Video Active DVDs

DVD - Lancaster Canal Ref: 722
The Lancaster Canal has been isolated from the rest of the canal system ever since it was opened in the 19th Century. Nearly 200 years later, in 2002, the Millennium Ribble Link was opened, finally connecting the Lancaster, or 'Black & White' as it is known, to the rest of the canal system.

This DVD takes you on an exciting boating adventure from Tarleton on the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool, onto the Rivers Douglas and Ribble, through the Ribble Link and the Lancaster Canal itself. Finally it visits the Northern Reaches, and includes details of the now firm plans to re-open that uniquely beautiful section to Kendal.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Leeds & Liverpool Canal Part 1 Ref: 727
At 127 miles long, the wide beamed Leeds & Liverpool Canal was the longest single canal ever opened in Britain.

This DVD covers the eastern section from Leeds up to the summit tunnel at Foulridge. This is a heavy duty canal, not for the faint-hearted. The locks are deep, wide and slow to operate, while many of the numerous swing bridges are now quite heavy with road traffic. But the rewards for cruising it are tremendous, for it's an exhilarating journey along the edge of the sheep-mown and grassy slopes of the Pennines through magnificent upland scenery.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Leeds & Liverpool Canal Part 2 Ref: 728
In part two of the Leeds and Liverpool canal we cover the western section from the summit tunnel at Foulridge right down into Liverpool itself. It includes the Leigh and the Rufford Branches.

You descend through the cotton towns of Nelson and Burnley to cross the latter at rooftop level on a spectacular embankment. The DVD is quite the best way to enjoy the Wigan flight of 23 locks. The last 35 miles into Liverpool are remarkably scenic, skirting past Aintree racecourse on the way.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Llangollen Canal Ref: 730
Starting in the Cheshire plain, this canal climbs steadily through the heart of Britain's dairy farming country to the pretty market town of Whitchurch. From here there is a 23 mile long level pound across the marshes and mosses of the Welsh Borders. At Ellesmere, the canal passes right between the lakes of Shropshire's miniature lake district.

Now the canal enters the most spectacular scenery of all as it tunnels beneath the Welsh mountains. The highlight of this journey has to be the passage across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

Running time: 40 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - South Oxford Canal Ref: 743
Built in the 18th century, this is a typical Brindley canal as it twists and turns, slavishly following the contour lines. All part of it's charm for us today of course, but how the commercial boatmen must have cursed its directionless curves.

You'll meet colourful characters, visit picture postcard villages and delve into local history and items of interest. But always, you'll keep coming back to the boats as you meander through the richly varied Cotswold countryside from Napton Junction to Oxford.

Running time: 59 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Shropshire Union Ref: 750
What we now know as the Shropshire Union Canal, or 'Shroppie', includes what were originally four separate canals, each built to a different style and standard. This DVD captures these different styles, together with the rich scenic variety through which the canal passes.

The southern section of the Shroppie is one of the latest of the narrow canals, using the 'cut and fill' construction technique, with deep, sheer sided cuttings and massive embankments. To the north the much older wide beam canal meanders around the contours. The canal terminates at a basin within the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, a 'must' for any canal enthusiast.

Running time: 40 mins approx. DVD-R format (PAL)
Price: £14.50

DVD - Staffs & Worcs Canal Ref: 744
This canal provided an outlet for the heavy industries of the Black Country, to the Severn, and hence to the port of Bristol. The journey along the canal is one of the most beautiful in the country. The canal passes through an extensive lake known as Tixall Wide, it follows the attractive valleys of the Sow, Penk, Smeestow Brook and the Stour.

For part of its length it hugs the base of a spectacular old red sandstone cliff formation. Some of the locks are hewn out of the rock itself. It finishes at the inland port of Stourport.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Stratford on Avon Ref: 745
The Stratford on Avon Canal takes you through the heart of England and into some of the most beautiful countryside in Shakespeare's Warwickshire. It is a canal that was almost lost to us in the 1950s. It's a story of a true David & Goliath struggle in which a lonely canoeist's navigation ticket provided the vital evidence that the waterway was still being used and thus prevented its Closure Bill becoming law.

In this DVD you not only travel the length of the canal, but we meet the canoeist and some of the people involved in the restoration from day one.

Running time: 47 mins approx. DVD-R format (PAL).
Price: £14.50

DVD - Trent & Mersey Canal Ref: 748
When this canal was opened in 1777 it joined the east and west coasts. At 93 miles in length, it was a massive undertaking. It crossed one of the country's major watersheds at Kidsgrove by tunnelling through the centre of Harecastle Hill, 2 miles in length.

The journey starts at the western end, clinging tightly to the edge of the Weaver valley. It traverses the heart of Cheshire's salt extraction industry, then passes right through the Staffordshire potteries. It meanders through rich dairy farmlands, through brewing country, coalfields and on to the flood plain of the Trent valley.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL. Updated 2004.
Price: £14.50

DVD - Worcester & Birmingham Canal Ref: 749
This canal was planned as a wide beam canal but fierce opposition from existing canal interests resulted in a physical barrier isolating it from the rest of the canal system - the famous Worcester Bar. The canal was built wide beam down to Kings Norton Junction, where the money ran out. To reduce cost it eventually resumed as a narrow canal through one of the most heavily locked sections in the country. The views from the canal across the Severn valley are breath-taking.

It also includes an interview with a former narrowboat captain, holder of a record time with a loaded boat from Birmingham to the Severn, set in 1933.

Running time: 57 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.
Price: £14.50