Regent's Canal
The Regent's Canal is a 14 km long canal in the north of London's center. It connects the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal in the west with the Limehouse Basin and the Thames in east London.
history
In 1802 the Londoner Thomas Homer proposed a west-east connection between the Grand Junction Canal, opened in 1801, and the Thames at Limehouse . A few years later, the canal was included in a master plan. Construction began on October 14, 1812, and the first section between Paddington and Camden Town was opened in 1816. On this section the canal crosses under two hills, the longer tunnel being 251 m long. Four years later, in 1820, the second section to Limehouse was opened. Here the canal runs in a 886 m long tunnel under the Islington district . The Regent's Canal also flows through the Maida Vale district . At the meeting point with the Grand Union Canal , it forms a basin, in the middle of which is the small island of Brownings Island, named after Robert Browning . This part of Maida Vales is also known as Little Venice .
The canal, equipped with a towpath , was used commercially for the transport of goods (e.g. coal and wood) until the 1960s. Today, narrowboats equipped as houseboats lie on both banks and the canal has become an urban recreational area for walkers and cyclists.
literature
- Alan Faulkner: The Regent's Canal: London's Hidden Waterway . Waterways World, Burton-on-Trent 2005, ISBN 1-870002-59-8
Web links
- London Canal Museum (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Björn Kern: London's quiet side. Zeit Online, March 26, 2009, accessed May 15, 2010 .