Paddington to Regents Park

 Paddington Basin to Regent's Park London - 16th October 2020

I've always loved walking the towpath. My territory is usually between Watford and Rickmansworth in one direction and Watford to Grove Mill in the other. Occasionally I've been further - the Coy Carp to Denham (see recent Blog) and Grove Mill to Apsley (to be written up). Quite some time ago, Martin and I walked pretty much all of the Wendover Arm, which was (and still is, I believe) under restoration and is rather picturesque. However, this year, despite Lockdown, Sue and I have done more walks together and, having purchased a map of the Grand Union Canal London Ring, with sections from Milton Keynes to London and the East London Ring, we became keen to explore further afield. 

So it was that one greyish morning in the middle of October, we caught the train from Croxley into London, changing at Baker Street to take the Hammersmith line to Paddington. First stop was for coffee and danish at a mobile van, the friendly vendor letting us have both for a reduced cost as he discovered from the logo on Sue's jacket that she worked for the NHS. He didn't have to, as he'd been struggling with loss of customers due to the ongoing restrictions, so it was a sweet act of kindness.

Warmed up a little, we walked a few hundred yards further on to find ourselves in 'the basin'. The water being very still, there were some amazing reflections from the towering glass blocks overlooking it, but the 'rolling bridge' (or, more accurately, curling bridge) wasn't due to be opened until the afternoon, so taking some photos, we retraced our steps, but on the opposite side of the water, passed a rather witty art installation of a giant plug, until crossing back to go under the Bishop's Road Bridge. Here there is a tribute to Alan Turing: 

‘Message from the Unseen World’ is a public artwork that celebrates the life and work of Alan Turing, who was born in Paddington and is best known for the crucial role he played in breaking the enigma code during the Second World War. It spans the width of the bridge and features extracts from Turing’s ground-breaking ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ in patterns based on Baudot code. Fascinating. 

From there, with some industrial type wharves or warehouses on the other side of the canal for a short distance, in contrast to the glinting glass everywhere else, it was only a matter of minutes before we reached Little Venice, the blue bridge reflected in the water and some Autumn colour in the surrounding trees. I'd visited this lovely site two years ago for the IWA cavalcade when it was a riot of colour, the boats - adorned with flags and bunting - moored up side by side and an array of stalls selling food and crafts all around. Today there were still some boats moored, but it was much more peaceful with few people about. The sun was out by now though and it was a very photogenic place. We went up onto the bridge, taking photos, and down the other side, under another blue bridge that carried Warwick Avenue, deciding we would head for Camden. 

Little Venice

We hadn't gone far before we had to leave the towpath for a while and walk alongside the canal via Blomfield Road. This led to Cafe Laville which sits astride the canal near the junction of the Edgware Road. On the other side, we continued along Abderdeen Place until we found ourselves looking down on the entrance to the Maida Hill tunnel. It didn't look very inviting, as didn't the exit further on, but the history is quite interesting. Originally built to allow the city to thrive, the tunnels (Maida Hill, Eyre's and Islington) let the Regent's Canal cut through the hillier areas of Maida Vale and St John's Wood. The walls of the Maida Hill tunnel go straight down into the water, so the only way to see them is by boat. We kept walking, across Lisson Grove and through an arched gateway that led down to a path alongside the Waterside moorings. Here the boats are moored at right angles to the towpath, rather than parallel. This is to leave room for traffic to continue on the canal in both directions. In times gone by, boats would bring the coal to the electric power station and the cargo would be unloaded and taken into the premises through some wide openings at canal level. These were walled in, but the recesses in the wall shows where they once were (see gallery for photos). The substation still looms over the canal. 

The railings/fence that flank the path here are somewhat odd in that they are concave, leaning inwards and making it a little difficult to get good photos of the canal below (unless you're a lot taller than Sue and me), but I suppose also to prevent them being scaled easily. It would be a fairly unpleasant drop. At the end, another footbridge crosses you back to the other side of the canal again with a railway line in front of you (takes you to Marylebone, I believe). Underneath, there was a stacked pile of dried muddied metal, including a motorbike, a scooter, a bike, the obligatory shopping trolley and sundry other items all presumably exhumed from the canal bottom by magnet fisherman and hopefully awaiting disposal. This side of the bridge is also quite spacious with graffiti on the walls and riveted girders, while across on the far wall was a plaque stating "The Second Lord's Cricket Ground 1811 - 1813 Home of MCC was located here".

Magnet fishing haul

The exit to the tunnel threw up some nice reflections in the puddles there and then we were back out in the open again and walking passed some rather lavish mansions on the embankment across the water. As we followed the graceful curve of the canal through a green and leafy cutting, a boat from the London Waterbus Co sailed by and then a pair of paddle boarders emerged from under Charlbert Road bridge ahead. it was a very pleasant bimble by this time, on a wide towpath in lovely sunshine. Beyond was Macclesfield Bridge. It looms large with the brick arches supported on twin rows of five cast-iron columns, positioned either side of the canal. (The columns immediately reminded me of the Euston Arch!). I'd seen photos of this bridge and was vaguely aware that there was a story attached to it, and wish I'd been more informed and looked more closely at the time. I have now discovered that it is just as commonly known as "The Blow-Up Bridge" and here's why:

In the early hours of 2nd October 1874, The Tilbury - a barge containing a concoction of coffee and nuts - exploded right under the bridge. Both boat and structure were immediately destroyed. Alongside its less volatile cargo, The Spectator would later report, was 'the perilous combination of two or three barrels of petroleum and about five tons of gunpowder'.

The three men aboard the Tilbury - one of whom, it's presumed, lit a match that ignited the blast - were killed. Windows shattered a mile from the explosion. Residents sat bolt upright in bed, fearing an earthquake. The animals in the nearby zoo caused a hullabaloo. 'Dead fish rained from the sky in the West End'.
Another report stated: 'It also destroyed the nearby house of the painter Alma-Tadema, who was fortunately away at the time. The explosion caused such havoc that a detachment of Horse Guards were brought in to help keep order and to ensure safety from wild animals at the Zoo'. And according to an article in The Times soon after the incident 'This explosion has revealed the fact that London has for years been traversed in some of its most populous and wealthy quarters by fleets of torpedoes'.

The bridge was rebuilt in 1876 using the original iron columns and a plaque by the bridge now marks the tragedy and explains what happened after. Unfortunately, this history geek and my erstwhile colleague failed to notice it! So, on we walked passed a section of wall covered in street art - many would call it graffiti - and we came to a section of canal covered in duck weed and looking like a lawn. At this point we were starting to flag a little, so walked up onto canal bridge no. 10 that leads across the road into Regent's Park and we went in search of food.

It took a few minutes to get our bearings and a couple of wrong paths, but eventually we came across the boathouse cafe and ordered toasted sandwiches and hot drinks, eating while we watched a couple of rats emerge at regular intervals from the nearby flower bed to raid one of the little bins!

From there we followed the line of the lake as it paralleled the beautiful Hanover Terrace across the road standing white against an increasingly grey sky, taking photos of the geese and ducks, grebes and herons. And gulls. Eventually we made our way out of the park, to finally pass the Sherlock Holmes Museum and thence to Baker Street, pausing to take an obligatory photo under the Sherlock Holmes statue.

Another good long walk, beginning and ending under grey skies, but with an abundance of lovely sunshine during the middle of the day and another - albeit quite short - stretch of canal under our belts.