Walk #50: Paddington to Mile End

D25 A pagoda restaurant on the Regent's Canal between London Zoo and Camden.		D24 The Regent's Canal below the Aviary at London Zoo.

General Data

P20115025450 Under Finchley Road bridge.		P20115025448 Finchley Road bridge.

Map of the walk

P20115025447 Houseboats taking over the towpath.		P20115025435 The London Zoo aviary.

Notes

This was a fairly nice little walk, starting off at Paddington tube station. Walking past Paddington mainline station was fairly sombre - only 5 days has passed since the crash that killed 30+ people outside the station.

I could tell that I had not done much walking recently - the walk affected me more than it really should. I partially put this down to the trainers, which are not ideal for walking, but it is also undoubtedly a general decline in fitness from where I was at the end of the Pennine Way.

I used to walk along the canal regularly 5 years ago, and it was nice to walk it again and see how much some areas of it had changed, but also how little others had changed. Camden was just the same, but it seemed so different - although in reality it was my perspective that had changed as I am a lot older and wiser than the 18-year old who used to spend every waking hour around that area.

PPlease note that many of the photographs on this page were taken on a later walk, walk 898 in 2011.

P20115025428 Following the canal towards Little Venice.		P20115025423 Food stalls in Camden.

Directions

Another simple walk. From Paddington tube station turn left and then immediately right past the entrance to Paddington Mainline station. When you meet another road, turn right and head down to the roundabout. Turn left at the roundabout, past the builders merchants and then onto the canal banks to Little Venice.

From Little Venice turn right down the Regents Canal. before long you have a short tunnel in front of you, to which you have to take to the roads above. Once you rejoin the canal, simply follow it all the way past Regents Park and London Zoo, Camden Lock, Islington (where another tunnel forces you to take to the roads past Angel) and down to Mile End. The walk can be extended by just over a mile to Limehouse Basin and the Thames.

The whole route is quite well signposted, although in some areas the signs cannot be read due to graffiti and vandalism. it is almost impossible to get lost, though, especially with an A to Z to help you past the tunnels.

P20115025414 Canalboats.		P20115025408 The bridge carrying the CTRL over the canal.

Further information

The walk is also covered in detail in the Grand Union Canal Walk, by Anthony Burton and Neil Curtis, ISBN 1 85410 244 3, published by Aurum Press Ltd. Click on the image to the right to go the Amazon page for this book.   For more details on the Grand Union Canal see Jim Shead's canal pages.

Distances

This makes a total distance of 8.3 miles, with 138 feet of ascent and 187 feet of descent.

P20115025406 St Pancras lock.		P20115025389 The eastern end of Islington Tunnel.

P20115025381 A boat on the river.		P20115025380 Following the Regent's Canal westwards through London.

P20115025370 Following the Regent's Canal westwards through London.		P20115025366 Acton's Lock.

P20115025362 Following the Regent's Canal westwards through London.		P20115025358 Approaching Victoria Park.

P20115025353 A new canalside building.		P20115025348 The canalside Queen Mary Halls of Residences.

Disclaimer

Please note that I take no responsibility for anything that may happen when following these directions. If you intend to follow this route, then please use the relevant maps and check the route out before you go out. As always when walking, use common sense and you should be fine.

If you find any information on any of these routes that is inaccurate, or you wish to add anything, then please email me.

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Although this site includes links providing convenient direct access to other Internet sites, I do not endorse, approve, certify or make warranties or representations as to the accuracy of the information on these sites.

And finally, enjoy your walking!

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