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 2026. A total of 37 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in April 2026.
Last episode
30:00
30:00Canal Boat Diaries
The 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.
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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
1:00:00It'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.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming journeys through Royal Leamington Spa and the historic town of Warwick with its medieval castle.
Series 4 30:00
30:00Robbie Cumming has problems with ice on the Grand Union Canal, and ends his journey in Braunston, Northamptonshire.
Series 1 30:00
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.
Series 5 1:00:00
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 30:00
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.
30:00Robbie Cumming makes a running repair to his narrowboat on the Tinsley lock flight in South Yorkshire, then cruises beneath Conisbrough's magnificent viaduct.
Series 3 30:00
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.
Series 1 30:00
30:00Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. There are engine issues and a leaky boat to fix before Robbie reaches Liverpool Docks.
30:00The real side of boat life with Robbie Cumming. Robbie runs aground on the Rochdale Canal - will he make it to Manchester?
Series 3 30:00
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.
30:00Robbie 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.
Series 1 30:00
30:00The reality of life afloat with Robbie Cumming. A fallen tree and a leaking lock pound hamper Robbie's journey across the Pennines.
30:00Life on board a narrowboat with Robbie Cumming. Robbie tackles a propeller problem and tricky locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Derbyshire.