Canals: The Making of a Nation

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Our preview videos are intended for broadcasters looking to licence content from the Open University. The early canal builders struggled with the rugged terrain of England's Pennine hills. Creating a network of canals in this landscape was an uphill challenge - sometimes literally! But connecting the powerhouses of Yorkshire and Lancashire was a great prize at the time of the industrial revolution. What should the engineers do? Should they build over, under or around the hills? Presented by Liz McIvor, an expert in industrial history and curator at Bradford Industrial Museum, viewers will be taken on a journey that shows just how instrumental canals were in shaping our modern world and how they came to be. This is the story of the men who built our canals - the navigators or 'navvies'. They represented an 'army'of hard physical men who were capable of enduring tough labour for long hours. Many 'roved' the countryside looking for work and a better deal.

Today, canals are mainly used for our leisure and pleasure. There’s nothing lovelier and more British than pottering up and down on a canal boat on a summer’s evening taking in the idyllic countryside but, during their ‘golden age’, canals served a more serious purpose. She adds: “Each canal has its own special interest story and each region covered gave a chance to explore a different angle of a massive story.”They were used for trade and acted as a catalyst to the industrial revolution between 1770s and 1830s, making a major contribution to transformation of the country. Although so many use them, it can be hard to see how they relate to each other and get a sense of the rich history and culture they were, and remain, a part of. We wanted to open up the subject and act as a way in for people who were neither boat owners nor historians.”

There are six episodes in total with themes including engineering, geology, capitalism, heritage, geology, the boat people and the workers. A new BBC programme, Canals: The Making of a Nation, is set to explore canal routes to tell a deeper story of how our waterways helped change our lives – and how that legacy lives on today.

Canals: The Making of a Nation

They gained a reputation as troublesome outsiders, fond of drinking and living a life of ungodly debauchery. But who were they? Unreliable heathens and outcasts, or unsung heroes who used might and muscle to build canals and railways?