I went on a walk Friday before last with the main intention of doing the bit of the Regent’s Canal that I hadn’t done before, which was the stretch between Haggerston, and Limehouse basin, by the Thames. The most eastern and southern section, basically.

I took the tube to Canary Wharf to catch some of the sights I’d glimpsed just before Christmas on the Docklands Light Railway, from Greenwich to Bank. I do like the DLR – it runs through some really interesting urban scenery, old and new.

I’d been thinking of walking all the way on the Regent’s canal from Limehouse in the east to Paddington in the west, and spent a bit too much time dawdling in Canary Wharf and Westferry taking photos. So I just walked to Islington in the end. At that point, near Angel,  the canal goes into a tunnel for a bit, under Upper Street and a shopping centre – not that the shopping centre would have been there when the tunnel was first constructed. Why a  tunnel was deemed necessary, I don’t know. There’s another tunnel near Maida Vale in the west. Maybe they were judged more effective than a load of locks if the land rose, though there’s nothing dramatic in either place.

Anyway, here are some photos – in black and white, which suits the urban landscape, I think.

Starting in Canary Wharf and surrounds.

Limehouse Basin. With the ubiquitous DLR.

Onto the Regent’s Canal.

Approaching the Mile End Road.

An interesting extension.

Stretching out to dry. Inner city comorant.

Alongside Victoria Park, Hackney.

The end. (Of the walk, not the canal!)