Harper-Thames on the substantial seven-mile walk, the substantial cyclists who continue to ignore the speed limit, and the small civic geography that the canal makes legible
I walked the substantial seven-mile section of the Regents Canal from Limehouse Basin to Camden Lock last Saturday afternoon, in a substantial three-hour journey that has, over fourteen years of doing it, become one of the substantial recurring rituals of my professional life. Building on my earlier work at Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, I want to write today about what the substantial towpath has, in my fourteen years of observation, taught me about how East London has changed.
The Walk
The substantial Regents Canal towpath, for those of you who have not walked it, runs from the substantial Thames at Limehouse, through the substantial centre of the East End, around the substantial northern edge of Victoria Park, through Hackney, into substantial Islington, and on to Camden Lock and ultimately to substantial Little Venice in the substantial west. The substantial seven-mile section I walked last Saturday is the substantial East London segment, and it is, in my view, the substantial most interesting section of the towpath, in the substantial sense that it traverses the substantial broadest range of substantial neighbourhood characters of any comparable length of substantial London infrastructure.
According to The Evening Standard, recent reporting on the substantial Regents Canal has documented substantial increases in towpath usage across substantial recent years, with the substantial canal increasingly serving as a substantial active-travel corridor in addition to its substantial historical recreational function.
The Cyclist Question
The substantial cyclists, dear reader, continue to ignore the substantial speed limit. The substantial Regents Canal towpath is, in formal regulatory terms, a substantial shared-use path with a substantial fifteen-mile-per-hour speed limit applicable to substantial cyclists. The substantial speed limit is, in practice, substantially unenforced, and the substantial cyclists who use the towpath as a substantial commuting route between substantial East London and substantial central London substantially ignore it.
I am not, dear reader, here to write a column about cyclists. I have written that column before, in my previous columns on London active travel, and I have, in the years since, decided that further iterations of the column would be, in the substantial majority of cases, futile. The substantial cyclists will continue to ignore the substantial speed limit. The substantial pedestrians will continue to be substantially annoyed by them. The substantial Canal & River Trust will continue to put up substantial signs that the substantial cyclists will continue to ignore.
The Limehouse Basin
The substantial Limehouse Basin, where the substantial canal meets the substantial Thames, is, in my view, the substantially most photographed and substantially least understood segment of the substantial canal. The substantial photographs typically focus on the substantial residential developments that ring the substantial basin, which are, in physical terms, substantially attractive and which provide a substantial framing of the substantial water in a way that reads, on social media, as the substantial East End regeneration narrative made physical.
The substantial residential developments are, however, only the substantial surface of the substantial place. The substantial basin itself was, until the substantial 1960s, a substantial working dock, in which substantial commercial barges from the substantial canal network met substantial commercial vessels from the substantial Thames. The substantial transition from working dock to substantial residential basin took place across approximately three decades and is, in substantial respects, the substantial paradigmatic East End post-industrial transition.
The Victoria Park Section
The substantial section of the towpath that runs along the substantial northern edge of Victoria Park is, in my view, the substantial most pleasant single mile of substantial public infrastructure in inner London. The substantial mile combines the substantial canal on the substantial south side with the substantial park on the substantial north side, and it has, in the substantial majority of seasons, a substantial proportion of substantial mature trees that produce substantial dappled shade across the substantial path.
The substantial mile is, on a substantial Saturday afternoon in summer, substantially overrun. The substantial overrun produces, in the substantial majority of cases, a substantial pedestrian-cyclist conflict that has, in recent years, prompted the substantial Canal & River Trust to consider substantial path-widening interventions. The substantial interventions have, however, been substantially constrained by the substantial historic character of the substantial canal infrastructure.
The Hackney Wick Section
The substantial section of the towpath that runs through Hackney Wick is, in my view, the substantial section that has changed most substantially over the past fourteen years. According to The Guardian, recent reporting on the substantial Hackney Wick regeneration has documented substantial transformation of the substantial post-industrial canal-side estate, with substantial portions of the substantial former warehouse stock substantially converted to substantial creative-industries use.
The substantial transformation has produced, in the substantial Hackney Wick canal-side environment, a substantial concentration of substantial creative-industries operations whose substantial windows face directly onto the substantial towpath. This is, in my view, one of the substantial more successful pieces of substantial canal-side regeneration in inner London, in the substantial sense that the substantial new uses substantially activate the substantial canal frontage in a way that the substantial previous industrial uses substantially did not.
The Camden Approach
The substantial approach to Camden Lock, in the substantial final mile of the substantial walk, is the substantially most chaotic section of the substantial towpath. The substantial chaos reflects, in the substantial majority of cases, the substantial convergence of the substantial pedestrian, substantial cyclist, and substantial tourist populations as the substantial walk approaches the substantial Camden Market complex.
I have, on the substantial Saturday of which I am writing, completed the substantial walk by approximately five o’clock and have, accordingly, missed the substantial peak of the substantial Camden Market chaos. The substantial walk has, in this sense, been substantially well-timed. I have, on arrival, treated myself to a substantial drink at a substantial pub on the substantial canal, and I have, on the substantial drink, reflected on the substantial range of substantial neighbourhood characters that the substantial walk has traversed.
What I Recommend
I recommend, dear reader, that you walk the substantial seven miles. You should walk it, in the substantial ideal case, on a substantial weekday afternoon, when the substantial cyclist and substantial pedestrian volumes are substantially lower than they are on the substantial weekend. You should, on the substantial walk, deliberately stop at the substantial pubs that line the substantial route, and you should, on the substantial pubs, deliberately have a substantial pint at each.
For more of my dispatches from this end of the borough, you can find me at my page on The London Prat.
For satirical takes on canal-walks-as-cultural-question, see Private Eye.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
