The Regents Canal, approaching brand new territory

Saturday, 20 August 2011 15:53

When we cruised this canal in 2008 we only went as far as St Pancras Lock, but now we were to go further and onto some unexplored territory - for us that is.

I am not sure about these flats - rather ugly I think (rather 1960s? Ed.)

Initially we were still in Camden .......

Camden Town stretches to the south and Kentish Town to the north.

Camden Street Bridge could almost be a bridge on a rural canal

The Regents Canal was nearly destroyed but another waterway once flowed around Camden long before the canal. The five mile River Fleet rose at Parliament Hill: one branch from Highgate, the other from Hampstead. These met at Camden and flowed on through St Pancras and Kings Cross, eventually ending at a large tidal basin at the Thames, near where Blackfriars Bridge now stands. It was very wide as it flowed through Camden, something like 20 metres across.

The canal bends as it crosses the old River Fleet Valley - not a hint of a river!

The Fleet formed the western boundary of the Medieval City of London but gradually over the years became an open sewer until it was canalised by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London. By the 1870s it was culverted, submerged and some bits were incorporated into the London sewers. Now no more than a storm relief channel, those in the know can still trace it, and even hear it, below the streets of London.

I digress - but my excuse is that the history of the Fleet River has long fascinated me and I will be spending more time on this website learning more!

The area around St Pancras is varied, from developments of housing to offices. The Constitution pub looks "attractive" by St Pancras Way Bridge.

The Constitution and St Pancras Way Bridge

Elm Village housing

The main line and Eurostar railway bridge dominates the area above St Pancras Lock and after going under it we turned the corner to see the lock and St Pancras Cruising Club beside it.

Rail bridge and the entrance to St Pancras Cruising Club moorings

Still accompanied by our friendly hire boat, we descended the lock and continued towards Kings Cross. We were now on new territory for Epiphany, although we had visited the canal near here before, when we stayed in London in the early 2000s.

Leaving the lock

Proposed developments here and around the Kings Cross area will transform the view from below the lock. Have a look at the images on London Canals

St Pancras Station can clearly be seen due to clearance of the land between the canal and the railway

There are big works all around and once we reached Battlebridge Basin I began to recognise where we were at last .....