Canal Boat Diaries
Canal Boat Diaries is a TV show on BBC4. Travelling through England’s landscapes, towns and villages, Robbie Cumming offers a personal take on life aboard his narrowboat, the Naughty Lass. The program has been available since 2024. A total of 25 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in November 2024.
Last episode
Canal Boat Diaries
Robbie begins his 300-mile adventure across the north of England and the Midlands. He is forced to make a running repair while on the Tinsley lock flight.
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30:00Robbie Cumming explores a Victorian village in West Yorkshire, moors up in Leeds Dock, and goes in search of an abandoned Aire and Calder Navigation waterway.
30:00On the last leg of his epic journey across the north of England, Robbie tackles the fast-flowing River Ouse and is forced to make an emergency stop.
30:00Robbie Cumming crosses the Pennines on the picturesque Leeds and Liverpool Canal before lending a hand to hire boaters in Gargrave in North Yorkshire.
30:00Robbie Cumming begins a new 170-mile journey across the north of England but soon runs into difficulty with a problem with his craft's propeller in Wigan.
Series 2
30:00
30:00The reality of life afloat with Robbie Cumming. On the last leg of his journey across England, Robbie crosses an epic aqueduct near Stratford-upon-Avon and gets stuck in a lock in central Birmingham.
30:00The real side of boat life with Robbie Cumming. Robbie navigates the mighty River Severn and takes an unexpected bath as he takes a tumble at the Tardebigge lock flight in Worcestershire.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00During a cold snap Robbie Cumming gets iced in on the Grand Union Canal. Later, his parents pay a visit and help him through Marsworth Locks.
1:00:00A window gets smashed onboard the Naughty Lass and Robbie Cumming receives a soaking inside the very wet Blisworth Tunnel on the Grand Union Canal.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming journeys through Royal Leamington Spa and the historic town of Warwick with its medieval castle.
Series 2 30:00
30:00Life on England’s waterways with Robbie Cumming. Robbie gets stuck in the mud in Woodseaves Cutting and explores the charming canal-side village of Kinver in Staffordshire.
30:00Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. Robbie battles his way through blanket weed on the Shropshire Union Canal and discovers industrial secrets in Audlem, Cheshire.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00Robbie Cumming takes a tumble at Buckby Locks in Northamptonshire and has a problem with his power supply and battery bank.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming encounters a leaky lock pound on the Perry Barr Flight and gets marooned in the mud before travelling under Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham.
1:00:00Robbie explores the picturesque Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming discovers a mysterious message in a bottle on the Ashby Canal and calls in to meet a mate who lives on an old narrowboat.
1:00:00It's Robbie's toughest trip yet as he battles through water weed on the Bradley Arm and gets stuck in silt on the Ridgacre Branch.
1:00:00Disaster strikes when the Naughty Lass collides with a low bridge on the Bumble Hole Canal Branch damaging a chimney.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming sets out to explore the meandering waterways of inner city Birmingham including the Soho Loop and the Engine Arm Canal.
Series 4, Episode 2 - Keadby to Kiveton Park
Expected on
Robbie Cumming navigates the tidal Trent and joins a night-time illuminated boat parade on the picturesque Chesterfield Canal.