On this date in 1812, work commenced on London’s Regent’s Canal. 10 facts:
Regent's Canal is located just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in Limehouse, east London.
The canal is 8.6 miles (13.8 km) long.
It was first proposed by Thomas Homer in 1802 and built during the early 19th century. Noted architect and town planner John Nash was a director of the company.
Its route passes Little Venice, the northern edge of Regent's Park, London Zoo, Camden Town, King's Cross Central, St Pancras and King's Cross railway stations, Broadway Market and Victoria Park, East London.
The largest boat that can pass through it is 21.95 metres (72.0 ft) long, with a beam of 4.27 metres (14.0 ft) and a headroom of 2.79 metres (9 ft 2 in).
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to turn it into a railway line, starting in 1845 when a group of businessmen formed a company to do just that and bought the canal. That venture failed and the company went bust, but there were other attempts, but these were vigorously opposed and also failed.
The Central Electricity Generating Board installed underground cables in a trough below the towpath between St John's Wood and City Road in 1979.
National Cycle Route 1 includes the stretch along the canal towpath from Limehouse Basin to Mile End. There were concerns that pedestrians and cyclists sharing a narrow path would lead to problems, as cycling became a more popular commuting option around 2005. A study was done, which concluded there were relatively few issues, although more recently in 2019 The Guardian newspaper reported that clashes between the two groups had become more common.
The canal's worst disaster occurred at around 5am on 2 October 1874. A barge called Tilbury, loaded with Sugar, nuts, three barrels of petroleum and around five tons of gunpowder (what could possibly go wrong?) was passing along the canal. It exploded. Possibly because someone on board lit a Match. (Health and safety? What health and safety?) Underneath a bridge called the Macclesfield Bridge, near London Zoo. The explosion was heard 20 miles away, and the entire crew, captain Charles Baxton, a labourer named William Taylor, a third man and a young boy all lost their lives. The Macclesfield Bridge was destroyed and rebuilt in 1876 and was nicknamed the 'Blow-Up Bridge'. There were no reports of deaths of animals in the zoo, but there were reports of frightened animals running amok. The fish in the canal weren’t so lucky – dead fish rained down on the surrounding area. It could, however, have been a whole lot worse, since the barge had passed though some densely populated areas earlier on the route.
There’s a folk opera about the canal, Regent's Canal, a Folk Opera, written by Rob Inglis in 2012 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the digging of the canal.
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