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 2025. A total of 37 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in November 2025.
Last episode
30:00
30:00Canal Boat Diaries
Robbie Cumming has issues with ice before taking on the famous Foxton lock flight. His destination is Braunston, the spiritual home for narrowboaters.
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30:00Autumnal fog and an overheating engine prove to be problems for narrowboater Robbie Cumming as he navigates a Roman waterway and a tidal river.
30:00Robbie Cumming navigates the tidal Trent and joins a night-time illuminated boat parade on the picturesque Chesterfield Canal.
30:00Robbie 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.
Series 3
30:00
30:00As Robbie makes his way to Ripon in North Yorkshire, he tackles the fast-flowing River Ouse and is forced to make an emergency stop.
30:00Narrowboater Robbie Cumming explores the Victorian village of Saltaire in West Yorkshire and moors up for the weekend in Leeds Dock.
30:00Robbie Cumming crosses the Pennines on the picturesque Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and lends a hand to hire boaters in Gargrave, North Yorkshire.
30:00Narrowboater Robbie Cumming begins a 170-mile journey across the north of England and soon runs into difficulty with a problem with his craft's propeller in Wigan.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00Robbie explores the picturesque Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
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.
1:00:00Robbie Cumming journeys through Royal Leamington Spa and the historic town of Warwick with its medieval castle.
Series 6 1:00:00
1:00:00Robbie navigates the wintery Grand Union Canal while preparing for Christmas and narrowly avoids flooding his boat in a tricky staircase lock.
1:00:00Robbie mends a leaky pump on the Naughty Lass on the Grand Union Canal. In Watford, he visits a TV legend's home and buys gas from a friendly fuel boat.
1:00:00Robbie moors by Hampton Court Palace, but disaster strikes when a tree branch smashes a window. His dad joins to help through Hanwell locks.
1:00:00Robbie's narrowboat gets stuck under a low bridge on the challenging Basingstoke Canal as he battles through water weed. Can he make it to journey's end?
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.
Series 6 1:00:00
1:00:00Robbie visits a former Beatle's home in Henley, uncovers horror history in Marlow and struggles to find a mooring in Maidenhead on the River Thames.