The green Paddington Basin

Tuesday, 09 August 2011 08:47

Seeing this mosaic made of rubbish as we approached Little Venice on the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union was a salutory reminder of what a throw away society we live in.

Mosaic made of rubbish

We were glad that we had not picked up any thing on our prop on this bit of canal ......

We passed all the moorings lining the canal - many narrowboats were double moored and there were only a couple of spots left. Opposite are house boats and a restaurant.

The old gauging station and toll house where the canal narrows has the Blue Lamp Bridge (Westbourne Terrace Bridge) crossing it.

Blue Lamp Bridge from Gauging Station

Beyond is Browning's Island and Pool. The Waterside Café looked lovely with all the flowers on it and in the sun it was a popular place.

In Browning's Pool

The Poet Robert Browning lived near here. The name of the pool may have been coined by him and the island was named after him.

Browning's Island

As we approached the entry to Paddington Basin, we reversed to give way to a narrowboat exiting.

Bridge at entry to Paddington Basin (into the sun)

Behind us the Trip Boats were arriving - they like to take precedence over other traffic here and on the Regents Canal. Paddington Basin gradually became greener and greener - the water that is.

Bridges over the Basin

Oh dear - now it really is green

The weed clearer boat was doing its best to clear the duck weed

We passed the moorings next to Paddington station - there was one vacant.

Vacant mooring by Paddington Station

But we continued on to West Basin to see if any of those moorings were free. All the moorings were taken.

We turned and came back to the mooring by the station

The Helix Bridge in the background is apparently broken; hence the far basin is not in use. What an expensive waste!

Moorings by St Mary's Hospital and Marks and Spencer HQ

We needed to be fairly near the station as we had trains to catch, but it was a bit noisy with people and the building of Crossrail

A few more photos tomorrow .....

Grand Union Paddington Arm, Perivale to Paddington Basin
2 hours 49 minutes, 7.85 miles, 0 locks