Narrow boats carried cargo along London's Regent's Canal for more than a century. Today, visitors can travel the same path while soaking up the surroundings.
By RACHEL POLLACK
Published July 13, 2003
[Photo: Rachel Pollack]
Narrow boats like this one, originally used to haul freight through London, now give passengers a slow ride along the Regent’s Canal in the capital.
LONDON - Mention European canals and most people think of Venice or Amsterdam. But away from the hum of London traffic is a complex web of cargo-boat waterways, one of which offers a leisurely view of part of the metropolis.
These canals, part of a system that exists across much of England, Ireland and Wales, are relics of a bygone age. Narrow boats, typically 7 feet wide by 70 feet long, went back and forth with cargoes of coal, gin, copper, fresh produce, logs, paper, even chocolate for the Cadbury factory. Warehouses were built along the canal routes to receive the goods.
In 1812, Parliament authorized a canal that would link Limehouse, in London's East End, to Paddington. The Prince Regent, George IV, agreed to give his name to the canal.
But the Crown's Commissioners refused to allow the canal to pass through Regent's Park on the premise that boatmen and "navvies" (the barges' navigators) would be unsuitable for George to come into contact with in his private park.
So the canal was built to skirt the northernmost edge of Regent's Park, making a sharp turn on what otherwise would have been a straight path. This canal drops nearly 100 feet in elevation on its way to Limehouse.
Narrow boats plied the canal for a little more than 100 years. Horses were used to tow the boats, which boatmen steered through 12 locks. Ramps were built along the towpath for use by the horses if they slid into the canal.
In certain areas, the canal entered tunnels, created to allow traffic to pass across the canal. At these tunnels, the horses were walked across the top, and two boatmen lying back-to-back on the bow of the boat would propel it through the tunnel by pushing their feet against the slippery tunnel walls.
Alas, the Regent's Canal was a latecomer to the water routes that had long served the country. The rail system soon became a faster, cheaper way to move freight. The last contractual goods to be shipped on this canal were raw lime juice for Rose's manufacturing plant, about 10 years ago.
Today, people walk the Regent's Canal, fish from its banks or take one of several narrow boats offering rides between Little Venice and Camden Town and Islington.
Several boat lines ply the route from April thought mid October. Trips on the Jenny Wren, Jason's Trip and London Waterbus company boats cost about $9. Or you can take a narrow boat one way and walk back along the peaceful path at the edge of the canal where ducks, pea hens, geese, herons and other waterfowl make their homes.
The walk takes about an hour, and benches are placed for pedestrians who want to rest or take in the views. Some people live on the restored, brightly painted narrow boats and barges, and plenty of homes are alongside the canal, which passes west from central London toward Paddington.
The canal passes through the neighborhoods of Mile End, Hackney, Islington, King's Cross and Camden and down to elegant Little Venice. It is one route to visitors headed for the London Zoo.
If you start your boat tour at Camden Town (the nearest Underground stop is Camden Town, on the Northern Line), note that weekends there feature a busy market displaying items such as handmade clothing, new and used household equipment, and Victoriana.
My most recent trip, aboard the Jenny Wren, was typical of the canal experience. Entering the flight of locks at Camden Lock, the canal boat, with inches to spare on either side, was slowly lowered 100 feet into the waters of the canal. (On the return trip, dammed water is released to raise the boats.)
During the 90-minute trip to Little Venice and Browning Island (named for the poet, who lived nearby from 1862-87), we passed what looks like a pirate's castle but is a youth club that teaches canal boating and canoeing to youngsters.
At Primrose Hill, we glided below Macclesfield Bridge, sometimes called Blow-Up Bridge because it was the site of an explosion in 1874 when a barge carrying gunpowder blew up, killing the crew and damaging the area.
The original columns were used to rebuild the bridge, but the second time around they were erected the wrong way. You can see that the marks worn into the columns by the towing ropes are on the wrong side.
The boat floated past the handsome London Zoo and its soaring aviary. The Lisson Grove area is home to moored canal boats and other craft, many of them painted with brightly colored castles, roses and unusual Victorian motifs. Each canal had its own traditional colors: Red and green with a yellow stripe identified boats on the Regent's Canal. Each canal also had its own distinctive rose emblem.
The surrounding area - Warwick Avenue, Maida Vale and Clifton Gardens - offers stunning 18th century homes with gardens that slope toward the canal. Displays of tall chestnut trees with their pink and white blossoms, willows, laburnums, hawthornes and beeches create a photogenic setting. Many of the homes are occupied by the glitterati of British music, theatre and cinema.
- Rachel Pollack is a freelance writer living in Denver.
If you go
Outside London, there are about 2,000 miles of navigable inland waterways in Britain. There are welcoming pubs and canal-side restaurants, stately homes and gardens, market towns and small villages to admire. The towpaths often provide a venue for walkers, anglers and bird-watchers.
There are a variety of ways to go: self-driven boats, those with captain and crew, and "hotel barges," which take multiday trips and offer bedroom cabins.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For information about canal travel and contacts for the companies offering trips along Regent's Canal, go to www.britishwaterways.co.uk
Another source of information is the government's tourism agency office in New York. Contact Visit Britain toll-free at 1-800-462-2748 or online at www.visitbritain.com
