Abandoned canal exploration with Uncle Ed
Afternoon $4 crew!
As promised, today we explore the eerie remnants of one of Britain's oldest industrial canals.
The Lichfield Canal was completed in 1797, abandoned in 1954 and subsequently filled in and forgotten. Recently there has been a big movement to restore the canal to it's former glory, and while certain sections have taken shape, large sections of it, barely seen by anyone, remain overgrown and hidden.
In this adventure me and Uncle Ed sneak our way through the countryside attempting to trace the path of this local treasure and unearth flashes of it's 250 year history as we go.
Amid all the fascinating history however, sits a bizarre, imposing and distinctly modern structure that we have to try and scale if we are to complete our journey to Brownhills. Our attempts are as comical as you might imagine.
Hope you don't mind the square aspect ratio. Was going to crop it down but figured it worked well with the map features.
Have a top weekend everyone. Off filming a mini straight line mission tomorrow. Wish us luck!
Comments (54)
Just signed up for Patreon as I love your YouTube vids! Thankyou for the fantastic content! I’m an expat Brit in Canada but have gone canal boating pretty much every time we visit and planning next years already! It’s always great to see canal content especially with Tom and Uncle Ed! Also. Highly recommend a canal holiday. There’s always a pub at the end of the day 😊🍻 thanks Tom!
A fun adventure this one. So interesting to see these ruins of the Victorian (and earlier) Britain that are all around us, overgrown and completely ignored most of the time.
Sometimes when I went on off road hikes I'd bring a garabge bag with me and gloves in case I saw anything and you dont realize how much the small stuff adds up. Two garbage bags full and I couldnt finish my trek because it was equivalent to 20 pounds in each hand while walking. Good workout! - but in a way saddening that that much was even in such a small area. This area seems like youd be able to fill a few bags to. Fascinating how many people came to ask for photos, though LOL. It was shocking to them this wasn't a punishment from the mayor and I was just doing it of free will. No one else seemed to be doing it and seeing nature full of garabge just angered me Aware im 5 months late haha
The Guardian love you https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/mar/24/could-you-walk-across-the-uk-in-a-perfectly-straight-line-inside-youtubes-strangest-challenge
What an iconic duo the two of you make. Lovely video! Also, don’t know if it’s the family connection or just because you two grew up / live in the same area (or both), but it struck me how similar the two of you sound! Intonation and all. Maybe it strikes me more cause English isn’t my first language. Anyway, thanks again and keep this brilliant videos coming, best regards from The Hague!
Cheers Nout! Good point. I think it's a mixture of things. Same family, same Secondary school (he's only 15 years older than me!) and some genetics too!
What a great one this was. Solid adventuring!
Thanks man glad you enjoyed!
Love, love, LOVE uncle Ed! I think he could have gotten up there but was a wise move to terminate mission when he did. These adventures remind me of IckeWalks- 'The Walk' on Youtube. You guys would love it- Gareth hunts down old Victorian railways around the same areas. I'd love to see Tom explore some of the old sites he does.
Thanks Nadja! I'm screenshotting these lovely messages to him! Yeah it was probably possible but the wall was so much taller than it looks on the fisheye camera lens! oh wow we'll check that out. Till next time!
ED makes me laugh so much! Love to see him in your videos!
He will appreciate this comment! Yeah I love to have him. We've got some big ideas for the next year!
Another smashing vid. Always fun to see Ed.
He always delivers. Cheers Stu!
Lovely, good vibes 😁
Thanks Marte!!
brilliant, been itching for a little video also good to see Ed again!
Cheers Morten glad it hit the spot!
Just had a nasty crash on my bike and saw this, thank you Tom for cheering me up
oof I feel ya. Glad you're okay mate
I love to see that you are checking expiration dates on trash! As a biologist, I work on plastic in bird nests and we just published the discovery of a nest from Amsterdam that was used for decades. We found expiration dates in the nest going back all the way until the early 90s!! If you want to check it out, you can google: 'Birds documenting the Anthropocene: Stratigraphy of plastic in urban bird nests'. With dates on litter, you never know what you will find! Thanks for the video, always exciting to see your adventures! Would be a nice follow-up, to do a clean-up at a fly-tipping spot!
What a fascinating job you have! I’m going to check that out myself actually
love this!
Thanks Soph!
Ed's footwear was a bold choice
I thought so too haha
Thankee :-)
Enjoy my lord!
Me and my son cheered when we saw this drop!
wehhey cheers Dustin and son!
Evening Tom! Just a little ‘thank you’ message as your YouTube videos and Patreon exclusives have really helped me get through something of a rough patch over the past 12 months! Looking forward to the nicer weather and what’s to come from your side, as well recreating/ forging my own adventures which will hopefully have a similar spirit.
Ah thanks Ryan that means a lot. Keep adventuring and pushing your limits mate and I shall do the same! some big stuff coming up in the next few months
Can't wait to watch tonight. Just back from visiting my old man who lives in Pelsall, and spent the weekend running on the canals around Brownhills Blocko and Aldridge! Made me think of Geowizard and here we are!! Manifesting GW!!
Cheers Chris! yaw'm a local'un ay ya! That sounds like a big old run man. I went to school with a Till (Aldridge school), I wonder if you're any relation..
How did you get those map comparisons up? Is it some sort of website? I’d love to do something similar where I live in Bristol
I think it might be this: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/ from the National Library of Scotland
Hell yeah man, just what I needed tonight :)
Cheers Fourt!
I’m watching this with my son Hugo (who is the same age as your little one) from Calgary, Canada. My husband and I have been fans for years. A new video always adds something special to my day and Uncle Ed is the cherry (or pumpkin) on top! The history in this adventure is incredible and it was pretty heartbreaking to see so much rubbish around. Would love to see some adventures that combine exploration with some kind of clean up element. One of our favourite ways to explore is to go out and about with a rubbish bag and gloves.
Thanks Jemma, hope little Hugo enjoyed! Yeah we are already talking about going on a litter hunt on our kayaks with a view to find the oldest dates possible and collect as many different brands of litter as possible! I'm sure we'll find some interesting things...
“There might be a pog in that” 😭 Loved that. Between the canals, the cheese and branston sandwiches and the pork pies it was a very wholesome british feel. Uncle Ed episodes are always fantastic, I hope he knows how big his fan base is! If you’ve already done your straight line mission, I hope it went ok. If you’re about to start… good luck to you 🤞🏻
Thanks Hannah I'm glad you enjoyed! always quintessentially British when Uncle Ed rocks up. First mission filmed, another one coming up!
Finishing my last day of work before a trip to Scotland…something great to watch while I do.
Perfect! enjoy the trip Sam
I'll take this as a birthday gift anyday. 😄
Happy birthday mate!
Always excited for an Uncle Ed adventure!
He appreciates the love!
🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻 Let's roll.
Enjoy Ollie!
Hello Tom I sent you a dm on this if you don't mind giving some advice
Sorry man I don't have time to respond the the direct messages on this platform but I do my best to respond to all the comments on these $4 Adventures. Just read your message. Don't worry about it, just make sure you camp somewhere well hidden and don't leave a trace! Best of luck.
Great way to start my thursday evening! Cheers Tom
Thanks for tuning in Noel!