Robbie Cumming will be exploring the landscapes, towns and cities of the Midlands. (Image: )
What is it about the British and narrowboats? Even though most of the UK’s canals haven’t been used in earnest for trade and industry since the early sixties, they’ve been enjoying a renaissance of interest in recent years. And nowhere more so than among television viewers in search of some peace and tranquillity.
Several fabulous series – sometimes dubbed ‘slow TV’ – have reflected the joys of travelling, living and working on the country’s 4,700-mile canal network. Among them, having gained a cult audience on BBC 4, is Canal Boat Diaries featuring Robbie Cumming. With the fifth series taking up a new mooring on Yesterday/UKTV Play next week, the narrowboat adventurer is once again inviting us on board the ‘Naughty Lass’.
This time, the waterways enthusiast will be exploring the landscapes, towns and cities of the Midlands before heading south along the 137-mile Grand Union Canal – the network’s ‘trunk route’, linking Birmingham with London – in ten one-hour episodes.
As ever, chugging along at 4mph, he shares his passion for our industrial heritage and celebrates some of the lesser-known stretches of our most challenging inner-city canals.
It’s a fascinating mix of history, documentary and reality TV.
The new series was filmed from last July until February, starting in Braunston, Northamptonshire, considered the capital of the canal network, and ending up at Little Tring, Hertfordshire. It’s not without its challenges or drama, either.
Episode one pretty much starts with him losing an expensive TV camera in an especially tricky lock – before jumping in to try to retrieve it. Don’t try this at home, kids!
Other incidents see him being marooned in the mud on a leaky pound [the area between locks] in Perry Barr, and breaking down on a remote section of the Ashby Canal in rural Leicestershire. Later, he loses his phone overboard. “My smartphone needed rescuing by specialised local divers at one stage,” he admits.
In another episode, having moored at the bottom of someone’s garden, he is forced to spend a frustrating five hours trying to untangle weeds and rubbish from his propeller.
“I’m absolutely pushed to the limit but we always come out the other side,” he continues. “We see some incredible landscapes and architecture, go underneath Spaghetti Junction in Brum, enjoy some incredible hidden-from-plain-sight aqueducts and long lock flights such as the 21 Hatton Locks – known as the ‘stairway to heaven’ – as well as some classic canal villages. The boat has a breakdown at the end of the navigable section of the Ashby canal which I sort before heading out on foot to trace the canal further.”
Don't miss... Migrant camp dismantled in Dublin as tents destroyed by police
Canal Boat Diaries will feature waterways enthusiast Robbie Cumming (Image: )
He adds: “And there are a few ‘comedy’ moments people with a certain sense of humour will enjoy such as me trying to flop back on to my boat like a seal and a long canal tunnel where I predictably get a bit of a soaking.”
Through it all Robbie, 42, who was born in Yeovil, Somerset, but grew up in Gillingham, Dorset, remains an engaging companion.
Today he’s not quite sure why his show has proved such a hit – but suspects it might provide an antidote to the busyness of everyday life. He’s previously described it as one of the last true freedoms there is in a modern country.
“Life is just as crazy for me too, so I get that need for relaxation and escapism,” he admits.
“It’s really important to have something that can take you away from the stresses of life every now and then. But the show’s popularity comes from the viewers themselves and they tell me they feel like they are on the journey with me.
“Some have even said the show’s got them through some very tough times.”
After moving to London, Cumming struggled to afford anywhere to live.
Having moved onto a friend’s narrowboat by way of housesitting it over winter, he fell in love with the simplicity of life afloat and, and after years of saving, managed to buy his own, the Naughty Lass - a play on Jules Verne’s Nautilus – deciding to make it his job as well as home. Eventually, he began uploading his canal based adventures on YouTube.
That first taste of life afloat was a decade ago and, for the past five years having been talent-spotted online, he’s been documenting his travels to an increasingly appreciative audience (“I do get the, ‘Are you that bloke on telly?’ thing all the time, and sometimes people get starstruck,” he admits. “Once I got, ‘Are you that guy on the boat?’ as I was literally boating past – so I just said: ‘Er, yep, I think so’.”)
The Naughty Lass was built as a hire boat in 1981 – making her a year older than Robbie himself – before becoming a “cherished home and weekend getaway for several other owners so we’ve all made various changes along the way”.
He bought her in 2015 for £22,000 and his own modifications have been mostly cosmetic. “A lot of painting, new flooring, kitchen worktop and new curtains all to create a more country cabin feel,” he tells me.
“I also made sure solar panels were fitted to keep all my cameras and gadgets charged up. You’ll see a few repairs and minor upgrades carried out in the series including over-plating with metal and a brand new oak cratch [a wooden covered frame – a bit like a conservatory afloat] to give me more space at the bow.”
Trending
Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
I’d always thought it must be very hard living permanently on the water. Surely it’s perpetually damp and cold, even in the summer?
“It can be for owners of old boats like mine,” Robbie chuckles. “I have made improvements to the insulation – when I first got it, it was just thin boards of polystyrene.
“I’m looking to replace the windows for double-glazing at some point, which is very expensive, more than £8,000 for my 42-ft boat, but is needed, especially after I smashed one in one of the episodes filmed at the beginning of the year.”
Whatever you might think, it’s hard work living on the waterways. Being 6ft 1in tall in enclosed spaces is one of the reasons Robbie wears his peaked cap on board because it alerts him when he’s about to hit his head.
“But if you’re used to any sort of hardship you can really thrive, I think,” he continues. “I was brought up in a plant nursery-garden centre and my parents, Sue and Richard, were extremely hard working. I was encouraged from a very early age to make myself useful!”
Highlights of canal life include “sunny days spent pootling along the canal, going through a few locks and meeting different people along the way. In winter, it’s being able to moor up for longer and getting to know the local area or just having the fire on”.
But what about the downsides, I wonder.
“There’s no perfect way of life so of course there are cons to living as a continuous cruiser [a boater without a home mooring],” he admits. “Mostly not having a permanent address and the general lack of convenience of some moorings. You can’t get anything delivered to your door, you can’t get a dentist or hospital appointment and moorings can often be miles from the nearest supermarket, launderette or train station.”
There’s definitely something unique about the nation’s waterways, though.
“I’ve certainly noticed the amount of people who stop me to say that they’ve seen Canal Boat Diaries and with other programmes such as Grand Canal Journeys [originally presented by Timothy West and Prunella Scales] and Narrow Escapes that’s great for my show as it means there’s more for fans to get their teeth into.”
Meanwhile, life on the canals goes on pretty much unchanged as it has for decades. Yes, there are some issues with fly tipping, alcoholism and vandalism, he admits: “So it’s not all roses and castles.”
But Robbie, who’s also bringing his Canal Boat Stories to a live audience this summer, believes fresh interest in the canals can only be a good thing.
He adds: “It’s mostly lovely, peaceful people all happy to help each other along. You can always knock on another boater’s door simply to say hello or even to borrow a cup of sugar, which just adds to the feeling of nostalgia that you can’t help but get swept away with as you travel around this almost antique network of canals and rivers.”
- Canal Boat Diaries is on weeknights at 7pm from Monday on Yesterday/UKTV Play. Visit robbiecumming.com for links to the programme, the accompanying podcast and upcoming live shows
Related articles
- Britons spending Christmas on a boat need to get 'creative'
- 'I'm planning revenge after authorities seized my £11k narrowboat'
- 'I ditched my life in London and now live off-grid - it saves me £6k a year'
- 'We spent our house deposit on a narrowboat but lost everything when it sank'
- Brit converts 'knackered' narrowboat into gorgeous floating Airbnb
