Paddington & its transport systems – 3 The Great Western Railway This was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and it is interesting that his railway opened in the same year his canal bridge was built. It was in 1838 that these events occured. The railway itself was broad gauge of…
Paddington & its transport systems – 2 The canal – Brunel’s bridge: This was an early Brunel structure, predating the major works at Paddington Station by several years. The castings were made in Deptford and put together on site in 1838 and the structure officially opened in 1839. It was…
Paddington and its transport systems – 1 The building of the Grand Junction Canal between Braunston and Brentford brought the canal network to the River Thames, which in turn ran through the heart of London, giving direct access to the city’s wharves and industry. While this was intially an acceptable…
The Kilburn Aqueduct and the Westbourne River There were just two aqueducts on the London canal system in it’s early days. Besides the substatial crossing over the River Brent near Stonebridge, there was also the Kilburn Aqueduct in what is now London’s Little Venice. This was a substantial structure with…
A tour around Little Venice Part 3 The Blue (and Green) plaques of Little Venice Generally Blue Plaques are those of English Heritage and the former Greater London Council. The Green ones are from the City of Westminster. Many famous people live in and around the pool area and elsewhere…
A tour around Little Venice Part 2 Brownings Pool is the largest feature and it is the junction of three waterway routes. It is named after the poet Robert Browning, perhaps a gentrification in defiance of the older name used by the locals and boaters which was Rats Island, but…
A tour around Little Venice – with a sprinkling of history Map of Little Venice produced in 2009 The canal west of Lord Hills bridge at night Starting from the western end we have the Waterside Inn and Lord Hills footbridge. This crossing used to be a concrete structure from…
The ‘Little Venice’ facts that are ignored As most people will know, Little Venice is that well known area tucked away in W2 between Paddington and Maida Vale with its white stuccoed Victorian mansions and numerous celebrities. But it wasnt always seen as a ‘pretty’ part of London. In Robert…
Edgware Road Edgware Road is the oldest main throroughfare in London, At least 2,300 years ago it was a trackway through the Middlesex Forest. When the Romans invaded Britain, they created one of their major routes from this trackway – Watling Street. This began at Cannon Street and its route…