Painted Boats appreciates the gentle rhythm of traditional canal life, whereas Ted's ambition is to get off the canals and into mainstream life at the earliest opportunity. World War II intrudes when Ted is called up for military service, leaving the future for the pair uncertain. Location filming took place on the 20-mile stretch of the Grand Union Canal between Stoke Bruerne and Braunston in Northamptonshire, including the Blisworth Tunnel – at 1.75 miles (2.82 km) in length, the third-longest canal tunnel in Britain. Insert shots feature the industrial landscape of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, the famous Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire and
Canal tunnel Canal tunnel A canal tunnel is a tunnel for a (shipping) canal. The longest canal tunnel in the world is the Rove Tunnel in France, currently disused. The proposed Stad Ship Tunnel in Norway, while shorter, will be significantly wider and deeper, as it is designed to accommodate seagoing vessels. The oldest canal tunnel in the world is the Malpas Tunnel also in France, built in 1679. In some canal tunnels the towpath continues through the tunnel. In other cases, especially on English narrow canals, there is no towpath. The horse would be led over the hill and the boat