Paddington

Little Venice, a prime residential area of London, is centred around Browning's Pool, a triangular shaped basin around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin; there is a small island in the middle.  We walk along the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, along an edge of Little Venice enjoying the views, and then join the Regent's Canal, but have to walk above it for a short while as the canal passes through the Maida Hill Tunnel; we re-join the canal tow path at Crocker's Folly, formerly an opulent Victorian pub but now a Lebanese restaurant.  

We rejoin the Regent's Canal; there are many moored narrowboats along this stretch of the canal, until we pass along the edge of Regent's Park and see some very fine buildings on the other bank, in the Park.  We reach Macclesfield Bridge, also known as Blow Up Bridge; this is because in 1874 a barge exploded right underneath it, destroying both itself and the bridge - the bridge was rebuilt like for like, but with the pillars swivelled meaning that rope grooves are visible on both sides.  London Zoo is in Regent's Park, and we see some of the outskirts of the zoo as we carry on towards Camden Town.Leggi altro