Canal Boat – July 2018

48 July 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

A

recent travel programme on television

spotlighted the Regent’s Canal and

described it as “One of London’s Best

Kept Secrets”. This may seem a dubious

claim if you are among the crowds at Camden Lock,

but otherwise it could be a fair comment on the

nine-mile link from Little Venice to the Thames in

East London.

The lock-free section between Little Venice and

Camden opened in 1816, so it has just celebrated its

200th birthday. The remainder of the canal to the

Thames at Limehouse was completed in 1820. In its

working heyday, the waterway provided an

important link from London’s Docklands to the

main canal system. Coal, timber and agricultural

produce were carried in huge quantities. Since the

1970s it’s been the preserve of leisure craft, and

particularly in recent years residential boaters.

We begin our journey at Little Venice which is a

triangular shaped pool, conveniently situated close

to Paddington railway station, where the Regent’s

Canal meets the Paddington Arm of the Grand

Union. This is a busy boating location at most times

of the year, but it becomes very lively during the

early May bank holiday when it hosts the Canalway

Cavalcade (see our news pages). The pool is

overlooked by a number of fine Regency houses

which are in complete contrast to the huge modern

developments which flank the nearby Paddington

Basin. A waterbus service operates from Little

Venice to Camden Lock via the London Zoo.

The Regent’s Canal begins beneath an elegant

road bridge, beyond which a line of moorings

brings you to Maida Hill Tunnel, soon followed by

another shorter tunnel at Lisson Grove. Soil

excavated in the building of these tunnels is said to

8-PAGE PULL-OUT

Regent’s Canal and East London waterways

Above: Cruising through the

reopened waterways of the

QE2 Olympic Park

Far right: The canal skirts

Regent’s Park and the Zoo.

Right: Where it begins: Little

Venice, with the start of the

Regents Canal to the right