From Limehouse To Shoreditch
I took advantage of yesterday’s January sunshine to enjoy a ramble along the Regent’s Canal with my camera, tracing its arc which bounds the northern extent of the East End. At first, there was just me, some moorhens, a lonely swan, and a cormorant, but as the morning wore on cyclists and joggers appeared. Starting at Limehouse Basin, I walked west along the canal until I reached the Kingsland Rd. By then clouds had gathered and my hands had turned blue, so I returned home to Spitalfields hoping for another bright day soon when I can resume my journey onward to Paddington Basin.
At Limehouse Basin
Commercial Rd Bridge
Johnson’s Lock
Lock keeper’s cottage at Johnson’s Lock
Great Eastern Railway bridge
Great Eastern Railway bridge
Salmon Lane Lock
Barge dweller mooring his craft
Solebay St Bridge
Mile End Rd bridge
Cyclist at Mile End Rd bridge
Looking through Mile End Rd bridge
Mile End Lock keeper’s cottage
Looking back towards the towers of Canary Wharf
At the junction with Hertford Union Canal
Old Ford Lock
Victoria Park Bridge
Victoria Park Bridge
Looking back from Cat & Mutton Bridge
Barge dwelling cat
At Kingsland Rd Bridge
Looking west from Kingsland Rd Bridge
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Lovely … wish I could have joined you!
Sounded like a bracing walk. I’m familiar with the Little Venice to Camden stretch but have not yet done Limehouse to Camden so look forward to your notes and photos when you next stride out. Take a flask of something to warm your cockles next time.
What a lovely time you had. I hope the hands have restored themselves.
On a warm April day in 2014 I did exactly the same walk that you so well picture and describe. My husband and I were visiting London from Adelaide in Australia and on my own I ventured out to follow the canal as far as I could before returning and meeting my husband in The Grapes across the road from our rental unit. My photos are very much the same as those you have taken. I have been a daily reader of your stories for many years and your stories of the East End of London inspired us to visit many areas of the East End and along the River during the month we stayed in London in 2014. That same day that I walked the Canal my husband and I later happened to meet two couples in the Grapes. Both of the men had previously worked as firefighters on the Thames and on the London docks and we discovered that their former boss had later travelled to Australia and had then been my husband’s Chief Fire Officer in the Darwin Australia Fire Brigade. It is certainly a small world!! Thank you for your wonderful stories..
Nice photos! (Most of the boats are narrow boats, not barges…)
It is always a treat to view a photo and find you have included a pretty cat. That canal cat must be spiritual kin to Nala, the Bosnian kitty that adopted Dean the burly Scotsman as he was biking through Europe.
Dean and Nala at last count had ticked off 24 countries–which in the time of covid is quite a feat. The pair have published a book on their adventures, been hosted in a castle, crafted a mosaic of the perky feline in Ravenna, Italy, primitive camped along a canal where Nala protected her man from a feisty, uninvited nutria, and are greeted by web-followers every where they go. Great adventures for a cat-loving arm-chair traveler–‘tho’ I often struggle to comprehend Dean’s thick brogue.
GA, just wanted to thank you for another interesting article. You make our mornings better!
Would love to get back to England this year to see the cherry blossoms one more time.
All the best, and thanks again,
Sonia
As so often your adventure shames me for having it within my power to do as well but failing completely. I lived (1937-1950) north of the canal in Stoke Newington/Hackney, crossed it on Kingsland Road when I travelled south, and went to school within spitting distance of Bonner Hall bridge, which I crossed almost daily in the summer on the way to the boating pond in Victoria Park. Yet it never occurred to me that I might walk along the canal bank for a novel adventurous experience and a new perspective. Alas! But I suppose the old excuse stands: you can’t do everything! So I offer my heartfelt thanks to you, dear author, for providing me, some seventy years later, with a valuable substitute experience.
Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful photos and adventures.
I have to say I found this even more enjoyable than usual as it made me think of my late father. He was a carpenter and worked for the Metropolitan Water board repairing the big, old lock gates. Probably similar to the one at Salmons brook in the photograph.
Thanks for the wonderful journey.
I have also rambled both of these stretches of the regents canel but not for a very long time. Thank you for the reminder it brought back some wonderful memories.
Thank you so much for this article and the amazing photos which were my inspiration for a fascinating winter’s walk yesterday from Limehouse Basin to Kings Cross. Will definitely do the King’s Cross to Little Venice stretch, but on a weekday without the crowds!
Thank you for this! I’d love to see inside the buildings at Old Ford Lock.
I haven’t walked along there since I was at Queen Mary College in the mid 90s. I had a couple of friends who lived in the student residences on campus. They were built as small shared apartments and some had a nice view over the canal.
Wonderful photos!
Must replicate your canal walks at the earliest opportunity!
Nice photos and interesting walk, did similar walk the other day and recognise some of the areas. ?