Video Active River DVDs

DVD - River Avon Ref: 740
This DVD follows the present day navigation from Tewkesbury to Stratford. It tells the story of the tremendously ambitious and successful restorations of the navigation, starting in 1950 with Douglas Barwell OBE and the formation of the Lower Avon Navigation Trust.

The tale continues with the formation of the Upper Avon Navigation Trust with David Hutchings MBE and others in 1965. Accounts of the plotting and scheming to thwart obstructive third parties, but overall it's a story of magnificent achievements, culminating in 1974 with the opening of the Upper Avon Navigation by HM The Queen Mother.

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

This title is paired with the River Severn or the Lower Avon Navigation Trust in the Double Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - Great Ouse & River Cam Ref: 1197
The complex Great Ouse river system, including the River Cam, is a result of a centuries-old three-way battle between millers, the need to drain the fens, and navigators, with the non land-owning navigators usually losing out.

This programme helps you to understand the complexity of the system. It captures the feeling of isolation, and shows you plenty of wildlife. It examines man's historic battle to drain the fens with a look at some massive pumping machinery.

Running time: 70 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.

This title is paired with the Middle Level in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Middle Level Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - Lee & Stort Navigation Ref: 738
The Rivers Lee & Stort together form a navigational cul-de-sac, from Limehouse Basin to Hertford on the River Lee, and to Bishops Stortford on the River Stort. They can only be reached from the rest of the waterways network by boating through London. Once beyond the M25, these rivers become very beautiful and compare favourably with the finest in Britain.

The Lea Valley was the first area of Britain to be declared a National Park in 1966.

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

Price: £12.99

DVD - Middle Level Ref: 1694
A Fen is a freshwater lake, and 500 years ago, that's exactly what Fenland Britain was; a series of vast freshwater lakes, with a few sporadic islands sticking up above the water.

Today the drained fens are the richest farmland in Britain, and the drainage channels may be navigated and link the River Nene at Peterborough to the River Great Ouse at Denver. This programme explores not just the recommended route across, but the many backwaters as well.

Running time: 60 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.

This title is paired with the rivers Nene or Great Ouse in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Middle Level Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - River Nene Ref: 741
The non tidal River Nene navigation starts at the bottom of the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal and heads through Peterborough to Dog-in-a-Doublet lock. The Nene valley is breathtakingly beautiful and for anyone who wants to get away from it all it is almost perfect.

The wetland habitats of the Nene Valley encourage an amazing variety of wild life and this DVD includes rare footage of several endangered species including a flying display by a red kite.

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

This title is paired with the Middle Level in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Middle Level Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - River Severn Ref: 751
The River Severn isn't a nice gentle well behaved river like the Thames. The Severn is to be respected at all times. She's dramatic, thrilling, challenging, a great big beast of a river. At Gloucester she becomes tidal and gives way to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. A ship canal where, once, huge tankers silently plodded their way across the golden cornfields of Gloucestershire.

Running time: 50 mins approx. DVD-R format (PAL).

This title is paired with the Worcs & Birmingham Canal or the River Avon in the Double Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - Thames, Reading to Richmond Ref: 747
The Thames from Reading to Richmond is a journey through English heritage. A heritage spawned by the river itself in its various roles as trade route, water supply, power supply and defensible line.

As we meander along its 60 glorious miles (the road link between the towns is only half that distance) we see some of the world's most famous cultural and historical landmarks; Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Eton College, Runnymede and Henley.

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

This title is paired with the Thames Above Reading in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Thames Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - Thames, above Reading Ref: 2260
This DVD captures the delights of its upper reaches in a journey commencing at the river's official head of navigation, Lechlade, and continuing down as far as the approach to Reading.

A distance of some 70 miles, this winding course is far removed from the busy capital waterway so often associated with the Thames. Instead it takes you through many riverside towns and villages full of character and individual charm.

Running time: 80 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL. New edition 2010.

This title is paired with the Thames Reading to Richmond in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Thames Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - River Trent Ref: 2140
Cruising the River Trent provides some of the most interesting and exciting boating on the British inland waterways. Tackling the tideway requires a good deal of preparation, and this DVD guides you on what is required to do it safely.

The river is interesting from a historical standpoint too. It's been an important transport route since the bronze age.

Running time: 60 mins approx. DVD-R.

This title is paired with the Trent & Mersey or Grand Union Leicester Section in the Double Disk section, and is part of the Sawley Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99

DVD - River Wey Ref: 742
The River Wey can be truly described as an oasis of beauty. Running through the heart of the stock-broker belt from Weybridge down to Godalming, the navigation is quiet, peaceful and quite beautiful.

The DVD also takes a look at the Basingstoke Canal, and highlights a strong naturalists' lobby to reduce the number of boat movements to just a token number every year.

Running time: 48 mins approx. DVD-R format. English PAL.

This title is part of the Thames Set in the Triple Disk section.

Price: £12.99