Areas along
thecanal
Primrose Hill
Northof thecanal above
Regent’sPark, Primrose
Hill is lessof acelebrity
magnet than itwas in its
’90sheyday,when Jude
Law, EwanMcGregor,
KateMoss et al called
it home–but this is
still a rarefiedcorner of
London, and the view
across to theLondon
Eye from the topof the
hill isworth thehike.
Broadway Market
TheHackneymarket
street,which runsup
toLondonFields from
thecanal, hostsa food
marketonSaturdaysbut
iswortha visit any time
for itshipster village
vibe– from theArtwords
bookshop tococktailsat
thepainfullyhipCat and
Muttonandcoffeesat
Climpson&Sons, oneof
thepioneersof London’s
artisancoffeecraze.
Limehouse Basin
At the far east end
of thecanal is the
LimehouseBasin, a
mostly residential area
around theThames river.
Onehighlight isGordon
Ramsay restaurant The
Narrow,which jutsout
into thewaterwith views
up toTowerBridge.
Peopleonboatsareselling
antiquebooks, vintage frocksand ice
cream.There’sa floatingcinema, a
puppet theatreandsometimeseven
a floatingcircus.
While it ischeaper to liveona
houseboat, it’snot easy. Ifyoudon’t
haveapermanentmooring,which
isexpensiveandnear-impossible to
get fornewboatowners, youhave to
moveeveryweekor fortnight.You
need tomaintain theboatalmost
constantly,not tomentionhaving to
dealwith thecontentsofyour loo.
Andwhilecrimehasdecreased,
andmany talkof thesenseof
communityamonghouseboat
owners, theyarestill vulnerable.
It’s fora fewof these reasons that
we receivedachilly responsewhen
wepostedabout thispieceon the
LondonBoatersFacebookgroup
(membership2,078).Onemember
was fedupof journalists“sugar-
coating” lifeon the river; another
simplywrote“longwalk, shortpier”.
Alas, a longwalkalong thecanal
revealedanactress, agallerist,
a foodwriter turnedcaféowner,
andagentlemanwhowasdriving
hishouseboat toMiltonKeynes,
navigating 176 locksalong theway.
Lifeonaboat seemedhardbut
rewarding, andsimplystrollingand
observing the lifeof thecanalwas
fascinating.More importantly, there
wasn’tashortpier tobe found.
NorwegianfliestoLondon fromnearly
40destinations.Bookflights,ahotel
andarentalcaratnorwegian.com
Thecameraman
As acameraman for theUK’s
Channel4News
, Stuart
Webb spends aroundone thirdof his time in troubled
spots across theworld, often rushingoff toSyria, Libya
or Iraqat short notice–and for the last 14 years, he’s
comeback tohisnarrowboat,whichhas apermanent
mooringeast of Angel. “For a long time, thiswasmyonly
home, and I’dusuallyescape for amonth toAustralia in
thewinter to surf andclearmyhead. But nowadays I’ve
alsogot acottage inSussex, so this ismore likeapied-
à-terre in thecity– it’s ideal, and it’s tidierbecause it’s
no longer filledwithallmyworldlypossessions.”Webb
is lucky tohaveapermanentmooring,whichmeans a
constant electrical supply,whereasmost boat-dwellers
have to run their engines tochargebatteries, not to
mentionhaving tomoveeveryweekor so. “It’s likebeing
ona really goodcampsite,”he says. As for the spike
in lifeon the river, he says: “It’s incrediblebecause it’s
everyone– students, lawyers, teachers, doctors, the lot.”
ALAMY
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