Author: David Johns

Vlog 276: Just Good Fens

Posted on August 30, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

This is part 2 (of 3) of my cruise along the Middle Level Navigations on the Cambridgeshire Fens, as I took the narrowboat I’d borrowed from Whittlesey to March. It was windy and the skies were dull.

Vlog 275: Cruising the Canute

Posted on August 23, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

I was lent a narrowboat for a week by two viewers of the channel! Starting in Peterborough, I took the boat off the River Nene and onto the Middle Level Navigations. This is part 1 of 3 of that week-long cruise.

274A Not a vlog: slow TV cruising

Posted on August 3, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

This is an uninterrupted (almost, there are a couple of camcorder battery changes and a re-fuelling stop) video recording from the camera on the bow of a narrowboat as it travelled along the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire from Gayton Junction to Weedon Bec.

Vlog 274: Ethel the Unready

Posted on August 3, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

A long-standing viewer of this channel was kind enough to offer me a day trip on her boat as she came along the Grand Union canal from Gayton to Weedon, so of course I jumped at the chance.

Vlog 273: Mast from the Past

Posted on July 26, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

Rescuing hundreds of thousands of stranded Allied troops in World War 2, the Little Ships of Dunkirk are little miracles. Several of these historic vessels were on display at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival at Henley-on-Thames. I went along to have a look at all the spectacle and to hitch a ride on Little Ship “Aquabelle”.

Vlog 272: Going Underground

Posted on July 17, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

Opened originally in 1811, the Standedge (pronounced “Stannedge”, apparently) canal tunnel is a legendary boating experience at 5km (3.5m) long and hundreds of feet underground. I was lucky enough to join narrowboaters on a Pennine Cruise organised by the Huddersfield Canal Society as they went through this amazing tunnel.

Vlog 271: Fun and Games

Posted on July 9, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

On Saturday 25th June 2022, around 80 narrowboats took part in a colourful and noisy parade through Birmingham to mark the city hosting this year’s Commonwealth Games. This is my record of that day.

Vlog 270: Darting About

Posted on July 3, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

On the canals of the UK, the speed limit is 4mph so how would I fare when given the chance to do over 30 knots on the open sea? An invitation from legendary boat-tour channel AQUAHOLIC gave me the chance to find out, on a day in Devon with Mr Nick Burnham himself.

Vlog 269: Fire Power

Posted on June 23, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

On a sunny day at the Anderton Boat Lift, I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat with Katherine Hutchinson who operates the steam-powered narrowboat Emily Anne.

Vlog 268: Gate Expectations

Posted on June 15, 2022February 24, 2024 by David Johns

Every year, the Canal & River Trust replace a load of worn-out lock gates across the 200+ year-old canals of England and Wales. But how do you lift a 4-tonne chunk of wood out of its bindings, on waterway, often with limited room to manoeuvre? With a crane on a boat, that’s how.