Film boat hire on the River Avon

Film boat hire from Bristol to Bradford-on-Avon

The Avon valley aqueducts and Bradford-on-Avon, from the water

Boats from Bristol come up the river to Bath, where the Kennet and Avon Canal takes over. It climbs out of the city through the Widcombe locks, one of them among the deepest in Britain, passes through Sydney Gardens under cast-iron bridges and two short tunnels, and follows the side of the valley past Bathampton and Claverton's pumping station. Twice it crosses the Avon on stone aqueducts, at Dundas and Avoncliff, before reaching the lock, wharf and medieval tithe barn at Bradford-on-Avon.

Boats for the canal

This is narrow, slow water, so we use a narrowboat or a small electric boat with room for a camera and a small crew, and a skipper who knows the locks. The aqueducts are the big shots: a boat crossing high above the river, seen from the valley floor or the air.

What the valley asks of a shoot

Permission. The Canal & River Trust looks after the canal, its locks and its aqueducts, and commercial filming on it needs the Trust's permission. Sydney Gardens, a council park, needs the council's OK too.

Speed and moorings. Boats keep to 4 mph, and moored boats line much of the canal, so we allow more time per mile than the distance suggests.

The towpath. Walkers and cyclists fill the towpath between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon on fine weekends, so popular spots are filmed early.

Drones. The canal from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon is clear of restricted airspace, so the aqueducts make natural drone shots. Take-off needs the landowner's OK, and flights keep clear of the towpath and the railway below.

Filming the river between Bristol and Bath instead? See the Bristol to Bath stretch.

Filming somewhere else? See all our film boat hire locations, or tell us where and we will find the right boat.

Questions