Kevin continues his journey along London’s Regent’s Canal, discovering more of its history, meeting some unexpected and colourful residents along the way, and has a glimpse into the future with a pair of Leica X cameras.
Since opening in 1820 the Regent’s Canal in London has remained a constant presence in the capital. During that time the surrounding city has continued to evolve and grow, and the purpose of the canal has changed dramatically.
In past times it was primarily carrying goods from points A to B. These days, offices and flats have replaced industrial buildings and it’s a place for living on the water and for recreation.
To Kings Cross and St Pancras
The first of these two articles about the Regent’s Canal (link below) ended near the site of my family’s timber yard in Hackney. A photograph I included in Part 1 showed the gas holder frames of the old Bethnal Green Imperial Gas Works. When I returned in November 2024, the concrete cores of new flats were rising high above the canal. They have become a symbol of the changing city.
The maps in the Hackney Archives showed me where the old properties had been demolished. They made way for new businesses and residences with blocks of flats abutting the Regent’s Canal. A bus garage replaced the home of a family member. My theoretical musings on the nature of change in the urban landscape came to a sudden practical halt when I had to step around, rather than through, the puddles almost blocking the towpath.
When sharks invade
Sharks have been unlikely visitors in the last few years to the peaceful Hoxton Docks. On one walk, I happened to notice that a Great White shark had arrived. When I returned on another trip, a group of sharks had joined it. It seems this art installation has been the subject of a dispute between the installer and Hackney Council. They may have been culled since.
Wanting coffee, I was glad to find a welcoming café on the Kingsland Road bridge that crosses over the canal.
I continued on the towpath past the City Road Basin, all the way to the entrance of the Islington Tunnel. The 886m tunnel, opened in 1820, and was built without a towpath. To follow the path of the canal I had to find my way through the streets of Islington.
Legging it
At either end of the tunnel, the horses had to be unharnessed and walked over the hill. Meanwhile, the barges were “legged” through. This involved the bargees lying on their sides on planks and “walking” the barge along the tunnel walls. At either end of the tunnel, signalmen controlled the traffic.
The tunnel brings the canal to the Battlebridge Basin, now used for private moorings and the location of the London Canal Museum. The museum is housed on the site of the old ice storage house built by Carlo Gatti in 1856. Gatti brought large blocks of ice from Norwegian fjords to Limehouse Canal Basin where they were transferred to barges. The large ice storage pit can still be seen inside the museum.
Protecting the canal by design
A seemingly out-of-place metal structure sits embedded within the canal bank just to the east of Maiden Lane Bridge. I learnt about it through David Fathers’ book “The Regent’s Canal” which I have referred to when preparing these articles.
This structure is all that remains of the stop locks, which were constructed during World War II. The German Luftwaffe targeted this section of the canal, which passes over the railway tunnels serving Kings Cross station.
The railway tunnels were built under the Regent’s Canal because the gradient was too steep for steam locomotives to climb from the station over the canal. Steam locomotives at that time simply did not have the power required. If a bomb had destroyed the canal and tunnels, the flooding would have been catastrophic. So when an air raid siren sounded, the locks on either side of the railway tunnels were closed.
Along from Maiden Lane Bridge, a canal boat houses the popular Word on the Water bookshop. This has been a fixture on the canal since 2011. The adjacent areas have been developed with offices, shops, and the University of the Arts London, Central St Martins.
The (uncomfortable) colour purple
In July 2021, the Espérance Bridge across the canal was opened to link Kings Cross and St Pancras railway stations with the university. It has proved to be very useful, however, twice, when I visited. I felt very uncomfortable and had to leave the area quickly. Why?
The colour of the bridge paint can best be described as burgundy or raspberry. Nothing strange about that but how come on both occasions, the people crossing were dressed in the same colour as the bridge?
I felt as though I had entered into an aberration in the matrix, like something out of the science fiction film. I wasn’t wearing the ‘right’ colours, so I retreated sharpish before they noticed me.
My discomfort wasn’t lessened when I arrived at the new apartment buildings around the corner. As in Hackney, they have been constructed within the old gas holder frames. An attractive series of entertaining mirrors have been built within the frames. But I had to concentrate so not to be disorientated by all the reflections. It was good to escape outside and watch the Eurostar trains leaving St Pancras International station.
To Camden Lock, Regents Park and Maida Vale
From St Pancras the canal passes industrial buildings and offices, with houses set high above. The colourful Camden Lock and market come into view as a welcome change. I realised how colourful it could be when my son, a regular visitor, gave me the low down on the area.
“Dad, within five minutes of leaving Camden Town station you’ll be offered a joint”. He misled me – as it was only forty-five seconds from the pub beside Camden Lock before I was asked “want a smoke?”.
Canal trips start here
The market, established in 1975, is a warren of small shops selling clothes, crafts, and food. An offshoot from the canal provides a base for the London Waterbus Company. This runs canal trips for tourists west to Little Venice. I was impressed by how the helmsman brought her boat out of its dock and turned it in the narrow canal.
Beside the canal a statue of a workman lifting a block of ice commemorates the ice wharf that stood nearby. It is now the name of the adjacent pub. Built in the 1830s the wharf stored ice imported from Norway; part of the around 175,000 tons of ice coming into London by 1880.
Santa delivers by kayak
Leaving the market, I met a group of kayakers called the Upper Deckers setting off from the Pirates Castle, a community and youth centre with a focus on water sports and youth activities.
They were having a Christmas paddle up the canal and I chatted with them when they stopped beside the Regent’s Park Zoo. They had successfully turned the right-angled bend in the canal next to the Feng Shang Princess Chinese restaurant at the corner of Regent’s Park. And avoided being run down by the London Waterbus Company boat when a kayaker wasn’t looking to see what was coming.
When I passed the zoo, the enclosure beside the canal housed a pack of African wild dogs which entertained the passengers in the hire boats passing by. Having hung around for ages trying to get a good picture my appreciation for the patience of wildlife photographers increased greatly.
And I’m sure one of the dogs flicked its tail at me in derision as it went back into its house. Thoughts of open African plains were put aside as I dodged the pedestrians and cyclists on the crowded towpath with the boats passing by and people crossing on the bridges above.
Beyond Regents Park and Maida Vale at Browning’s Pool (named after the poet Robert Browning), in the area known as Little Venice, the Regent’s Canal joins the Grand Junction Canal and its Paddington Branch. This tranquil spot marks the westernmost part of the Regent’s Canal and is the furthest stop on the London Waterbus Company’s journey from Camden Lock.
Paddington Basin and Alan Turing
I soon left the quiet of Little Venice behind as the towpath passed under the noisy A40 Westway and A4206 Bishops Bridge Road above the Paddington Basin.
Under Bishops Bridge Road, an art installation using LED lights commemorates the work of Alan Turing, born nearby in Maida Vale in 1912. Turing was a mathematician and computer scientist popularly known for his work in World War II at Bletchley Park deciphering German messages. He is credited with defining and instituting the field of artificial intelligence. There are various excellent articles about Alan Turing and Bletchley Park on Macfilos.
“Message from the Unseen World”
Hackney-based poet Nick Drake created an installation called “Message from the Unseen World” in 2016. It was commissioned by British Land, a property company, curated by Futurecity, and devised by United Visual Artists.
The text of the poem is presented on panels adjacent to the work. There is also an explanation of how it was created and how it works. The explanation reads, “Engraved on to the front face of the artwork is an encoded version of his groundbreaking text ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’, first published in 1950”.
Within the artwork lives a poem by Nick Drake, inspired by Turing’s work and life. In turn, this is interpreted by the computer. “Message from the Unseen World” is a literal dynamic artwork honouring Turing. It is a computer trying to write like a poet, whilst thinking like a machine. I’d had a glimpse into the future, alongside the canal that was built in the past.
Prosaically next to ‘Message from the Unseen World’ is a statue of Paddington Bear. Paddington Bear arrived at Paddington Station from Peru and was named after the station. His adventures were recorded by Michael Bond.
I thought that Paddington raising his hat was a polite farewell as I completed my journey on the Regent’s Canal. I don’t think anyone saw my little nod in acknowledgment, or his wink back.
How did I photograph my journey?
All the photos were taken with my Leica X Vario, except for numbers 1, 4, 7, 14, 19, 20, 21, 24, and 31 to 36 inclusive, which were taken with my Leica X1. Number 36 was taken using the built-in flash of the X1.
Thinking back to what was on the market at the time for me, the X1 and X Vario stood out from, and above, their competitors. Soon I will have owned and used the X1 for fifteen years and the X Vario for ten. It’s a testament to both their design and quality of manufacturing.
The arrival of the Leica X1
I bought the X1 in 2010 following a trip to Cairo, where I was more impressed with the output from my wife’s Leica D-Lux 4 than from my Canon IXUS 75. The size and weight of the X1 has always appealed as it fits in a jacket pocket, particularly useful in cold or wet weather.
I also like the easily adjustable shutter speed and aperture dials on the top plate. The camera can produce excellent image quality, especially the output of the in-camera black and white JPEGs from the 12MP sensor.
Unfortunately, the battery retaining clip has recently broken again and I have given up trying to replace it, relying on the battery cover and a half-case to keep the battery secure. David Slater, who repairs Leica cameras (David@Camera-Focus.co.uk) may be able to replace the clip. This problem has been the subject of a previous Macfilos article (26th October 2020).
Welcome to the Leica X Vario
The X Vario purchase followed in March 2015 as I wanted a camera with a short zoom. My decision to buy this was influenced by two of Mike Evans’ articles in Macfilos that dwelt on the positives of the camera, in contrast to the negative reviews on the internet at the time.
I thought that if it was good enough for Don Morley, ex-professional photographer and picture editor, then it would be good enough for me. It’s popularity through the years shows that others have also thought highly of it.
As with the X1, I like its size, weight and easily adjustable controls. Most of all, I remain very impressed with the flexibility of, and output from, the 28-70mm full-frame equivalent fixed zoom lens, which is nicely balanced with the 16MP sensor. Recently, a hot shoe mounted speedlight has given the camera a new lease on life by overcoming the cameras’ limitations in low light.
More
| Articles from Kevin Armstrong | Leica X1 |
| Leica X-Vario | More Leica X-Vario |
| David Slater repairing old Leicas |
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Thanks Kevin for a great article and series of images. The battery clip is gone on my XVario as well but I managed to put it back. I’m being extra careful when opening the battery door and taking the battery out. Both the XV and X2 are wonderful cameras which produce images with amazing texture and images. The zoom of the XV is stellar. It took me a couple of years to find a mint 2nd hand one. Looking forward to reading more of your articles
The Leica X Vario, released in 2013 was the world’s first APS-C digital compact zoom camera. Unfortunately, too many die-hard Leica enthusiasts failed to appreciate its versatility and the fact its superb optics were designed by Peter Karbe’s team. Most of its critics never used the camera or appreciated that its lens can produce superb images at any aperture throughout its zoom range. XV image files are easily capable of A3+ enlargement. Furthermore, when used (via an adapter) with Leitz Elpro supplementary close-up lenses, resultant images rival those taken using marque macro lenses. Personally I discovered both the X Vario and X1 are very useful ‘astronomical star party’ cameras when used with Leica red filtered flashguns in B&W jpeg mode – the red light illumination not compromising astronomers’ very important ‘night vision’. I used the cameras at a BBC Sky at Night event televised from Leicester racecourse on 20 March 2015. For our efforts, preparations, and travelling, the BBC ‘generously’ treated participating astronomy clubs’ members to …. ‘complimentary beef curry suppers’.
Thanks for the tour of life along the Regent’s. I can easily imagine myself as the woman sitting and enjoying a cold beer and watching life go by!
I think my favourite photo was that of the water-borne bookstore — complete with mascot dog. I had no idea ….