The Golden Age of Canals [DVD]

Description

Take a journey through the history of Britain s canal system. This is the story of the history of Britain s narrow canals told through some fantastic amateur film archive and home movies shot by the people who took the trouble to restore the network from the 1950s. Of course there are lovely films of boating trips, Stan Offley an IWA activist from Ellesmere Port filmed his trips around the wide canals in the 40s, 50s and 60s in fantastic 16mm colour. But equally charming is the film made by Ed Frangleton with a little help from Harry Arnold of a hostel boat holiday on the Llangollen in 1961, whereas Ed puts it ironically, I married the cook . There is astonishing film of the last days of working boats some shot by John Pyper when he spent time with the Beechey s in the 60s and film taken by Keith Christie of the last days of the cut around the BNC. Then there are the films of key restorations, the Stourbridge 16 talked about with great wit and affection by one of the leading activists in that watershed of restorations in the mid sixties, David Tomlinson, and John Maynard s beautiful films of the restoration of the Huddersfield, the impossible restoration shot over two decades. All these and more are in the programme alongside the people who made the films and some of the stars of them. Together they tell the story of how in the years after 1945 a few people fought the Government to keep canals open and restore ones that had become defunct, and against all odds won their battle.