Canal media
Canal DVDs
British Waterways Archive. Duration 230mins. This interesting double DVD contains 9 films from the british waterways archive ranging from 1934 to 1985. The films are a mixture of black & white and colour and the quality of some reflects their age. Overall an interesting set for anyone interested in canals. You can order online from the producers Ebay site at stores.ebay.co.uk/TRAIN-BOAT-DEPOT. Their web site www.laurencehoggproductions.co.uk is difficult to navigate but this DVD can be found at www.laurencehoggproductions.co.uk/bwarchive.htm
Canal books
Narrow Dog to Carcassonne. Terry Darlington An amusing book about the journey of a husband and wife, plus their whippet, from Staffordshire to the south of France. You may have seen some of their travels in Timothy West's Waterworld series. Their web site is at www.narrowdog.com.
Narrow Boat. L. T. C. Rolt. The canal classic written in 1939 gives an interesting insight into the canals, towns, way of life and thoughts of the time. Many of Rolt's concerns are still valid today, it seems we don't learn! A must.
Fruit Flies Like a Banana: England by Canal and Classic Car. Steve Haywood. Purchased following a chance meeting, and a few glasses of wine aboard Rufford, with the author at Rugby in July 2005. By a strange coincidence the book refers to Rolt's book 'Narrow Boat' which I was reading at the time of our meeting. The book is based around a canal trip from Oxford to Bristol via Stratford - not the obvious route, I suspect the Kennet & Avon is more usual. The book also involves the life and history of the Triumph Herald, recipes and mini biographies of various people connected with the canals and the Triumph Herald. An odd combination but I found Steve's style amusing and will no doubt read it again some time.
The Water Road: A Narrowboat Odyssey Through England. Paul Gogarty. A tour around the canals of England by someone new to the waterways.
An Inland Voyage. Robert Louis Stevenson. An account of a journey through Belgium and France made in a sail powered canoe in 1876
A Funny Old Life. Des Sleightholme. Sailing rather than canaling an amusing read from a former editor of Yachting monthly.