I’ve wanted to go up the tower for years and I wasn’t disappointed by the experience. After being hurried through security and handed individual name badges, the speedy lift whisked us to the revolving viewing gallery in less than 20 seconds. We were greeted with complimentary coffee and cupcakes to enjoy whilst taking in the views, which were absolutely fantastic! Above is a six-shot panorama, with the glass roof the British Museum’s great court in the foreground. The Shard – nearly at its full height – dominates the sky line to the right, whilst the sky scrapers of the City and Canary Wharf fill the left.

From the top, we were able to see so many other landmarks as well – the Olympic Park, Battersea Power station, the Palace of Westminster, Windsor Castle and Wembley, to name a few.

Each rotation of the viewing platform takes 22 minutes and we were allowed to stay for about two laps before having to descend. On our way out, there were several historical artefacts on display, such as the commemorative opening plaque, and various articles from when the tower was built. Some knowledgable BT staff were also on hand to answer questions. Finally, we were then presented with a momento – a certificate in the form of a panoramic print and an information booklet, presented in a branded poster tube. Clutching these goodies, we left with smiles on our faces. A great event and well organised by BT and the Open House teams.

The staircase in the Great Hall of the Natural History Museum.

St. Pancras station is pretty incredible since it was refurbished a couple of years ago. With London 2012 looming, the Olympic Rings have arrived to welcome people arriving via Eurostar and departing on the Olympic Javelin to Stratford International.

There’s quite a nice view from the sixth floor open air viewing gallery atop the new shopping centre One New Change, near St Paul’s. Builders are currently fitting out a cafe up here as well, which should be a nice spot for a cuppa.

Apparently, every single one of the 3,312 glass panes in the roof of the Great Court of the British Museum has a unique shape. I love this building.

Low tide coincided with sunset the day I took this photo, which allowed me to descend the Horsleydown Old Stairs just downstream of Tower Bridge and stand on the somewhat slippery tidal foreshore, getting strange looks from passers-by on the bridge.

I bought myself a new toy yesterday – a Sigma 10-20mm lens – something I’ve been meaning to purchase for about 5 years. Seeing as I bought it from a shop in Holborn, my first port of call was obviously the Great Court in the British Museum for this oft-photographed view. I don’t care that it’s a cliché though – I always wished for a wide-angle lens up here, as my prior attempts weren’t able to take in the entire space. More wide shots of various London things will obviously follow!

Entrance to the Egyptian Avenue

The Circle of Lebanon

Tomb of Victorian bare-knuckle fighter Thomas Sayers, protected by a sculpture of his dog, ‘Lion’.

This account won’t cover the history of the tunnel to a great extent, as it has been covered much more eloquently and in richer detail than I could give you. Instead, here are a few photos of the evening, which we started by visiting the ‘Fancy Fair’ before commencing the tour of the tunnel itself.

The Fancy Fair promised to deliver a taster of the type of entertainment and attractions that took place in the tunnel before it was converted for use by trains in the late 1860s. There were acrobats, musicians and people in period costume, including a couple of prostitutes who proceeded to proposition me, much to my fiancée Katherine’s amusement! The strongmen, braving the cold in their outfits, were actually pretty impressive and entertained the crowd with their athletic ability.

There was also an opportunity to have a portrait taken in front of a picture of the tunnel. The strongmen seemed keen to get in on the act.

I think that our tickets for the Fancy Fair also included a brief tour of the shaft used to dig the tunnel, the top of which can be seen in the first photo above. However, a long queue and a pressing appointment to make our tunnel tour time meant that we had to give this a miss.

The new London Overground roundel, branded in Orange like everything else on the line.

There was a fair amount of people waiting to tour the tunnel, but we got in at the time scheduled on our tickets.

Suitably briefed on health and safety – which was surprising not that onerous – we were issued with latex gloves to protect against picking up Weil’s disease and promptly descended onto the newly refurbished platforms of Rotherhithe station.

The entrance of the tunnel.

It felt rather odd descending onto the tracks of a railway line!

Our tour guide stopped at several points along the walk from Rotherhithe to Wapping station and back. He was enthusiastic and told us lots of interesting detail over the construction of the tunnel. Here he paused under the shaft to give us an overview of how Marc Brunel’s tunnel boring process worked.

The two tunnels are separated by supporting columns. The gaps between these columns were used as market stall spots when the tunnel was in pedestrian use.

Our tour guide explained how the tunnel had to be coated in concrete during the 1990s restoration to prevent leaking. English Heritage successfully lobbied for the section near Rotherhithe to be maintained in its original state. The shots of the arches above gives you an idea of the difference between the original and the rendered version.

A signal. Definitely very weird to be walking in an underground railway tunnel!

Looking back along the tunnel from Wapping to Rotherhithe.

Wapping station has also been renovated. The line is due to open in April/May.

The northern portals of the tunnel.

Back at Rotherhithe station. Alcohol hand gel, souvenir book stamped to commemorate the tour, and homeward bound!

Unfortunately, as it is still winter, the skies were rather more grey than I had hoped, and I ran out of light before I could complete the journey along the length of the canal, which may not have been a bad thing as it all gets a bit industrial through Hackney. I may revisit the route at a later date, perhaps starting at the other end. There’s also the possibility of a quick diversion to Old Ford Lock of Big Breakfast fame; however, I’d have to check up in advance with regards to access as I think it skirts the Olympic Park compulsory purchase zone.

View Regent’s Canal walk in a larger map

Background to the Canal
Regent’s Canal is an eight and a half mile long waterway running east-west across north London, parallel to the Thames. The canal was designed by the architect, John Nash, who designed Regent’s Park, but most of its construction was overseen by his assistant James Morgan. Construction commenced after the passing of the Regent’s Canal Act in 1812 and the official opening took place in 1820, for the first time connecting the Grand Junction Canal (now part of the Grand Union Canal) in the west to the docks of east London. The canal saw great success until the railways began to divert trade away from waterways in the latter half of the 19th century. After the munitions traffic of World War II ended, the canal was hardly used for commercial traffic.

I started my walk from Warwick Avenue tube station, which is approximately 5 minutes away from the Grand Union Canal. After a brief chat with another photographer out taking pictures of the area, I walked the 500 metres or so south to reach the area known as Little Venice, where the Grand Union Canal meets the start of Regent’s Canal.

Grand Union Canal

The smallest canal boat I saw on my walk

Little Venice
This is a relatively unknown area of London, believed to have been named by the author Robert Browning, who lived here from 1862 to 1887. ‘Browning’s Pool’ – the junction between the Grand Union Canal and Regent’s Canal is named after him.

Browning’s Pool, looking towards the start of Regent’s Canal

On sunnier days, boat trips leave from here towards Camden, through Regent’s Park and past London Zoo – the route that I chose to walk.

Quick diversion towards Paddington Basin

‘Standing Man’ by Sean Henry.

South of Browning’s Pool, the Grand Union Canal heads towards the Paddington Basin. I wandered down this way to cross over the canal. Under the A40, I found these two statues, starting at each other. They reminded me of some of the Gormley statues which are dotted around London and the rest of the UK.

Towards the Maida Hill Tunnel
I crossed the footbridge over the Grand Union Canal, and headed back up the east bank, back toward’s Browning’s Pool.

Browning’s Pool

Looking west to Browning’s Pool

From Browning’s Pool eastwards, the footpath is private, accessible only to those using the moorings here. However, you can wander along the road either side of the canal, up towards the Maida Hill tunnel – the second longest on the canal. A cafe sits above the west portal.

Maida Hill tunnel west portal

Above the Maida Hill tunnel
Crossing the Edgware Road, I walked briefly along Aberdeen Place, following the path of the canal underneath. Just before re-joining the towpath, I passed this closed-down pub, Crocker’s Folly. Allegedly, it was originally built in anticipation of a new railway terminus being built nearby, but when the terminus was instead built in Marylebone, the owner Frank Crocker hanged himself. Take with a pinch of salt, I think.

Crocker’s Folly

Re-joining the canal via some stairs just east of Aberdeen Place, I found myself by the east portal of the tunnel. A plaque on the wall provided some further detail over the tunnel, outlining that Morgan had never had any previous experience in building tunnels!
The ugly metal structure jutting out over the entrance of the tunnel carries some electrical conduit from the substation out of shot above-right.

Maida Hill tunnel east portal

A second, much shorter tunnel follows quickly. This one, known as Eyre’s Tunnel, is only 53 metres long, and is, to all intents and purposes, no more than a bridge. On the other side are the Lisson Grove moorings.

Eyre’s Tunnel

The next kilometre or so from Lisson Grove was a bit bleak, walking under some very damp and dark railway bridges. For walkers joining the towpath just east of Regent’s Park, a sign indicated some of the key areas along the route. During my walk, I found the signage along the towpath to be excellent, giving points of interest and distances. I hope that similar signage exists along some of London’s other walking routes, which I intend to explore.

Waterway sign

Meandher II

As I entered Regent’s Park, I saw the first moving vessel of my walk. As it turned out, I only saw three moving boats along the total of the ten kilometres or so that I covered that afternoon! Just after I took the above photo, the owner of the boat – Emmanuel David – slowed and asked if I could send him a copy. Here you go Emmanuel!

Into Regent’s Park
John Nash originally intended the canal to cut straight through Regent’s Park. However, it was decided to divert around the north of the park so that, in Nash’s words, “The privacy of the park will not be invaded by the commerce of the canal.” In other words, keep the riff-raff barge workers out of sight of the gentry in the park. Perhaps views have changed somewhat though, as these houses built around the Outer Circle of Regent’s Park towards the end of the 20th century each have a view over the canal and they must be some of the most expensive property in London, if not the world.

Expensive villas

It looks fairly innocuous, but the bridge in the distance of the photo below also acts as an aqueduct for an underground watercourse – the Tyburn River. This completely subterranean river flows under London from Hampstead, through an antiques shop, over this bridge, under Regent’s Park and south towards the Thames. For more on underground rivers in London, which I have only just heard about and find quite fascinating, I suggest you have a look at some of the posts on this interesting blog.

Curving around the park

Macclesfield Bridge

Macclesfield Bridge, also known as ‘Blow-up Bridge’; the original bridge here was destroyed in 1874 after a barge carrying munitions exploded.

London Zoo
The zoo was designed by Decimus Burton and opened in 1828. The majority lies south of the canal, but, as can be seen in the photo below, the huge Snowdon aviary, constructed in 1964, is situated on the north bank and connected to the zoo by two bridges.

Snowdon Aviary, London Zoo

Cumberland Turn

After the bridge, the canal sweeps sharply around to the left towards Camden. The red junk is Feng Shang Chinese restaurant, floating in what remains of a one kilometre stretch of canal that extended towards the former Cumberland Basin near Euston. Closed in 1942, the canal was subsequently filled with rubble after World War II. One of its bridges still remains today, with no water flowing underneath.

Into Camden

Regency Houses

The houses along this section of the canal were built in the Regency style of the early 19th Century, which I think is one of the architectural styles that typifies London. Even though it’s rather busy with traffic, I think that Park Crescent, just south of Regent’s Park, is one of the nicest looking streets in the capital (although my iPhone photo does not do it justice).

St. Mark’s Crescent

Looking back in the direction of Cumberland Basin at the back of the houses. It’s nice to see that a barge is being used to transport the rubble and other waste produced in the renovation of one of these houses.

Graffiti

We must be getting close to Camden Town now – the graffiti is increasing.

Camden
I didn’t spend too long in Camden. I’ve been here before and taken the classic shots.

Looking towards Camden Town

Hampstead Road Locks

Scooter seats

Camden to St. Pancras Basin
On the right is an MTV studio, formerly TV-AM

.

MTV

The walk from Camden to Islington has some real contrasts, with some really industrial parts, other areas which have been turned into the ubiquitous waterside residential developments, and some industrial areas earmarked to be turned into waterside residential developments.

Modern flats

More canal-side flats

High Speed 1

Just west of St. Pancras Lock, High Speed 1 crosses the Regent’s Canal, heading off towards Stratford, south-east England and the Continent.

Future vision

As I mentioned above in relation to redevelopment, here’s a poster indicating what may become of the gasholders in the distance.

Regent’s Canal sunset

At this point in my walk, the sun finally showed its face to add some warmth to my photos, including this one which actually shows the section of Regent’s Canal under which the train lines out of King’s Cross make their way north. This is in contrast to the lines out of St. Pancras, such as High Speed 1, which cross over the canal, just a few hundred metres away.

Islington
As I carried on along the towpath towards Islington, I could see the ground level starting to rise. This hill necessitated the building of the Islington Tunnel, which is the longest on the canal at 878 metres in length. Like the Maida Hill tunnel, there is no towpath, so boats used to have to be ‘legged‘ through.
As the towpath finishes at this point, one is forced to walk through various streets in Islington to reach the other end of the tunnel. There are apparently markers leading the way, but I completely missed them and bumbled through using my own rather random route.

Islington Tunnel west portal

City Road lock

The canal emerges and carries on to the City Road lock. The City Road Basin around this lock is another prime residential development site.

City Road Basin

The daylight was fading fast now, so the tripod which I’d been lugging around all afternoon finally saw some use. Unfortunately, this part of the canal wasn’t particularly picturesque!

I had to stop my walk here – the light had finally given up and, to be honest, the tow path from here onwards did look a bit industrial and bleak. I may go back in the future and walk the remainder, perahaps starting at the end of the canal at Limehouse Basin.

More background information on Regent’s Canal:
- Canal Museum
- Waterscape
- Youtube – a 13 min silent movie from 1924

So I almost froze my fingers and toes off, but I finally managed to get a half-decent sunset shot of Tower Bridge, after many attempts that were foiled by clouds rolling over.

Click for a larger version

I’ve been meaning to visit City Hall and take in the view from London’s Living Room for ages. Finally got around to doing it!