Timothy West and Prunella Scales begin their first canal journey of the second series in the romantic city of Oxford. It's here that Tim and Pru began their courtship many years ago and where they went on their first-ever canal trip together. They follow the gentle contours of the Oxford Canal through the Cherwell Valley, where they meet author Philip Pullman and are joined by their son Samuel West. Tim and Pru follow in the footsteps of author Tom Rolt, whose vivid account of his journey down this canal in 1939 ignited a campaign that went on to save Britain's canals from extinction. Tim enters the National Town Crier's competition to extol the virtues of the Oxford Canal, and issues a warning to those who would seek to destroy it.
