Inland Waterways

1/5/2025

This is quite an interesting documentary that follows Bill & Joe Beresford as they transport their cargo from Brentford in West London on the 140 miles journey to Birmingham. Negotiating dozens of locks, some engine troubles and travelling at what seems like quite a leisurely speed, around a week later they arrive. The pace of this, and the accompanying narration provides us with quite an amiable look at just how effective the canals were at transporting bulky goods the length and breadth of the country, but it has to be said - it also demonstrates just how vulnerable these maritime packhorses were to the advent of railways and motorways. More modern modes of transport could do this return journey possibly twenty times in the time it takes these skilful boatsmen to do one single trip. What