The Regent's canal

Canal locks at Limehouse

A four mile walk from Limehouse to Islington along the canal today. The towpath was busy with walkers and cyclists and there more boats than usual going though the locks. The number of Nicholson canal guides on view suggest that quite a few of these boats were exploring new territory.


The Regent's canal opened in 1820 to link the docks on the Thames at Limehouse with the Grand Union canal's Paddington arm. The canal was built too close to the coming of the railways to be a financial success but commercial traffic continued until the 1960s. 

Old Ford Road lock

Apart from boating, cycling and walking, the canals still have technical importance today. Long lengths of the towpath of the Regent's canal from Limehouse through Camden, for example, are laid with concrete slabs which cover high voltage power lines helping to distribute electricity to London. 

Boat entering Islington tunnel

The twelve locks between Limehouse and Camden raise boats from the Thames to the level of a lock-free pound that stretches 21 miles to the nearest lock on the Grand Union main line. 


I must revisit the London Canal Museum soon. It tells the story of the canals and also acts as a reminder of the importance of the Regent's Canal in supplying ice for London from Norway in the nineteenth century.