Jim Doherty and his eldest son, Dick, are to sail a converted narrow-boat from the family's boatyard in North Wales, when Jim is injured in an accident.

Now responsible for getting the Flower of Gloster to London, Dick and his sister Liz set off along the Llangollen canal. But life on the cut turns out to be far from plain sailing. There was, for example, the trouble with the swing bridge...

Day two of the Flower of Gloster's journey to London, and Dick and Liz are in trouble. They've had to waste a valuable day in Northwich having the boat's engine repaired, and with just nine days left, there are still 200 miles left to cover.

Dick is angry: a flight of fifteen locks to climb at Audlem, Liz is wasting time window-shopping, and Mike chatting to a narrow-boat family means that he has to get the boat through the locks on his own.

It is the evening of the third day. To make up for lost time, Dick decides to sail on until darkness falls. All goes well, until the boat breaks down close to Betton Woods, near Market Drayton: a wood 'notorious for its shrieking ghost, where no regular boatman will tie up for the night...'

With little more than a week left before they must reach London, Dick, Liz and Mike need to earn some money. Market Drayton provides the opportunity; it also provides yet one more passenger.

Where is Mike? And more importantly, where is the Flower of Gloster? Mike had gone after Baskerville the dog; the Flower had followed Anne's navigation and ended up being bombarded by a gang of Birmingham lads; and the boat should be in Gas Street basin, in the centre of Brum...

The flower of Gloster finds herself in the heart of one of Britain's biggest cities, where there are boat rallies, bands, bargains and, of course, the Bull Ring!

The canals are dying; canal people are dying with them. But some are still being born. The crew of the Flower of Gloster are made aware of this fact when they come face to face with a matter of life and death.

There's always light at the end of the tunnel, but sometimes it can be hard work getting there - as Dick and Anne discover in the Blisworth Tunnel. There is compensation, however, in the fascinating museum at nearby Stoke Bruene.

After a long hail, Dick and the rest of the crew decide it's time for some fun and games at Woburn Abbey. But they soon discover the truth of the old saying, 'It's later than you think.'

The crew experiences some night work, dirty work, and repair work. And the Evans gang makes a fleeting but none-too-friendly reappearance...

The Flower of Gloster and her crew finally reach their destination, the Pool of London... and they are late!