"through the London boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth London's canal towpaths provide numerous walking routes and connect many of the capital's famous green spaces, including from Regent's Park to Victoria Park (and then to the River Thames) and from the Lee Valley Regional Park in the east to the Colne Valley Regional Park in the west. The towpaths of the Grand Union Canal with its Paddington and Slough Arms, The Regent's Canal, Hertford Union Canal, Lee Navigation and Limehouse Cut can also be followed. The New River Path is a long-distance footpath which follows the course of the"
"Limehouse Cut The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London, England, which linked the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. It now connects to Limehouse Basin (which in turn connects to the River Thames) as a result of changes made in 1968. The Cut turns in a broad curve from Bow Locks, where the Lee Navigation meets Bow Creek; it then proceeds directly south-west for through the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to Limehouse Basin. The Limehouse Cut was authorised by the River Lee Act, an Act of Parliament"
"Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for with 166 locks. It has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton. The Grand Union Canal was also the original name for part of what is now part of the Leicester Line of the modern Grand Union: this latter is now generally referred to as the Old Grand Union Canal to avoid ambiguity. With competition from the railways having taken a large share of traffic in the second half"
"Hertford Union Canal leads from the Regent's canal, at a basin in the north of Mile End to join the River Lea at Old Ford. A further canal, Limehouse Cut, London's oldest, leads from locks at Bromley-by-Bow to Limehouse Basin. Most of the canal tow-paths are open to both pedestrians and cyclists. Victoria Park was formed by Act of Parliament, and administered by the LCC and its successor authority the GLC. Since the latter authority's abolition, the park has been administered by Tower Hamlets. Part of the borough is within the boundary of the Thames Gateway development area. Areas included"
"the area around Limehouse Basin and the original lock into the Thames have been extensively developed as part of the Docklands Regeneration scheme, the row of houses overlooking the lock, which were built in 1883 by the Lee Conservators, have been retained and refurbished, while the site of the lock is now a shallow pool. At the end of the London 2012 torch relay, David Beckham arrived with the Olympic torch on a speedboat via the Limehouse Cut to the Olympic opening ceremony. Limehouse Cut The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London,"
"Grand Union Canal (old) The Grand Union Canal was a canal in England from Foxton, Leicestershire on the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal to Norton Junction, close to Long Buckby Wharf on the Grand Junction Canal. It now forms the first of the Leicester Section, a branch of the much bigger modern Grand Union Canal. The original name ""Grand Union"" derived from the fact that it was in effect an extension of the older Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal (LNU) - or rather a substitute for the southern half of the LNU's originally proposed route. The ""Grand Union"" name survived"
"the Bull's Bridge junction near the future site of Heathrow Airport. The Grand Junction (now part of the Grand Union Canal) was the final link in a chain of canals that reduced the distance from London to Birmingham from in 1789 to in 1805; terminating the canal at Paddington gave easy access to main roads into London and the level route meant no locks were needed on its length. In contrast the Regent's Canal needed 12 locks for the descent from Paddington to the Thames at Limehouse. The canal was an instant success, with warehouses and housing springing up around"
"Grand Union Canal (Grand Junction Canal – Main Line) is at Brentford on the River Thames in west London, where the canal follows the engineered course of the Brent. The double Thames Lock at Brentford separates the Tideway administered by the Port of London Authority from the River Brent/Grand Union Canal, administered by the Canal & River Trust. The locks on the canal are partially numbered: numbered consecutively south of its turn-off for Leicester, Braunston Junction. Thames Lock is lock number 101. For more than upstream of Thames Lock, the canal and the Brent are one and the same, and"
"covering a minimum ; the 2008-estimated cost was £30 million. The trust confirmed in 2012 this remains a long-term objective, to be actioned when the economic conditions allow. Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for with 166 locks. It has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton. The Grand Union Canal was also the original name for part of what is now part of the Leicester Line of the modern Grand Union: this latter is now"
"Paddington Arm The Paddington Canal or Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal is a canal to Paddington in central London, England. It runs from the west of the capital at Bull's Bridge in Hayes. Little Venice — its only junction — is with the Regent's Canal, London that runs to Limehouse Basin to the east. The arm and the two canals it links are fed by water by the Brent Reservoir. Travelling east is Camden Lock and the Paddington Arm is as such the mainstay of a long level pound (also known as tract or reach) of without locks."
"Digbeth Branch Canal The Digbeth Branch Canal in Birmingham, England is a short canal which links the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction and the Grand Union Canal at Digbeth Junction (or historically, at the adjacent Warwick Bar) in Digbeth, a district in Birmingham, England. Built under the Birmingham Canal Act 1768 and completed in 1799 the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations took traffic from the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal and the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (now both part of the Grand Union Canal) towards the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at the Worcester Bar (Gas Street"
"Junction"". The company was eventually bought by the Grand Junction Canal company in 1894. It is 48 miles long with 22 locks, one aqueduct and a half-mile long tunnel, the Saddington. Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal The Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal is a canal in England that is now part of the Grand Union Canal. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 to connect Leicester to the Nene near Northampton and to join the projected line of the Grand Junction Canal but by 1809 the canal was only complete from Leicester to Market Harborough. In 1810"
"Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal The Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal is a short canal connecting the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal in the centre of Birmingham () to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal near Gravelly Hill Interchange (). It was authorized in 1840 by Act of Parliament to relieve pressure on this connection to the Grand Junction Canal leading to London and opened in 1844. It is 2.5 miles long and has 6 locks. In 1929 it was bought by the Regent's Canal company to form part of the Grand Union Canal. Like the Camp Hill"
"Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal The Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal is a canal in England that is now part of the Grand Union Canal. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 to connect Leicester to the Nene near Northampton and to join the projected line of the Grand Junction Canal but by 1809 the canal was only complete from Leicester to Market Harborough. In 1810 the connection was completed by the original Grand Union Canal Company which had been formed to make a connection between the canal at Foxton and the Grand Junction canal at ""Norton"
"Junction. South of Kingswood Junction the Southern Stratford Canal descends through locks to the River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon. The Grand Union leads north to Knowle Locks, and then Birmingham, and leads south to Hatton Locks and Warwick. Kingswood Junction Kingswood Junction () is a series of canal junction where the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal meets the Grand Union Canal at Kingswood, Warwickshire, England. The Grand Union Canal was a late addition to the British canal system, being formed in 1929 by the amalgamation of a number of canal companies. This included the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, which was authorised in 1793 by"
"the facilities were put to use by the firm of T&W Forestt constructing lifeboats for Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Between 1852 and 1890, several of the institution's lifeboats were constructed in Limehouse. The history of the connection of the Basin to the River Thames and the Limehouse Cut is complex. Originally the Basin had three entrance locks to the Thames to separate ship and barge traffic. The smaller upstream entrances were later closed and filled. In 1968, a short stretch of new canal was constructed to reconnect the Limehouse Cut to the Basin, replacing the Cut's old direct link with"
"Kingswood Junction Kingswood Junction () is a series of canal junction where the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal meets the Grand Union Canal at Kingswood, Warwickshire, England. The Grand Union Canal was a late addition to the British canal system, being formed in 1929 by the amalgamation of a number of canal companies. This included the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, which was authorised in 1793 by an Act of Parliament, in the same year that the Grand Junction Canal from Braunston to Brentford was authorised. The Warwick and Napton Canal, authorised in 1794, provided a link from the southern end of the canal"
"of 40 feet. All of the canal between Ashted Lock at Jennens Road (formerly the A47) and Great Barr Street (Bordesley) is within the Warwick Bar Conservation Area. Digbeth Branch Canal The Digbeth Branch Canal in Birmingham, England is a short canal which links the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction and the Grand Union Canal at Digbeth Junction (or historically, at the adjacent Warwick Bar) in Digbeth, a district in Birmingham, England. Built under the Birmingham Canal Act 1768 and completed in 1799 the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations took traffic from the Birmingham and Warwick"
"Bordesley Junction Bordesley Junction () is a canal junction where the Grand Union Canal splits near to Bordesley, Birmingham, England. It opened in 1844, when the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal was built as part of a scheme to bypass the congestion at the Farmers Bridge flight of locks. The Grand Union Canal was formed in 1929 by the amalgamation of eight canal companies. The route through Bordesley was part of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, which intersected the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations a short distance to the north-west of the junction. The canal was authorised by"
"Limehouse Link tunnel The Limehouse Link tunnel is a long tunnel between Limehouse and Poplar in East London on the A1203 road which links the northern approach of Tower Bridge with a point just north of Canary Wharf in London Docklands. Built between 1989-1993 at a cost of £293,000,000 it has been calculated as the most expensive road scheme in Britain per mile, working out at £50,500 per foot at 2011 prices. It is the second largest non-estuarial road tunnel in the UK, after the Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey. During the early 1980s, it was clear that the existing road"
"( when excluding the shared line with the Oxford Canal), is by far the longest ""merged"" canal in the UK, whilst the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for being and having parts of the now-extinct southern end of the Lancaster Canal, is considered the longest ""single"" Canal in the UK: A 5-mile (8-km) section of the Oxford Canal forms the main line of the Grand Union between Braunston and Napton. Although the Grand Union intended to buy the Oxford Canal and Coventry Canal, this did not take place. The section of the main line between Brentford and Braunston (formerly the Grand"
"part of the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal which had been built with the Grand Junction Canal, which had been fully open since 1805. Experience on the Grand Junction showed that broad boats caused delays as they could not pass in the tunnels, and so the Grand Junction was happy for the new canal to be built with only narrow locks, but with broad tunnels and bridges to allow passing of boats. With the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire route unfinished, a Bill was put to Parliament to authorise a new canal, known as the Grand Union Canal, from the Leicestershire and"
"but this was removed in the 1990s. Pedestrian and cycle access via the towpath that forms part of the Lea Valley Walk. The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Limehouse. Britannia Stop Lock Britannia Stop Lock was a lock on the Limehouse Cut in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was built in 1853. The gates were either side of Commercial Road bridge and were oriented such that a boat travelling from south-west to north-east would ascend in height. From 1 January 1854, the Regents Canal took control of Limehouse Cut and built a connecting link into the Regents"
"demonstrate the size of the former lock. The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Limehouse. Limehouse Basin Lock Limehouse Basin Lock is a lock forming the exit from Limehouse Basin to the Thames, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It is the final lock on the Regent's Canal. The Narrow Street swing bridge sits between the lock and the river. The current lock was built in 1989 for yachts and pleasure craft, to conserve water in the Basin. It measures by and was built completely within the chamber of the former Ship Lock entrance to the basin. This"
"the Regent's Canal, which links the Thames to the Grand Union Canal and thus to the waterway network across much of England. These canals were originally built in the Industrial Revolution for the transport of coal, raw materials and foods. Although they now carry few goods, they are popular with private narrowboat users and leisure cruisers, and a regular ""water bus"" service operates along the Regent's Canal during the summer months. Some bulk cargoes are carried on the Thames, and the Mayor of London wishes to increase this use. London's port used to be the country's busiest when it was"
"controlled, protecting Gloucester and the villages along the course of the canal to Sharpness. The Grand Union Canal starts in London and runs to Birmingham with a total length of 137 miles (220 km) and 166 locks. Safety or Air Raid Protection (ARP) gates were installed at around 16 locations that were designed to automatically close if the canals were damaged during the WWII Luftwaffe's air raids. A very large number of bombs, etc. fell in the vicinity of the canals in London during the war, however no significant flooding resulted from damage to canals. The Air Raid Precautions (ARP)"
"Lea Valley with the docks. A short-cut to the Thames avoiding the winding mouth of the Lea (Bow Creek) and closer to central London was provided by the Limehouse Cut (1760). A connection from London to the Midlands had been provided by the Oxford Canal since 1790, but this required navigation up the winding the upper Thames to Oxford. The completion of the Grand Junction Canal (later Grand Union) from the Thames at Brentford (1798 onwards) provided a more convenient route. In 1801 an arm was opened from the Grand Junction at Hayes to a large basin at Paddington. This"
"and Birmingham Canal leads to the Digbeth Branch Canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations at the Warwick Bar, while the later line of the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal leads to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (and Tame Valley Canal) at Salford Junction, which in turn has connections to the Coventry Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal. Formed by amalgamations of once-independent canals, the 'Leicester Line' of the Grand Union Canal runs north from Norton Junction for about until it reaches Leicester, where it joins the River Soar to provide a link to the River Trent and to the"
"north and south. The north section leads to Rugby and Coventry; the southward fork carries both the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union for to Napton Junction. Here, the Grand Union heads north towards Birmingham, while the Oxford Canal veers south towards Banbury and Oxford. Shortly after Napton Junction, the Grand Union reaches three locks at Calcutt, which begin the descent to the Warwickshire River Avon. After a 3-mile (5-km) level, the canal descends into the valley of the River Leam by the Stockton flight of 10 locks (often known as 'the Itchington Ten'). Above the eighth lock down the"
"Pool of London The Pool of London is a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse. Part of the Tideway of the Thames, the Pool was navigable by tall-masted vessels bringing coastal and later overseas goods—the wharves there were the original part of the Port of London. The Pool of London is divided into two parts, the Upper Pool and Lower Pool. The Upper Pool consists of the section between London Bridge and the Cherry Garden Pier in Bermondsey. The Lower Pool runs from the Cherry Garden Pier to Limekiln Creek. Originally, the Pool was the"
"Britannia Stop Lock Britannia Stop Lock was a lock on the Limehouse Cut in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was built in 1853. The gates were either side of Commercial Road bridge and were oriented such that a boat travelling from south-west to north-east would ascend in height. From 1 January 1854, the Regents Canal took control of Limehouse Cut and built a connecting link into the Regents Canal Dock, now called Limehouse Basin. At the same time, a third set of gates was added to Britannia Lock. These faced the other way to the existing gates and"
"1811 as one of the feeder reservoirs for the Grand Junction Canal by engineer John Rennie and constructor Hugh Mackintosh. The link to the canal did not fulfil its intended purpose, since the water became polluted by the land and was eventually stopped as a feeder in 1851. The canal (now renamed the Grand Union Canal) is located some distance to the west and a culvert was built to lead water to the canal at Hayes Bridge which is seven miles from the Lido. Some of the route was underground and parts have been built over. Part of the route"
"to Ham. Thames meander challenges along the length of the Thames from Lechlade often pass through the London sections and finish well downstream, for example at Gravesend Pier. The Grand Union Canal joins the river at Brentford, with a branch – the Regent's Canal – joining at Limehouse Basin. The other part of the canal network still connecting on the Tideway is the River Lea Navigation. Narrow low-lying belts beside the tidal section of the Thames regularly flood at spring tides, supporting brackish plants. One such example is at Chiswick Lane South, where the river, as pictured, overflows this road"