A walking tour along the towpath of the Regent's Canal is a walk along
a route of living history, with remindes of London's past to be seen and
pointed out by our guides as you explore. Learn how horses trod this path and
how they got out of the water if they fell in. See the mouth of Islington
Tunnel, London's longest, where once a steam chain tug plied its way back and
forth pulling laden barges. Look at the marks on the bridges left by horse
towing ropes long ago, and see the new developments that have sprung up along
this busy part of London's Regent's Canal. The walk takes a bit over an hour,
and is an easy walk with no steep climbs and a mostly good surface. It starts
from the London Canal Museum and ends at Camden Town. Notice the keystone of an
original bridge in the wall at Camden, and soak up the past of this now-busy
area around the three Camden locks.
Public Walking Tours:
Public walking tours start from the London Canal Museum and walk to Camden Town, taking in a short diversion to the mouth of Islington Tunnel. Discover:
- Islington Tunnel
- How the railway from London to Scotland was protected from flooding
during bombing in the second world war.
- Canalside buildings
- The locations of old basins
- The former uses of canalside areas, for example the Camley Street
Nature Park, which used to be a coal depot.
- Four locks - you may get to see boats passing through, but if not
your guide can explain how they work!
- The site of the long forgotten Hydropneumatic lock, built by a
famous rocket inventor
- The general history of the Regent's Canal
Dates and Times
- 5th August 2019 at 1830 (Note: Evening walk. The museum will not be open, but the shop will be open from 1800-1830
The Cost
£3 flat rate for all participants
Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to customers who booked in advance.
If there are spare places they will be bookable after 1800 at the museum on the day.
Arriving for the Walk
If you are on the way and are late
please call 020 7713 0836, we will wait up to 10 minutes or will arrange to
meet at a convenient point part of the way into the canal walk. If the weather
forecast is poor, please bring an umbrella or raincoat as there is limited
shelter. The walk will not be cancelled due to rain. The walk departs from London Canal Museum, New Wharf Road, N1 9RT at 1830
Book Here
Walks available to pre-booked
groups:
If you are considering bringing a group of at least ten people a
special walk may be possible for your party by prior arrangement, combined with
a group visit to the museum. Walks for groups
can take place at any time of year. The following walks are suggested, subject
to availability of a guide. Group walks are not offered without a museum visit.
These London walks are specialist walking tours and a guide won't be available
on all dates.
Cumberland Arm Walk
- See the stump that is nowadays known as Cumberland Basin
- Look at an attractive bridge over nothing and discover the canal
connection
- See the route where once there was water and boat traffic and
discover the real Cumberland Basin.
"Footsteps" Walk
- Explore the canal between Caledonian Road and Islington Tunnel, and
learn about the history of the tunnel
- Explore the route that was once taken across Islington Hill by the
horses, whilst boats went through the tunnel. This part of the walk will be led
by a guide from Clerkenwell and Islington
Guides Association and an additional charge will be made by CIGA
- See east end of Islington Tunnel and discover City Road Lock and
the canal basin that was once one of the major destinations for narrowboats
arriving from the midlands and north..
"River Fleet" Walk
- Explore the course of the now-hidden River
- Discover the influence that this watercourse has had on the
building of the area
- Walk will take in the area around King's Cross, St. Pancras, and
Gray's Inn Road
Other London walks to try and ways to walk
Towpath walks are also offered by Original London Walks in
co-operation with the Inland Waterways
Association. These cover various routes. They do not start from the museum.
There are local guided walks available from Clerkenwell and Islington
Guides Association, known as Clerkenwell Walks.
The Guide booklet
We offer a short colour guide booklet to the towpath walk from the
museum to Camden, in our shop, at a price of £2.00. This is suitable for
people to use on their own without a human guide.
The Mobile Walk
The Mobile Walk is a guided walk on the same section of canal but walking west to east, from Camden
to the museum. The Mobile Walk can be undertaken at any time (not reccommended
after dark) with the assistance of your mobile smartphone. The museum's mobile
Internet home page is at www.canalmuseum.mobi and the walk page is at
www.canalmuseum.mobi/mobilewalk.htm
The MP3 Towpath Tour
You can also download a guided tour of the towpath from Camden to the
museum in audio format from this website. Use your Ipod, MP3 player, or
MP3-playing mobile phone to listen to the history of the canal as you walk
along it. Please go to our podcasts page to
download the file (or a script for the hearing-impaired visitor)
