* the “London Canal Museum” & the “Regent Canal” at Kings Cross-London N1

Regular followers of my London Shoes will know that the purpose of my work is to focus on some of the lesser known and more unusual aspects of this wonderful city’s history and its landmarks – stuff that’s outside the better known and more familiar sights and places.

Like most capital cities there are loads of fantastic museums scattered across London. Most visitors/tourists and Londoner’s, have probably at some time been to places like the Natural History Museum / The Science Museum / The V&A Museum / The British Museum plus many more, the majority of which are housed in magnificent Victorian buildings…….and well worth a visit they are too.

However – tucked away in crevices throughout the ‘Smoke’ there are also loads of other much smaller museums – all of which are equally as interesting and worthy of a gander – and this particular blog article refers to one such place – the “LONDON CANAL MUSEUM” – located in New Wharf Road, just a stone’s throw north of Kings Cross/St. Pancras Station.

Opened in 1992 the excellent Canal Museum is dedicated to the history of London’s canals and canal network.

It is housed in an old 1862 built Victorian ‘Ice Warehouse’ that was used by one of London’s first ever established ice-cream importers and makers “Carlo Gatti”.

Carlo Gatti was a Swiss born British restaurant owner who came to England in 1847 and opened up a couple of restaurants, and also set up his own ice cream importing business.

It is said that he was the first person in London to make ice cream available to the general public – who used to sample it in purposely made ‘penny licks’ jars.

He used his warehouse in New Wharf Road to house ice that he had imported from Norway by ship – and then on to Kings Cross by canal.

In the museum there is still in situ, the massive ‘ice well’ that was used in Carlo Gatti’s production process.

On display in the Carlo Gatti section of the museum, are a selection of ‘penny lick’ ice cream jars – collector items these days.

The Canal Museum’s 2 floors are crammed full of artifacts, items, photos and information on London’s canal network and canal life.

Before motorisation, barges and narrow boats were pulled along the canal towpaths by horses – and so horses and blacksmiths were a valuable necessity on the canals.

When the Canal Museum was a working warehouse, there would be up to 100 horses used in its normal daily operations.

The Museum still has its original ‘walkway’ that was used by the horses to get up to the upper levels of the warehouse – and on the 2^nd floor there is a mock-up of the type of stables that were built into the canal warehouses.

There are examples of the engineering type machinery that was used in everyday canal life – along with loads of the old tools that were used by boatmen and the canal based industries.

A number of well-known product ‘brands’, some still around today – were made/manufactured alongside London canals. For example, McVities built a massive factory in Harlesden – where they produced popular brands such as Jaffa Cakes / Penguins / Hobnobs. The McVitie factory was build right next to the Grand Union Canal – which was vital for transportation of not only raw materials but also the finished products.

Products such as Guiness / Heinz Baked Beans / Lyons Tea & Nestles – were all brands that were manufactured in factories situated alongside London’s canal network – linking their products with the likes of Birmingham / Liverpool & Manchester.

In 1947 the McVitie factory at Harlesden was given the job of making the wedding cake for Queen Elizabeth II – and again, the canal network played a vital role in making all that happen.

There is a mock-up of a canal narrow boat/barge on the ground floor of the museum – which you can go inside and get a proper ‘feel’ for what life onboard was like (great for little ones to experience).

One of the displays at the Canal Museum that I found particularly interesting – were the old maps of the London canal network – starting from its early days when canals were first introduced, and then moving right up to present times. I found it interesting to see how quickly the canal network evolved and how far it spread out to – and how all the canals linked up – before heading ‘up north’ to the Midlands/ Manchester / Liverpool.

Boatmen’s families all lived on board and as many of their journeys took them up and down Britain’s canal network, it meant that a lot of the ‘boat’ children were never in one place long enough to receive a consistent proper schooling.

So – in 1904 a Boatman’s Institution was set up alongside the canal network in Brentford, that consisted of 2 classrooms to accommodate ‘boat’ children – whilst their parents were negotiating the transportation of cargo ‘up north’.

So – this little known about Canal Museum is well worth a visit, if you find yourself with time on your hands in the Kings Cross area – and it only costs a few bob to get in. I hope my photos have done it justice.

After an hour or so mooching around the Museum – the next item on my London Shoes agenda for the day, was to explore the nearby ‘Regent Canal’ right on the doorstep of the Museum.

The Regent Canal is just a couple of mins walk north of Kings Cross/St. Pancras station – it’s a hidden little gem as not many people would equate Kings Cross with picturesque canal scenery.

The Regent Canal was officially opened in 1816 – its 8.6 miles long, has 13 locks and provides a link between the Grand Union Canal near Paddington – and the Limehouse Basin in the east…..and obviously the River Thames.

Named after the Prince Regent son of George III, the Regent Canal’s principal activity when it opened was the transportation route for coal / timber / building materials/ grain / flour, plus loads of other raw materials or produce – from up north, and delivered to Kings Cross, for London use – or – to then be transported out by rail to other areas ‘down south’ – an operation that was carried out for over 150yrs.

However – by the late 1960’s the use of London’s canal network for commercial purposes had almost completely disappeared – and over the ensuing years the canals and their towpaths slowly became part of London’s tourist industry – offering leisurely walks along the towpaths to and from Camden Lock in North London to Little Venice in NW London – a popular pastime  for Londoners and visitors alike.

There’s quite a few narrowboats/barges moored up in the Kings Cross section of the Regent Canal – some are a little run down and clearly not cared for much – but others are decorated and finished to a high standard, being very much an attractive advert for ‘canal life’.

There were a couple of boats moored up that particularly caught my eye, when wandering up and down the Regent Canal towpath at Kings Cross.

One of the boats advertised “Tarot Card Readings” – by a guy named ‘Merlin Trotter’ – it did make me laugh as it sounded more like a scene from Only Fools & Horses.

The other boat that I thought was really cool was “Word on the Water” – a floating ‘library’ crammed full of new and used classics / children’s books / best-selling fictions plus many more.

‘Word on the Water’ is a 100yr old Dutch barge permanently moored barge on which you can browse through hundreds of books outside on its decks or inside below deck.

This floating library also stages events like poetry recitals / book readings / and even live music.

‘Word on the Water’ is a definite ‘must see’ if ever in the Kings Cross area – a really unique idea, that’s been excellently thought out and presented.

So – having spent a few hours at the Canal Museum and then ambling up and down the Regent Canal towpath – me and my long-time mate Pete, my companion for the day – went off in search of a nearby pub for the customary liquid refreshment and a bag of pork scratchings.

Having climbed a set of stairs from the Regent Canal towpath up onto York Way, (the main road leading northwards out of Kings Cross), we found ourselves standing outside a pub called the “Star of Kings” – and so we popped inside for a ‘cheeky’ beer or two.

From an initial glance the ‘Star of Kings’ looked very much like an old school pub – however – at closer glance it was clear that this wasn’t just some quiet back street type pub.

The pub promotes 3 floors of ‘live’ entertainment that includes Music / Comedy & Quiz Nights / Karaoke Nights plus many other activities.

The pub was empty when we went there – and we plonked ourselves on a couple of the leather sofas at the back of the pub, behind which was a proper 2 turn-table record deck ( the ‘ones & two’ as those in the know would call them) – so clearly many a banging choon is belted out inside the ‘Star of Kings’.

Anyway – me and my old mate enjoyed a couple of beers and departed to Kings Cross station and a train back home.

Now – there is a fantastic Facebook group entitled “London Pubs” where ‘followers’ can post photos and comments about pubs they may have visited.

I joined/followed this London Pubs FB group a few months ago and have made a point of doing postings of the pubs that my London Shoes visits after every blog venture – as I say, it’s a really interesting and enjoyable Group to follow, and I’ve found out a lot about pubs I never knew existed.

So – I did a posting on this FB Group for the ‘Star of Kings’ pub mentioned above – and it received quite a few ‘comments’ from fellow followers.

 

Apparently, a few decades back the pub used to be called the ‘Backpackers’ and it was very much a ‘locals’ pub. However, it was taken over and became part of a ‘chain’ of music/entertainment type pubs that have outlets in places Shoreditch / Hackney / Bethnal Green and other now ‘trendy’ areas of East London.

Anyone interested in London pubs, I can thoroughly recommend this Facebook Group – it’s become a great source of info to me and my London Shoes stuff.

So – that’s the Canal Museum and the Regent Canal for ya – hope you enjoyed in and that its accompanying photos helped bring the visit to life for you.

____________________________________

See below the entire gallery of photos taken to support this blog article