Streets of London : Walking Regent's Canal

Sunday was such a glorious day we headed north to walk the tow path from Little Venice to Camden town. The canal we walked was a relatively modern one: designed by John Nash, finished around 1820 and called Regent's Canal, as it was named after the Prince Regent. Our stretch of the canal walk started where an older canal, the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, already existed parallel to the Thames. Nash pushed this further east, extending it, joining it up to the Thames, intending to make it a great waterway and improve river traffic for trade.

Where the two canals join has been named Little Venice. Or Brownings Pool. The poet Robert Browning lived near here, referred to it in his work, though not always in poetic terms, so now his name is regularly dropped around here. Today, under the sun it is an idyllic place with its pretty blue bridges arching to allow canalboats access. Rembrandt's Garden, a small green patch, was built on the canal bank in 1975 to honour both the 700th birthday of the founding city of Amsterdam and its special relationship with the City of Westminster.

Narrow canalboats putt languorously across the water. One canalboat has become the Waterfront Cafe. Another has been turned into a puppet theatre, and regularly holds a production about a lonely little boy in a school yard who has no friends except for a red balloon which demands the young boy catch it then goes on magical adventures pestering chimney sweeps and old ladies. Until the school bullies try to spoil his fun. It carries circus colours and some fifty-five viewers are allowed entry at show time.

There is a toll keeper's cottage off one bridge. And a lock keeper's cottage off another. Trade once kept these lock men busy moving goods south to the London docks, but soon the railways arrived and the trains proved much more economical and faster, so the water trading route became limited. These days the movement is mostly leisure traffic.

Many folk live in gorgeous regency built mansions lining the canal, overlooking Regency Gardens and the water. Along some stretches boat folk tie up with just their stern to the canal to fit in. Others have more space, and stretch their entire length along the canal side, and indeed some have lobbied to have the tow path made private. One stretch is actually behind locked gates. It is for their exclusive use. Quite possibly the most prestigious mooring spot in all of London. Some of the permanent boaters have gardens. One is reminiscent of the Netherlands with its flamboyant display of red tulips in boxes. Others have good intentions, they have the tools and equipment to set up a garden, but not the space.

Businesses find unusual places to operate on this canal. Cafe Laville, a glass sun trap, is built high over and between the canal banks, and with the hoards out walking on this gorgeous sunny day, is doing a roaring lunch trade in pasta and all things Italian. And, despite the crowds, their service was spectacular.

As we continued on the tow path after lunch we came to a stretch of river that John Nash originally intended to cut through the very heart of what was to become Regent's Park, which he also designed with the help of Decimus Burton. Nash drew a plan for some 56 white Regency stucco villas to part the very heart of the park, but this plan was howled down by mutinous folk who did not want to be over-exposed to the bad language coming from barge folk. So, the tow path went further north on the boundary of the park. Though there are now very fine 'Regency' mansions along this stretch, as well. But they were not built by Nash. These came much later, in the 20th century, in truth; though, they were built to Nash's original designs.

Their view is not always picturesque. It must be a continuous struggle for many who are trying to keep such heavily inundated public spaces clean. Over to the left is Lord's Cricket ground: the grounds built using recycled earth and rubble from these canal and tunnel diggings. Bits of London Zoo, which also occupies a northern chunk of Regents Park, appear to our right on the tow path. Today we see an aviary of birds, a huge heavily tusked warthog and a couple of beautiful painted dogs. And all the while the canal ducks, with their iridescent green colours glisten in the sun, as they hunt for their lunch.

A bridge along this stretch of the canal is named the 'Blow up Bridge', because in 1874, a barque, loaded with gunpowder, exploded under the earlier bridge. This could still happen today, as we see many canal boats loaded to the hilt with gas cylinders, stable, one hopes. Today, the homeless have their mattresses and bare doonahs spread out on the dust beneath the new bridge. Prime location for not even a penny, if that is your preference.

Not long after lunch we come to Crocker's Folly, a stylish pub now beautifully renovated in gilt and curlicued plaster, a lovely glimpse into the Renaissance style of ages past. Its Grand Salon alone used fifty different marbles in its construction. Further along the canal walk, a Chinese restaurant, The Feng Shang Princess, is a glorious splash of red and gold as we make our turn towards Camden town, while red and gold graffiti echoes the colours on the tow path walls.

We enter Camden town at the Eat Street section of the Camden Lock Markets and it is, quite literally, impenetrable with an endless crowd of Sunday sun seekers and Cat Steven buskers with their guitars hanging out on this glorious afternnon. A lovely way to spend a day. But scary. We literally had to shoulder our way through the hustle and bustle on all sides. The noise was electric, exciting; but, the crowds quite overwhelming. Just making it to the main street in one piece, where the foot traffic was at least sane, was a major feat. A lovely day, albeit with a bit of a chaotic finish. Special, though.