The broadcaster leaves central Manchester, heading east along the Rochdale Canal. Not long into his journey, John finds himself struggling to contend with 19th-century technology at a cotton works. Further up the canal, he helps out members of an conservation group clearing the waterway of dumped supermarket trollies. After passing into West Yorkshire, it's on to Hebden Bridge, famous for the hard-wearing material corduroy, before John tries his hand at clog-making in one of Britain's few remaining factories dedicated to the craft.