On the Waterfront - two visits to the Regent's Canal
Taking advantage of some very agreeable autumn weather, EFOG members decided to hit the waterways of London for some history and a nice walk. On 25th September, two groups descended on to the London Canal Museum’s premises for some history and, as it turned out, a bit of unexpected culture!
The museum is housed in an old ice house sited at Battlebridge Basin on the Regent’s canal, so as well as a history of the canals of Britain, the lives of the canal boat people and their particular traditions, the museum also has a brief history of the ice trade and its various customers. Upstairs there is a lot more information about the power tools of the canals – horses and locks and how they worked. The day we visited there was also a very interesting exhibition on the history of the River Lea – our ‘home’ river so to speak!
Many of the Efoggers also took the opportunity to show of their artistic skills and add to a tableau of ideas about how the canals would be used in the future. We were in good company, as the event had been started with a drawing from Quentin Blake, the famous illustrator. Various themes developed from bicycle-powered steamboats, solar powered canals boats and even a return to the humble paddle and canoe.
While one group looked around the first half of the party boarded the Tarporley for a trip downstream through the Islington tunnel. Opened in 1820, as our guide explained, the tunnel is ¾ of a mile long and was originally operated by ‘legging’ the boat through the tunnel, there being no towpath for the horses to use. There was then an upgrade to the use of a steam tug to pull several boats at a time, which lasted until 1926. Canal boats nowadays though have engine power. Once through the tunnel we turned in the basin above the lower lock and came back again ready for the next group to board.
As we enjoyed the trip so much, a walk was planned of the northern section - the upper seven miles of the Regents Canal, for October 15th. Once again we were very lucky with the weather and 14 members of the group set off up the Mile End Road to pick up the towpath. Unbeknownst to us however, group member number 15 missed us and somehow joined the towpath slightly ahead of the group. She very determinedly completed the whole journey in 3 ½ hours, way ahead of the rest of us!
Before we reached the canal towpath, Paul Ferris gave us a very nice explanation of the Green Bridge,which provides a continuous green route for cyclists and pedestrians between the parklands either side of the Mile End Road, and how this broad green strip linking industrial Limehouse to Victoria Park was originally planned for 18th century workers to provide a relief and a lung from the conditions in which they lived and worked. We reached the towpath, and after admiring a very large heron, we set off. Our first stop was a canal-side café near Hoxton, which we providently came upon after having been forced to detour off the canal because construction work had closed the towpath. The tunnel at Islington also forces a detour, as there is no towpath, so the route took us through Islington’s Chapel Market - following the blue canal-wave dots on the pavement - and past a wedding at the environmental church. We then waved to the canal museum’s Battlebridge Basin on our way to lunch at Camden Lock. The market was in full swing and slowed matters on the towpath quite a bit, but it did prove to be the gateway to the peaceful realms of Regents Park and a sighting of some Jackals in London Zoo. From here it was a straightforward walk up to the next tunnel where we went overland again to link up with the towpath at Little Venice. The day ended with a nice tea stop at the canal boat café and a nap for Katy the EFOG dog!
Sue U., 28 October 2011