21/02/2009 (it seems so long ago!)
We went on a lovely canal walk. There are a series of man made canals that run around various parts of London. One of these starts/ends/traverses through Paddington, so we thought we'd follow it to see where it led. These canal walks are a great way to get away from the city bustle and are popular with walkers and cyclists alike.
It was a crisp day - cool, but with a nice clear sky and even some sun!
We started at the Paddington Basin and headed along Regent's Canal.
Me and my friend - he wasn't saying much!
Lovely canal boats
There is a cafe on the leftmost boat
We headed towards Edgeware Road and then onto the outskirts of Regent's Park.
No, this is NOT wildlife, it's rubbish!
Purple boat
A mix of boats
Life can be dangerous in London...
Sha and more boats
A ramshackle collection
Along the canals, there are areas where you can moor your boat permanently and others where you are allowed to stay for two or three days before you must move on. This particular area seemed to have a more permanent air about it.
As we got closer to Regent's Park, the value of nearby houses seemed to rapidly increase. Regent's Park is where the London Zoo is based (well, it occupies a portion of the park). We have since visited the park a few times and I'll blog about it at a later date.
A lovely scene...with money
More money
Even more money
A floating Chinese restaurant in the distance
We then arrived in Camden, where it was time for a beer.
Under a Camden bridge
Beer o'clock
After our beer we stopped for awhile to watch a couple of boats navigate their way through the locks. These are a series of gates immersed in water which allow boats to enter and exit different sections of the canal with higher (or lower) levels of water. Quite an engineering feat and fascinating to watch.
An old television studio
Yes, those are egg cups at the top of each building!
Proceeding on from Camden, we finally made it to Islington, where we had a look around and I made the mistake of purchasing a rather large box of beer (it was at a price that could not be beaten). No way we could carry this home, so onto a bus. One of the best things about Paddington is that it is well serviced by both buses and the tube, so never any trouble to get home.
A lovely day exploring the canals, but we are very aware we have only covered one small section of them. We are definitely going to do some more canal walks in the future!
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