Canal Boat Diaries
Canal Boat Diaries is a TV show on BBC4. Robbie Cumming offers a personal take on life aboard his narrowboat while travelling through England. The program has been available since 2025. A total of 27 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in April 2025.
Last episode
35:00
35:00Canal Boat Diaries
Robbie 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.
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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
30:00Robbie crosses an epic aqueduct near Stratford-upon-Avon and gets stuck in a lock in central Birmingham.
30:00Robbie navigates the mighty River Severn and takes an unexpected bath as he takes a tumble at the Tardebigge lock flight in Worcestershire.
30:00Robbie gets stuck in the mud in Woodseaves Cutting and explores the charming canal-side village of Kinver in Staffordshire.
30:00Robbie Cumming battles his way through blanket weed on the Shropshire Union Canal and discovers industrial secrets in Audlem in Cheshire.
Series 1 30:00
30:00Robbie Cumming concludes his journey by travelling from Barton Swing Aqueduct to Liverpool Docks - but experiences engine problems on the way.
30:00Robbie Cumming travels along the Rochdale Canal from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester, but disaster strikes when he runs aground.
30:00Robbie Cumming continues across the Pennines from Marple to Huddersfield, where his journey is hampered by a fallen tree and a leaking lock pound.
30:00Robbie Cumming explores the English canal network. A low canal tunnel in Staffordshire proves to be problematic and Robbie helps out a stranded boater.
30:00Robbie Cumming journeys from Shardlow to Etruria Junction, Stoke on Trent, exploring the Trent and Mersey Canal.
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.
Series 4 30:00
30:00Robbie Cumming has problems with ice on the Grand Union Canal, and ends his journey in Braunston, Northamptonshire.
30:00Narrowboater Robbie Cumming faces a journey of many challenges as he runs aground and breaks down in Nottingham.
30:00Robbie Cumming tackles the fast-flowing River Trent and is invited to join a night-time illuminated boat parade.
40:00Robbie Cumming makes a running repair to his narrowboat on the Tinsley lock flight in South Yorkshire, then cruises beneath Conisbrough's magnificent viaduct.
Series 5 1:00:00
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 takes a tumble at Buckby Locks in Northamptonshire and has a problem with his power supply and battery bank.
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.