An episode from Flower of Gloster (1967)

Bad news: The episode I posted has disappeared from Youtube, so I have had to replace it with this trailer.

Good news: I now own the whole series and will blog about it soon,

From the Network Distributing website:

The first Granada Television series to be filmed in colour (though initially transmitted in black and white), this popular children's adventure features a star who is 72 feet long and painted in cheerful shades of red and yellow! 

She is the Flower of Gloster, a converted canal barge which over the course of the series winds her way from Wales, through the inland waterways of England to the Pool of London at Tower Bridge. 

Blending drama with semi-improvised encounters and taking in a wealth of local history, the series offers a fascinating insight into Britain's rich canal boat heritage. 

When their boatyard-owner father is injured in an accident, ten-year-old Michael, his twelve-year-old sister Elizabeth and elder brother Dick decide to deliver a narrow-boat to a buyer on his behalf. 

During their 220-mile trip, they make new friends but also encounter all kinds of danger and difficulties, played out against the changing pattern of the British countryside.

This is children's television before life jackets, health and safety or safeguarding. If the drama isn't all that dramatic, the industrial landscapes make it worth the viewing.

When I was a little boy in the 1960s our family took canal holidays, and in those days it was quite an adventurous thing to do. You get a sense of that here.

Network Distributing are releasing all 13 episodes of Flower of Gloster on DVD and have made this one (no. 7) available on Youtube as a taster.