Celebrity Britain by Barge
Cheryl Howes of Kate Boats continues the series from Drifters – a consortium of independent self-drive hire boat companies set up to promote enjoyment of canal holidays.
CANALS have been back on our screens with a new Channel 5 series, Celebrity Britain by Barge: Then & Now. The six-part series, which began in February and is available to download on my5.tv, stars Bill Oddie, Anne Diamond, Jennie Bond and Pete Waterman.
In the first episode, the celebrities travelled along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal aboard Drifters’ boats Worcester and Somerset, which are available to hire from its Sowerby Bridge and Barnoldswick bases respectively.
They started at Appleby Bridge and reached Skipton, travelling up the Bingley Five Rise locks with the help of Canal & River Trust lock keepers, and stopping off at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire to visit Salts Mill.
In episode two, the celebrities continued their journey along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, while in episodes three and four the action moved north to the Scottish Lowland canals (see Scottish Waters, page 89), this time aboard Drifters boats which are available to hire from Drifters’ Falkirk base.
The final two episodes featured journeys along the Grand Union Canal, aboard a Drifters boat based at Napton.
A Drifters spokesperson said: “We are delighted when the canals are featured this way and the publicity it brings for our holidays is fantastic. As with the last series, although there is a need to ‘make it work for TV’, there is a genuine feeling of the joy of being on a canal holiday about it.
“It’s hard to know how greatly we are all going to be affected by the coronavirus, but narrowboat holidays continue to provide the chance to cruise peacefully through the countryside, watching out for wildlife along the way.”