Canals: The Making of a Nation

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Canals: The Making of a Nation - The boat people

Liz McIvor

Stuart Woodman

Tony Parker

Canals: The Making of a Nation: The Boat People

Documentaries

The Boat People

28/08/2015

BBC One - Canals: The Making of a Nation, The Boat People

The story of the people who operated the canal boats, carrying goods around the country.

Liz McIvor tells the story of the people who operated the canal boats, carrying fuel and goods around the country.

Presenter Liz McIvor tells the story of the people who operated the canal boats, carrying fuel and goods around the country. Conditions were tough, days were long. Victorian society began to grow suspicious of these 'outsiders' and they gained reputations for criminality, violence and drinking. But was this reputation really deserved? Liz discovers grisly canal crimes, investigates health and welfare onboard working boats, and looks at why canal children were last on the list to be offered safeguards and formal education. The Victorians eventually championed the needs of children who were forced to labour in factories and mines, but the boat children were often ignored. Liz discovers the campaigners who set out to tackle this injustice, including George Smith of Coalville, Leicestershire, and Sister Mary Ward of Stoke Bruerne.

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Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

Factual: Travel

Liz McIvor looks at who built, worked on and regenerated the nation's canal network.

Liz McIvor looks at who built the nation's canal network, who funded it, those who worked on it and how they were regenerated following WWII.

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Canals: The Making of a Nation

The Boat People

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