Sir Tony Robinson

What do you like about spending time by canals and rivers?

On a day like today, I can’t think of anywhere I would rather be than by the side of the canal and this canal in particular because this is my canal. Canals are so calming, they’re teaming with life. They’re full of history and when you meet someone coming towards you along the canal towpath, they almost invariably say ‘hello’. Or if they’re really cool, I still go like that. Because you just feel that sense of ‘we’re all part of the human race’. I think when you’re walking up and down a canal.

Why is the work of the Canal & River Trust so important?

Canals have been a real part of our history for the best part of 200 years. And there was a time when it looked like they were all going to fade away, rot away, stink away, dry themselves away. And I found that really distressing, And now the fact that more and more energy is being put into transforming canals not just for holidays and for pleasure, although that’s very very important. But just a means of communication is absolutely terrific. We have this wonderful part of our heritage. If we lose it, we lose it forever because the developers will move in. So, I think it’s beholden on all of us to make sure we keep canals alive.

What are your hopes for the charity over the next 10 years?

I think when you walk down a little bit of the canal and you do it day after day after day, your eyes become a little more attuned and you see bits, which haven’t quite been invested in properly yet, or bits where you can’t actually get from A to B. You have to go around the houses and come back. And that’s terribly irritating actually, because canals are such a wonderful resource that I want them all to tie up and I want them all to look extra special. I think the direction that the canal movement is moving in is absolutely terrific. I just think it needs a bit more money, a few volunteers, a little bit more imagination. We’re nearly there.

What’s your favourite historic structure on the canal network and why?

My favourite historical structure on the canal is just around the corner here. Absolute coincidence, but it really is. It’s a little cute blue bridge, on one side of it there’s a pub theatre, which like all theatres really struggled during COVID, but is now flourishing back to life again. On the other, houses, pretty gardens, a few hotels. The only downside of it is that the film industry has discovered it in recent years and almost every flipping film you see has got that canal in. So, can they just go away please? And let’s have our little blue bridge back.