The Constitution is right next to the Regents Canal, a short walk along the towpath from Camden Lock. When we got there at Sunday lunchtime there were only a couple of people there. The beer was nice and the garden out the back over looking the canal would be lovely in the sunshine. The Oktoberfest beer was lovely.
I would like to go back to this pub when its busy and have a good night out. Definitely a pub worth stopping at if you are walking along the Regents Canal.
Showing posts with label Camden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camden. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, April 06, 2009
Canal Walk: The Regents Canal: Camden to Little Venice
This weekend I was down in London to see some friends and while there finish off the Regents Canal. I got up early Sunday morning and had a full English breakfast to fuel my trek. From Euston Station it is fairly simple to get to the canal at Camden Lock. I walked up Eversholt Street, along side the station, which turns into Camden High Street. The weather was perfect, it wasn't yet nine am but it was warm enough to just wear a t-shirt.
I had a quick look around the old canal wharf buildings while the market workers were setting up their stalls. The canal market looks almost ready to reopen following its destruction by fire. After negotiating a passage through a throng of German school children by the lock I crossed the simple but pretty metal bridge which takes the towpath from the lock side across the canal to the towpath on the far side beyond the arm which serves the wharf buildings and market. There is now a doorway from the market to the towpath to save you walking all the way around.
There is an archway taking the towpath over another arm, once known as the Dead Dog Hole. The stonework is scored by rope marks.
The canal passes under road and rail, the railway to Euston Station crosses the canal after the Pirate Castle. It was quiet on the canal, no barges on the move and just a few dog walkers and cyclists. Soon after Camden the canal reaches Regents Park and London Zoo. On one side is the famous Aviary and on the other side were a pack of Painted African Hunting Dogs. They were running along the fence of their compound at the edge of the canal. It was odd to see something from a Safari on the side of an English canal. The dogs and birds are all you can see of the zoo from the towpath.
As the canal circles the Regents Park it passes some huge houses in the Greek and Roman classical style. Some of them do look like they would suit a Premiership footballer in Cheshire.
The canal passes under some more railway bridges. One had some poor unfortunate living underneath it.
At Maida Hill there are some moorings, almost all narrow boats, before the canal enters a tunnel. There is no towpath so walkers have to go over the top. It seems logical to go up the steps right next to the tunnel's portal but the gate at the top was locked so I came back down and walked back to the next bridge. There you can leave the towpath and go up to the top and follow the canal cutting looking down to where you have just been. A boat was just entering the tunnel as I passed by the locked gate that had stopped me minutes before. Its fairly easy to follow the route of the tunnel, its a straight tunnel and the road above is also straight. You pass Crockers Folly, a pub said to have been built in anticipation of a railway terminus being built opposite it. Unfortunatley the station was built further away and legend has it the landlord jumped to his death from the window of his large "gin palace".
There is a cafe overhanging the other entrance of the tunnel. You cannot rejoin the towpath straight away due to private moorings. A short distance along Bloomfield Road there is a gap in the railings and you can get back to the waters edge just in time to pass under bridge number 1 of the Regents Canal. Next to the bridge is the former toll office.
Through the bridge the canal opens up into the triangular basin known as Brownings Pool. Named after the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) who lived nearby. From the Regents Canal, on the left is Paddington Basin and Paddington Station; ahead is the Grand Union Canal and the rest of the countries canal network. There are public toilets in gardens by Brownings Pool.
You can follow the canal along to Paddington Basin, once a busy inland port. Leave the canal and you are at Paddington Station. A short walk away is Hyde Park.
Photos from the walk and the other walks on the Regents Canal can be found here:
http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/Other/regents_canal.html
I had a quick look around the old canal wharf buildings while the market workers were setting up their stalls. The canal market looks almost ready to reopen following its destruction by fire. After negotiating a passage through a throng of German school children by the lock I crossed the simple but pretty metal bridge which takes the towpath from the lock side across the canal to the towpath on the far side beyond the arm which serves the wharf buildings and market. There is now a doorway from the market to the towpath to save you walking all the way around.
There is an archway taking the towpath over another arm, once known as the Dead Dog Hole. The stonework is scored by rope marks.
The canal passes under road and rail, the railway to Euston Station crosses the canal after the Pirate Castle. It was quiet on the canal, no barges on the move and just a few dog walkers and cyclists. Soon after Camden the canal reaches Regents Park and London Zoo. On one side is the famous Aviary and on the other side were a pack of Painted African Hunting Dogs. They were running along the fence of their compound at the edge of the canal. It was odd to see something from a Safari on the side of an English canal. The dogs and birds are all you can see of the zoo from the towpath.
As the canal circles the Regents Park it passes some huge houses in the Greek and Roman classical style. Some of them do look like they would suit a Premiership footballer in Cheshire.
The canal passes under some more railway bridges. One had some poor unfortunate living underneath it.
At Maida Hill there are some moorings, almost all narrow boats, before the canal enters a tunnel. There is no towpath so walkers have to go over the top. It seems logical to go up the steps right next to the tunnel's portal but the gate at the top was locked so I came back down and walked back to the next bridge. There you can leave the towpath and go up to the top and follow the canal cutting looking down to where you have just been. A boat was just entering the tunnel as I passed by the locked gate that had stopped me minutes before. Its fairly easy to follow the route of the tunnel, its a straight tunnel and the road above is also straight. You pass Crockers Folly, a pub said to have been built in anticipation of a railway terminus being built opposite it. Unfortunatley the station was built further away and legend has it the landlord jumped to his death from the window of his large "gin palace".
There is a cafe overhanging the other entrance of the tunnel. You cannot rejoin the towpath straight away due to private moorings. A short distance along Bloomfield Road there is a gap in the railings and you can get back to the waters edge just in time to pass under bridge number 1 of the Regents Canal. Next to the bridge is the former toll office.
Through the bridge the canal opens up into the triangular basin known as Brownings Pool. Named after the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) who lived nearby. From the Regents Canal, on the left is Paddington Basin and Paddington Station; ahead is the Grand Union Canal and the rest of the countries canal network. There are public toilets in gardens by Brownings Pool.
You can follow the canal along to Paddington Basin, once a busy inland port. Leave the canal and you are at Paddington Station. A short walk away is Hyde Park.
Photos from the walk and the other walks on the Regents Canal can be found here:
http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/Other/regents_canal.html
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Canal Walk: The Regents Canal
This week I have been down to London to visit my friend Katie and do some towpath trekking on The Regents Canal. After visiting the newly refurbished and very impressive St Pancras Station and platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station we walked to the canal near the London Canal Museum. The museum doesn’t open till 10am so being early we headed to the towpath. The Museum is off Wharfdale Road, we walked to the end and on to Caledonian Road which crosses the canal. You can gain access to the towpath from the bridge. We left the road and walked up to the Islington Tunnel and peered inside. The tunnel is 960 yards or 878metres long, the built by James Morgan. The opening to the tunnel is brick while inside the lining is of large blocks of stone. There is no towpath through the tunnel. We turned around to walk the short distance to Camden.
The area around Kings Cross is being redeveloped. The re-opened St Pancras Station has driven this regeneration. Many old buildings are being converted and many new buildings are being built. At one of the construction sites by the canal there were two barges being used to carry waste. They were unpowered and probably rely on the museums Bantum to be moved.
We carried on past the museum (now on the other side) and under York Way. To the left is the back of Kings Cross station and a gas holder. The canal is wide here and the towpath bends around. It is quite a sun trap and a homeless man had taken advantage of this and was sleeping on a bench. A little further on is a stop lock. The wooden gates are now rotten but the metal hinges are still there. This lock could have been to control boats for tolls or control water flow.
Next are St Pancras Locks. There were two locks here but one of them has been weir-ed leaving the other one in use. The lock gates are a bit different to those on other canals. The balance beams aren’t horizontal they are angled down to where they meet. There is a little lock cottage next to the lock. After the lock there is a basin which used to be a coal basin and is now a marina, St Pancras station was built on part of this basin. The EuroStar trains cross the canal here between Paris and London.
The towpath is concrete here with power cables running underneath. It is very popular with cyclists, and I guess these are the ones who give the others a bad name. They are fast and quiet despite the “Two Tings” campaign.
Royal College Street bridge and Camden Road bridge are both brick bridges that have been widened. There was a handsome heron at the next locks, again one lock was weir-ed and is obviously a good place for fishing. In the pound between these locks and the next is the former TV AM studios, which were originally part of a brewery.
Under the main high street in Camden and up to Hampstead Road Locks. Camden Market uses the old canal basin buildings. The trip boats moor here. Both the Hampstead Road locks are working. The balance beams pass over each other to save room. The market wasn’t open but some of the shops were and I got a free sample of chocolate cake while walking around the upper level of shops. It would have been nice if Liverpool had kept some of its canal buildings and had shops such as these at its terminus.
The area around Kings Cross is being redeveloped. The re-opened St Pancras Station has driven this regeneration. Many old buildings are being converted and many new buildings are being built. At one of the construction sites by the canal there were two barges being used to carry waste. They were unpowered and probably rely on the museums Bantum to be moved.
We carried on past the museum (now on the other side) and under York Way. To the left is the back of Kings Cross station and a gas holder. The canal is wide here and the towpath bends around. It is quite a sun trap and a homeless man had taken advantage of this and was sleeping on a bench. A little further on is a stop lock. The wooden gates are now rotten but the metal hinges are still there. This lock could have been to control boats for tolls or control water flow.
Next are St Pancras Locks. There were two locks here but one of them has been weir-ed leaving the other one in use. The lock gates are a bit different to those on other canals. The balance beams aren’t horizontal they are angled down to where they meet. There is a little lock cottage next to the lock. After the lock there is a basin which used to be a coal basin and is now a marina, St Pancras station was built on part of this basin. The EuroStar trains cross the canal here between Paris and London.
The towpath is concrete here with power cables running underneath. It is very popular with cyclists, and I guess these are the ones who give the others a bad name. They are fast and quiet despite the “Two Tings” campaign.
Royal College Street bridge and Camden Road bridge are both brick bridges that have been widened. There was a handsome heron at the next locks, again one lock was weir-ed and is obviously a good place for fishing. In the pound between these locks and the next is the former TV AM studios, which were originally part of a brewery.
Under the main high street in Camden and up to Hampstead Road Locks. Camden Market uses the old canal basin buildings. The trip boats moor here. Both the Hampstead Road locks are working. The balance beams pass over each other to save room. The market wasn’t open but some of the shops were and I got a free sample of chocolate cake while walking around the upper level of shops. It would have been nice if Liverpool had kept some of its canal buildings and had shops such as these at its terminus.
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