News Release

2nd September 2004

ITV's 'WATERWORLD'

Michael Fabricant will be featured in the new series of ITV's 'Waterworld' when it starts again in January next year. "To my surprise, I won an award for a couple of photographs I took from a narrow boat on a canal near Napton on the Hill in Warwickshire" says Michael. "I entered the photos in a House of Commons competition called 'Views of England' and I was delighted that the judges chose to put my photos on display in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament.

"Waterworld's producer heard about this from ITV's lobby correspondent at the House of Commons and decided to film a feature about this. Matt Teale of Waterworld asked me about my interest in photography and filmed me recently at Fradley Junction. I told him that the reflections in the canal water of the sky and the unchanged industrial architecture from the turn of the 1800s all make for great pictures. The pictures at Napton were taken on a small digital Canon Ixus camera bought locally at Jessops in Lichfield.

"But my interest in canals is not limited to photography", says Michael. "I'm a keen narrowboater. I enjoy steering narrowboats and operating the locks. It's great fun when I go with a bunch of good mates for a long weekend on the canals. My dream, of course, is to see the restoration of the Lichfield and Hatherton canals so that narrow boats will, once again, be seen in the City of Lichfield". Michael is a member of the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust.

The two award winning photographs are shown below.