50 July 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk
8-PAGE PULL-OUT
Regent’s Canal and East London waterways
Warwick Castle Warwick
Place, Maida Vale. 020
7266 0921. West along
Blomfield Road from Little
Venice and right. Victorian
pub in quiet back street, real
ale, food, pavement seats
Crocker’s Folly Aberdeen
Place, St John’s Wood. 020
289 9898. Above Maida
Hill Tunnel. Extravagant
Victorian fantasy of a pub,
restaurant and bar food
Ice Wharf Camden. 020
74 28 3770. By Hampstead
Road Locks. Large and
popular Wetherspoons pub
with usual range of real ale,
food till late, waterside seating
Lighterman King’s Cross.
0186 9 347176. Canalside.
Lively modern style pub in
the new Granary Square, real
ale, food, canalside seating
Narrow Boat Islington. 020
74 00 6003. Canalside
almost opposite Wenlock
Basin. Modernised Victorian
pub with real ale, food,
balconies overlooking canal
Wenlock Arms Wenlock
Road, Islington. 020 7608
- South of Bridge 38,
right into Sturt Rd. CAMRA
award winning real ales,
simple snacks - pies, toasties
Rosemary Branch
Islington. 020 7704 2730.
Near Bridge 41. Victorian
corner pub. Outside seating,
real ale, food. Theatre upstairs
Approach Tavern
Approach Rd, Cambridge
Heath. 020 7980 2321.
South of Br 53. ‘Remarkable
Pubs’ gastro-pub, real ale.
Grapes Narrow Street,
Limehouse. 020 7987 - East of tidal lock.
Famous riverside pub with
real ale, food, waterside seats
Galvanisers Union Devas
St, Bow. 020. West of Bow
Locks. Eclectic ‘Antic Pubs’
pub , local real ale, food (eves)
Pub details are likely to change at
short notice: you are advised to
phone ahead to be sure
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WAT E R S I D E
10 PUBS
Canal Boat’s pick great pubs
on the Regent’s Canal
LITTLE VENICE
JOURNEY PLANNER Follow the route with our map showing distances, locks and pubs
Distances/locks
between pins
Direction
of locks
Tunnel
Waterway
junction
Our top ten pubs
see panel overleaf
2 MILES / NO LOCKS
PADDINGTON BASIN
TO THE GU MAIN LINE
have been used to build the nearby Lord’s
cricket ground.
Beyond Lisson Grove the canal enters
Regent’s Park overlooked by imposing
mansions with sloping waterside gardens.
Look up underneath Bridge number 8,
which contains the culverted River Tyburn
within its brickwork – the clue is a
V-shaped groove under its arch. The next
bridge is the celebrated Macclesfield
Bridge popularly called ‘Blow-up Bridge’.
In October 1874 a barge full of gunpowder
exploded beneath the bridge, killing all its
occupants. The bridge was subsequently
rebuilt using the original supporting cast
iron pillars (but turned the other way
around, as evidenced by the grooves worn
by boats’ towropes, some of which are on
the ‘wrong’ side). Then comes London Zoo
with Lord Snowdon’s aviary towering
above the water. Only water buses are
allowed direct access to the Zoo from the
canal at a special stop, so boaters wishing
to visit must find a mooring further on and
walk back to join the queue at the road
entrance.
After the Zoo the canal takes a sharp
left turn by a floating Chinese restaurant.
Soon you will pass the castellated Pirate
Castle which is the headquarters of a
youth activity centre.
Next to come is Hampstead Road Lock
which marks the end of a long pound
stretching right back to Cowley near
Uxbridge on the Grand Union main line,
some 19 miles away. Better known as
Camden Lock, this area is usually
thronged with crowds of onlookers
enjoying the adjoining markets (see inset).
A short flight of locks takes the canal to
St Pancras where it’s crossed by a number
of railway bridges including one carrying
Eurostar services. St Pancras Basin is the
headquarters of the St Pancras Cruising
Club.
By St Pancras Lock is the unusual sight
of a housing development built within the
framework of an old gasometer re-erected
across the canal from its original site. This
length of canal running behind St Pancras
and Kings Cross stations has been
attractively redeveloped and has become
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