Timothy West - Our Great Canal Journeys: A Lifetime of Memories on Britains Most Beautiful Waterways

For Sam and Laura, who love the canals

BY PRUNELLA SCALES

I THINK THIS BOOK is a bit like one of our canal journeys; meandering along through our lives until it is suddenly carried away by a current, or a weir, or a sandbank.

I am married to a restless spirit. Tim doesnt like to stay too long in one place. This means that while theatre audiences in the provinces have been able to enjoy his performances in Chekhov, Sheridan, Ibsen, Brecht, Shaw and Arthur Miller, those in London, where its supposed to count professionally, havent.

Is this important? I dont know. What matters to me is that Ive shared his passion for exploring unusual places, meeting new people and doing surprising things; thats been my life, and I wouldnt change it.

Most people seem to be able to enjoy a very nice, planned Annual Vacation. Not us. Weve just grabbed time when we could, gathering up the kids in their school holidays, and somehow weve managed the trade-off between leisure and work. Canal boating, however, initially couldnt have been further from our thoughts: this book tells how the idea suddenly became an integral part of our lives, and eventually led to the creation of Great Canal Journeys.

When we first started filming the programme, I wasnt quite sure what I was supposed to be doing. Im an actor, I told myself. I like playing people who are infinitely more intelligent than me, and say things considerably more interesting. I dont just want to be me.

Tim doesnt seem to mind; hes done this sort of thing before. And actually, when I got into the rhythm, I really enjoyed it, and the waterways started to work their magic. On a canal, you can relax, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife, think about where exactly you are and let your mind wander back through the past.

I like to be given occasional reminders of my childhood. I was brought up in the country; I remember walking miles in the Lake District to bring down a baby lamb who had been born too far up the fell; I can still smell the paraffin from the oil lamps that we had to fill every night, and trim the wicks. We had lovely dogs. Viewing the pastoral scene from water level, at four miles an hour, gives me the opportunity to piece bits of memory together.

Before writing this foreword, I looked at some film excerpts we have of the canal journeys, and picked out bits that hold a special significance for me, because nowadays I dont remember things very well. The romance of Venice, the excitement of India, the beauty of the Midi, and all the much-loved domestic waterways: the Llangollen, the Kennet and Avon and of course the Oxford canal, where we first got together more than fifty years ago, when we were going round the country doing different plays.

In this book, Tim talks a little bit about our professional lives, but doesnt really dwell on it; its not really within the scope of the book. Im afraid that, since the onset of what we like to call my Condition, we no longer go to the theatre a lot, because I just cant remember much of it afterwards; so its a bit of a waste. The cinema is much the same. Music is rather different; we can go to concerts, and even the opera, and I can come away spellbound, with neither of us needing to talk about what weve heard.

Social occasions are more tricky: at a party, someone may be telling me about his mothers death in a road accident, and Ill be properly sympathetic and then go away and talk to somebody else. A little while later Ill be back with the original person, and ask him for news of his mother. Patiently hell tell me the story again, and Ill repeat my sympathy. But if theres a third time

Im afraid this is the reason we dont get asked out as much as we used to!

How do I feel about being in this situation, people ask? (Or, indeed, are hesitant to ask.) Well, angry, of course. I hate the idea that the world is going on all around me, but that so much of it is closed off. I soon forget my anger, though, as I forget nearly everything else.

I dont really want to talk about it. Instead, please enjoy this wonderful book, which relives our journeys together both literal and metaphorical. I did.