Learn more all about the history of Britain’s Canal network at the London Canal Museum.
The Canal Museum can be found at:-
12-13 New Wharf Road
London N1 9RT
Tel: 0207 713 0836
Fax: 0207 689 6679
Web: www.canalmuseum.org.uk
The site of the museum was formerly used as an ice warehouse for Carlo Gatti a famous ice importer, restauranteur and ice cream maker. The building was built in 1863. Before the days of modern refrigeration, ice was imported from Norway and used by ice cream makers, butchers, fishmongers and hospitals. Ice was transported to this site by boat on the Regent’s Canal.
Canals were constructed to link the rivers of Britain. They were commonly used to transport heavy goods such as coal. In fact, before 1850 nearly all London coal had to be transported by sea from Northumberland and Durham. Therefore, the advent of canals ensured that goods could be transported easily and safely to where they were needed.
In the 1870s more than 40,000 people lived on the boats they operated. People continued to live on boats until the great freeze of 1962-63 ended the use of boats for transporting goods.
On the ground floor of the museum you get a chance to look inside a narrowboat called Coronis. You get a feel of how cramped the living conditions must have been. It’s incredible to think that large families used to occupy such a small space.
Most of the ground floor tells the story of Gatti’s ice cream empire. There is an old cool box, ice cream cart and some tools for handling ice. On display you will find some freeze dried ice cream for use by astronauts.
There is a view of Battlebridge basin from the rear of the museum. The building opposite was occupied by a company called Porter and Co and was used as a beer bottling works. The cranes and loading doors used for unloading barrels of Guinness (imported from Dublin) can still be seen.
Luxury flats have now replaced the old factories and warehouses of the surrounding areas. Battlebridge Basin was built by in 1820 for Williams Horsfall. Battlebridge is the original name for this part of London.
Use of the canals dwindled as the steam railways offered a cleaner faster means of transport. Improvements in road transport in the 1920s also took away a lot of the trade.
The first floor focuses on the horses which were an integral part of canal life. Barges and narrowboats were pulled along the tow-path by horses. There is a recreation of a stable stall which was originally installed in the building in 1906. The exhibition tells the story of horses in London on the canals and streets. The horses that once lived on this floor pulled ice carts. They were able to reach the first floor by way of a special horse ramp. Food for London’s horses was transported from the country to London by narrow boat and their dung was transported from London back to the country. There is a small display of vet’s equipment commonly used on horses in those days.
Explosives were commonly transported by narrow boat in those days as the steam railways were reluctant to transport these. In October 1874 there was an explosion on a boat on the Regent’s Canal which destroyed a bridge. This was known as the Macclesfield Bridge Explosion. The bridge was re-built and is still to this day known as blow up bridge.
There is a silent film which lasts about 20 minutes on the first floor which portrays a journey from east to west London along the Regent’s Canal in 1924. Regents Canal was designed by John Nash.
The Canal Museum is very close to Islington Tunnel once of the longest tunnelled sections of the Regents Canal in London. When going through these sections, the boatmen “legged” their boats along by pushing their feet on the side of the tunnel walls.