, Ted Hughes, a poet was inspired by the dilapidated lock.  He wrote about the canal.  Tim and Pru meet with a Ted Hughes expert and he talks about the poet.  They learn about the inspiration behind some of his poetry.

Both Timothy and Pru talk about their experiences in Yorkshire.  Timothy’s dad was an actor who had a job in Yorkshire.  Pru lived in Yorkshire during the war with her aunt.  Pru remembers visiting the mills and the way you had to talk to be understood.  Then there is a discussion on Pru’s Alzheimer’s. 

The weather is preventing them from taking the flight, so the pair are going on a detour to go under the longest and deepest canal tunnel in the country.  It is a three-hour trip under this tunnel and they will carry a safety officer on board.  The officer will help monitor the air conditions of the tunnel, if the air gets too bad, they will have to stop the engines.  Pru is nervous about the tunnel.  Timothy talks about the history of the tunnel and how it was built.  Hundreds of injured and fifty men were killed building this tunnel.  Timothy carefully navigates the tunnel, although he does hit the edges of the tunnel.  Eventually, Pru spots the first light and the light gets bigger and bigger.  They emerge from the tunnel and Pru is relieved.  Where else do Pru and Timothy’s travels take them?  What else do they learn about Canal?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

I may have to amend my wish for Tony Robinson on a canal boat, I think I need both Timothy West and Tony Robinson on the canal boat because they are such enjoyable narrators.  They do not need to be on the canal boat, I just need something that they can narrate together.  It is also a frank discussion on Alzheimer's between the pair.  Timothy talks about how he has to adjust to the new Pru.  It was very nice to Samuel join up with the pair.  This would be a series I would consider showing a geography class.