There Go the Boats (1951)

Written by CinemaSerf on April 4, 2022

This is a fairly standard documentary that reminds us just how pivotal canals were to communication and distribution as late as the 1940s. Using some actuality, and the odd animated map, we are invited on a journey along these British waterways inspecting the locks and the hand-hewn tunnels whilst encountering some of the folks who live by and/or make their living there. It's quite an interesting retrospective of a time now long past, and of how people moved essential, sometimes heavy, goods along these watery highway. It is informatively narrated; is nicely supported by some decent photography and has a jaunty Edward Williams score. As a piece of nostalgia - it's curious to think that this had a cinema release.