locations | north-east section

1 | mile end lock

Quite a change! The lock-keeper's house in the almost rustic scene of 1976 is now completely obscured by trees (although you can just about make out the chimney pots through the leaves). Modern flats have replaced the wharves in the background and to the left you can still make out what looks like some kind of concrete channel (water bypass...?) The towpath on the right is now shaded by many trees; note also that it has been built up higher to the right of the lock gate so that it slopes up more gently.

Below is a shot of the renovated lock-keeper's cottage. The old extension on the right has been replaced by a very modern design whilst the lean-to on the left has been discretely removed...

2 | great eastern main line

The trains to and from Liverpool Street stiil roar past over the bridge here but the building is fairing better than it was in '76 and is now the home of the Mile End Climbing Wall. Note that the sliding doors and metal stanchion have gone and that the large broken window has been bricked up. Interesting to see that there are also many more boats moored along this stretch of the canal now.

3 | hertford union canal junction

At the centre of the 1976 picture here you can still see what I believe is known as The Cricketers Bridge whilst today it is half obscured by the trees. As with many other sections of the canal the old industrial buildings and yards have made way for residential blocks with 'lovely canal view'. Immediately to the right of the narrowboat chimney you can just make out the Hertford Union Canal coming in from the right with the towpath rising up over it. Here too a new block of flats is being built which meant that unfortunately access down onto the HUC towpath was blocked.

4 | hertford union canal

As I was unable to get down onto the towpath from the Regent's Canal, I exited up to Old Ford Road, walked up to the Grove Road bridge and walked back along the HUC towpath from there. The works with the characteristic chimney is still there but the yard has been cleared to make way for some low shed-like office buildings. It's good to see that the warehouse at right has been sympathetically renovated with many of the original details being retained. The stairway up the side of the building has gone but you can still see the support and traces of where it ran. In the distance the blocks of flats are still there.

5 | old ford lock

It looks as if not too much has changed at Old Ford Lock. The only point that intrigues me is that it looks as if the towpath may have been widened and/or straightened a bit since 1976.

6 | near lime wharf

Nice to see that this old warehouse near Lime Wharf has also been preserved and re-purposed although it's perhaps now in danger of being overrun by the ivy...

7 | the gasometers

I couldn't get to quite the same spot from which I took the 1976 picture with the gasometers in the distance because of the many boats moored here obstructing that view. However, it's clear that not much remains of the foremost warehouse. There are some rather sad, boarded up remains of the loading doorways in the middle of the picture whilst the building with the green paintwork seems to be a new addition. Altogether it's become a bit of a mess and it's a pity that these lovely old warehouses couldn't be saved and renovated like some of the others.

8 | near regent's row

This old works was crumbling even when I photographed it in 1976 so it was no real surprise to discover that it had disappeared completely in 2016. The block of flats in the background helped me to locate the original spot and it's quite interesting to see that the new terrace of residential houses somewhat echoes the earlier building.

9 | near sturt's lock

It took me a long time to track down this spot which I finally pinpointed as being just beyond Sturt's Lock. In the background the block of flats has had a (penthouse?) layer added to the top of it. In the foreground the lovely arched windows of the 1976 works, together with the rest of the building have sadly gone to be replaced by rather ungainly modern blocks. At left you can see the remains of the brick-built column that used to form the near corner of the original building. Behind the narrowboats you can just make out the original wooden piles along the base of the old frontage.

10, 11 | city road basin

Nr10 is another location that took me a long time to find. I finally realised that it must be the corner of the City Road Basin when I saw that the top of the block of flats peeping over the roof of the abandoned works in the 1976 picture was the same one that can be seen in the distance in the 2016 shot. In fact, it was often blocks of flats that held the clue to finally determining many of the original locations...

What a vast change here! How blissful it must have been to be able to take a skiff across the basin as the folk in the 1976 picture are doing! It seems extraordinary to think that there was so much industry nestling so quietly and so closely to the heart of London. In the distance one of the towers of the Barbican can be seen, now obscured by the enormous glass office tower just to the right of centre in 2016. Barely discernible in the distance is the tower of St Luke's church directly behind the tower crane close up to the previously mentioned office tower. The tree is still on the quayside from the spot where the picture was taken in 1976 although I had to move to the right a bit to get a decent shot 'around' the moored narrowboat.

13 | canal house, lisson grove

After a long trek around the northern section, my final port of call was at this remarkable house sitting astride the canal at Lisson Grove. The startling increase in shrubbery is perhaps the most noticable thing, together with a much more cluttered towpath which made it difficult for me to get a clear shot. Now as then, the towpath was closed off and I could go no further so reluctantly I exited the peace of the canal and returned to the relentless bustle of the city above...