Here we have a collection of moving images of Britain's inland waterways for you to enjoy. Click on the arrow button to run each video.

Bagnall Lock to Tatenhill, Trent & Mersey Canal



This is a time-lapsed view from the front of a narrow boat as it goes on a journey through Staffordshire. The journey starts in Bagnall Lock, Alrewas, on the Trent & Mersey Canal, and travels through the village of Alrewas to Alrewas Lock. Once through the lock the River Trent can be seen flowing in from the left and leaving on the right over a weir protected by a large boom. The black and white bridges on the left carry the towpath over the river and surrounding water meadows.

At Wychnor Lock the A38 joins the canal on the right hand side. The large brick building, which actually stands against the south bound carriage way of the A38, was once an old coaching inn, the "Flitch of Bacon", the towpath crosses bridge 43 to run on the right of the canal. Glimpses of the large road signs can be seen on this section of canal along with traffic speeding by.

The entrance to the large Barton Turns Marina is reached on the left closely followed by Barton Lock with the "Barton Turns" public house on the right. The building to the left below the lock was built about the same time as the canal and was at one time "The Navigation Coffee House".

The A38 leaves the canal just before bridge 36. This very narrow bridge is also where the towpath briefly rejoins the left hand side of the canal. There is a large gravel works over the towpath hedge, the area around here once being a hive of activity with gravel pits both sides of the canal. Most of these pits are now filled with water and used as nature reserves, the largest being Branston Water Park.

For a high resolution aerial view of the lock click here.

To experience this journey, broadband users can download a much higher quality version of this amazing video here.

Stenson Lock, Trent & Mersey Canal



This is a time-Lapse sequence filmed at Stenson Lock near Derby. With a rise & fall of twelve feet two inches, the lock is one of the deepest, if not the deepest, on the Trent and Mersey Canal. In the background you can see Stenson Tearooms The real time elapsed here was 55 minutes for this one minute clip.

For a high resolution aerial view of the lock click here.

To experience this journey, broadband users can download a much higher quality version of this amazing video here.

Upper Peak Forest Canal

From the same photographer, Andy Savage, here we have a view from the front of a narrow boat as it goes on a journey along the Upper Peak Forest canal, starting in Cheshire and ending in Derbyshire.

The real time-elapsed was two hours for this two minute clip.
For a high resolution aerial view of Whaley Bridge, the terminus of the Upper Peak Canal, click here.

To experience this journey, broadband users can download this high quality video here.

Barge at Camden Lock, London



In real time we see how water and human power lift a big heavy boat twenty feet to allow it continue on its journey.

Bridgewater Canal - Waters Meeting to Castlefield Junction



'Having failed to recognize Duke's Lock and the start of the Rochdale Canal (thinking it was an ornamental water feature) we cruised up and down side arms before finding ourselves heading back the way we had come. Somewhere near the Potato Wharf Arm we turned the boat once again and soon found that the camera, tripod and all was no longer aboard. It is missing, presumed dead, at the bottom of the Bridgewater Canal.'

Bridgewater Canal - Castlefield Junction & Grocer's Wharf



'A short cruise along the Bridgewater Canal from Castlefield Junction to Grocer's Wharf and back, past historic warehouses, lift bridges and to the River Medlock which feeds the canal. As Bill Bryson said "Manchester doesn't seem to have a very clear image of itself. 'Shaping Tomorrow's City Today' is the official local moto, but in fact Manchester seems decidedly of two minds about its place in the world.

At Castlefield, they were busy creating yesterday's city today, cleaning up the old brick viaducts and warehouses, recobbling the quaysides, putting fresh coats of glossy paint on the old arched footbridges and scattering about a generous assortment of old-fashioned benches, bollards and lampposts.

By the time they have finished, you will be able to see exactly what life was like in nineteenth century Manchester - or at least what it would be like if they had wine-bars, and cast-iron litter bins and directional signs for heritage trails and the G-Mex Centre.'

Working a Lock on the Rochdale Canal



This video shows how to safely operate a lock on the Rochdale Canal.

FMC motor boat Cactus



A very short video of FMC motor boat Cactus, worth watching if only to hear the amazing sound of the Bolinder engine.

Motor boat Lilley



Another Bolinder powered craft, this time the motor boat Lilley on New Years Eve 2006 heading towards Stoke Bruerne.

Steam Narrowboat Emilyanne



Steam Narrowboat Emilyanne on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Steam Narrowboat Emilyanne



This time with her stack down as she goes under a bridge on the Shropshire Union Canal, in the pouring rain.