Canal Boat – July 2018

52 canalboat.co.uk

8-PAGE PULL-OUT

Regent’s Canal and East London waterways

subjected to severe bombing during the

Second World War.

Next, the canal passes the Ragged

School Museum (see inset), before

descending through the last couple of

locks to reach Limehouse Basin, now

housing a marina with extensive moorings

and overlooked by the Docklands Light

Railway. Formerly known as Regent’s

Canal Dock, it provides the link to the

Thames via a tidal entrance lock. It

handled produce and raw materials from

all over the world, as well as coal and

British made goods transported via the

canal system.

It was busy until the late 1960s but

closed to commercial traffic in the 1970s

despite the construction of a short new

link to the Limehouse Cut, avoiding the

need for a separate tidal lock for the Cut.

Today’s boaters use this new link to

access the Limehouse Cut which is about a

mile long, totally built up throughout its

length, and leads to Bow Locks.

Bow Locks form another connection to

the tideway, via the tidal Bow Creek which

twists and winds down to the Thames.

They also mark the start of the River Lee

Navigation which runs for 27 miles to

Hertford. The area above the locks is

known as Three Mills: the House Mill was

built in 1776 and is Britain’s last remaining

tide mill; the adjacent Clock Mill is

another listed building; the third mill no

longer exists.

Having begun our journey amid the

Regency surroundings of Little Venice and

Regent’s Park; we end them in one of

London’s newest open spaces, as we turn

right above Bow Bridge to enter the Queen

Elizabeth II Olympic Park’s waterways,

rebuilt from the former Bow Back Rivers

for the 2012 Olympic Games. Previously

an obscure and in places derelict network

of waterways hidden away from the main

waterway network, they have now

reopened after closure for the Games, with

two restored locks opening up more

routes.

Entering via St Thomas Creek from the

5 MILES / 8 LOCKS

ISLINGTON

5

The cosmopolitan

markets that stretch

out through the streets

in all directions from

the old stables beside

Hampstead Road

Locks have become a

‘must-see’ location for

London visitors. The

shops and stalls appeal

to all tastes whether

they are alternative

or conventional, from

clothing to exotic foods.

CAMDEN LOCK

MARKET

SEE ALSO

Passing the entrance to Kingsland Basin

Top: Bow Locks provide access to the tidal

Bow Creek, leading to the Thames

Above: The same scene in 1980, when timber barges

still regularly used the Lee Navigation

Right: Leaving the rebuilt

Carpenters Road Lock to

pass the London Stadium

City of

Paddington London

Basin

Camden

St Pancas

Battlebridge

Basin

Lisson Grove

Islington

Regent’s Tunnel

Park

Hackney

City Rd Basin

Wenlock Basin

Kingsland

Basin

Limehouse

Basin

Mile End

River

Thames

Paddington

Arm to the

GU Main Line

Maida Hill

Tunnel

Little

Venice

River Lee

to Hertford

Bow Creek

to the Thames

City

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Water
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s (^) Ri
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igati
on
Carpenters Road Lock
City Mill Lock
St Thomas’Creek
Bow Locks
Old FordLocks
Three
Mills
QE2 Olympic Parkshaded in green
Limehouse Cut
Hertford Union Canal
DISTANCES
Regent’s Canal Little Venice to Limehouse Basin 9 miles 12 locks, plus
entrance lock from the Thames at Limehouse.
Limehouse Cut 1 mile. Bow Back Rivers total about 3 miles 2 locks.
LOCATION
The Regent’s Canal links the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union at
Little Venice to the Thames and the Lee Navigation in East London
(^678)
HERTFORD UNION CANAL