Great Canal Journeys

Veteran actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by heading to the West Country to travel along a canal close to their hearts, the fully restored Kennet and Avon which they helped restore 40 years ago. Pru's increasing forgetfulness due to her dementia doesn't stop them enjoying the sights, characters and wildlife.

Tim and Pru tackle the Rochdale Canal- a waterway that was a main artery for the textile industry at the height of the Industrial Revolution. They begin in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, and head west through Mytholmroyd, before journeying up over the Pennines to the canal summit, more than 600ft above sea level.

Tim and Pru head to Llangollen, Denbighshire, where they spent their honeymoon. Reminiscing over how their relationship has survived and thrived over the past 50 years, the pair take in the picturesque sights of the Vale of Llangollen and the Montgomery Canal, before travelling on a horse-drawn barge up the Horseshoe Falls.

Tim and Pru conclude their odyssey in the Burgundy region of France, where they travel along the Canal du Nivernais, which passes through towns and villages steeped in history. They visit the market town of Chablis to help with the annual grape harvest and the medieval city of Auxerre before reflecting on what the journey has meant to them as a married couple.