For the first time the main line from London to Birmingham and the River Trent were all owned by one company with the exception of the Oxford Canal between Braunston and Napton.
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.
The following year he was appointed rector of Glenfield, Leicestershire, doubtless thanks to his marriage to Catherine Winstanley, the daughter of his patron, James Winstanley of Braunston, Rutland.