London Travel: Kayaking on Regent's Canal
Regardless of what city I travel to, I always try to build in some sorts of a sports activity
, whether it is bicycling, hiking, rollerblading, or - in this case kayaking! I had tried whitewater kayaking once before in the Canadian wilderness, and the results were less than stellar. As a matter of fact, I was quite scared to death by the untamed power of the treacherous rapids on the Ottawa River. Of course this would be a different proposition: there were no rapids here, just the calm and serene waters of Regent's Canal.In order to make it to our sunrise adventure we got rattled out of bed before 5 am and made our way to Regent's Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, to meet Danny Gillard from Thames River Adventures. Together with his partner Niamh, Danny is the co-owner of this unusual adventure travel company. We arrived and Danny had already set up three recreational touring kayaks as well as the spray skirts. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon, and bright rays of sunshine were flooding the waters of the canal.
We carried our kayaks down to the canal, put on our spray skirts and gingerly made our way into the vessels. Fortunately, touring kayaks are quite forgiving, and I made it into my boat without exiting right away into the water. Of course I was also going to document the whole experience with my camera, so it was doubly important not to take a dip into the water with my electronic equipment. With Danny's experienced instructions neither Andrea nor I had any problems making it safely into our boats.
As the rays of sunshine started to warm up this early morning idyll, we started to gently paddle down the canal. Regent's Canal is part of the extensive canal system that was built in the late 1700s and early 1800s as part of England's canal transportation system. These canals were constructed as part of the Industrial Revolution to transport a wide variety of materials, including coal, lumber and manufactured goods. The existence of these canals had a great impact on the lives of people: the cost of coal, for example, fell by 75% when one of England's major canals was opened.
The fortune of England's inland waterways took a turn for the worse during the mid 19th century once railways began to replace the canals. With the development of Britain's extensive rail network and later on the road network, cargo transport on the canals was no longer viable as these other transportation modes were much cheaper. Some bulky, non-perishable goods were even carried as recently as 1962 and 1963, but that year a long hard winter kept cargo icebound which dealt a deadly blow to canal transportation in England.
Today England's canals have lost their importance as transportation routes and were abandoned, but they have taken on increasing importance for leisure use. An organization called the British Waterways Board was created in 1962 to encourage recreational usage of inland waterways. Canals are so prevalent in England that half of the population of the United Kingdom lives within five miles of one of these inland waterways.
Danny also explained that these canals offer great tourism opportunities because they allow travelers to get close to special sights such as ancient monuments, designated historical structures and sites of specific scientific interest. Regent's Canal starts at the junction with the Grand Union Canal, passes through two tunnels, bisects London Zoo, where we got our start this morning, continues on to Camden Town, passes by St. Pancras and King's Cross railway stations and eventually ends at the River Thames.
I was starting to understand Danny's fascination with urban kayaking: the atmosphere on this quiet waterway was downright serene and peaceful. Only occasionally did we catch a glimpse of a jogger, bicyclist or dog walker that made an appearance on the walkways beside the canal. It was hard to imagine that we were right in the heart of London, one of Europe's biggest cities, that was just starting to wake up on a busy Monday morning.
We paddled quietly under a few road or railway bridges, and Danny and I had a chance to catch up on his background. Originally from New Zealand, Danny Gillard has always enjoyed the outdoors. Originally trained as a psychiatric nurse, Danny left his beautiful home country and moved to England more than 20 years ago. Over the years he worked in the insurance industry and for a major British retailer as a specialist in occupational health.
Despite his passion for healthcare, Danny has always retained a love for outdoor pursuits, and over the last couple of years he has gotten more involved in kayaking. Together with his fiance Niamh, he started to explore all sorts of waterways, including many canals and the famous River Thames. As both Danny and Niamh's full time jobs were looking to get downsized, Danny decided to turn his passion for kayaking into a business. And that's when he came up with the concept for Thames River Adventures.
Danny and Niamh applied for a licence with British Waterways in order to be able to do guided kayak tours on the canals. Today Thames River Adventures offers exclusive sunrise and sunset tours which are ideal as a birthday or anniversary gift. Danny added that his sunrise kayaking tours are particularly popular with couples as a start to a romantic weekend together. His company also offers lunch-time kayak tours that offer an upstream paddle section, a tasty lunch in a water-side pub and a relaxing return trip downstream.
Thames River Adventures' special offerings also include corporate teambuilding days which are very popular among companies in London's financial district. A day in a kayak offers the perfect escape from the pressures of the office and helps people gain new skills that boost their confidence and collaborative spirit. Multi-day tours on the Thames are also possible.
Danny and Niamh's most recent offerings include a "kayaxi" service - a kayak taxi service that will involve a special type of gondola that tourists and locals alike will be able to use for transportation on the waterways. The gondola will be manufactured next year, and the gondolier will even serenade couples and recite poetry during their trips around the Little Venice and Paddington areas. Obviously a business venture like this allows for some great creativity, and Danny is also working on some plans for promoting canal travel for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The sun was starting to get stronger and we were paddling towards an area of Victorian-era warehouses that have been converted into hip urban lofts. Danny explained that we were now in Camden Town, an inner city district that is anchored by several popular market areas. On the weekends this area is buzzing with people who enjoy strolling through the market to have a look at its eclectic merchandise on offer. Locals and tourists alike flock to Camden Town for inexpensive fashion, books, food, antiques and all sorts of bizarre goods. Funky cafes, restaurants and music venues round out the entertainment offerings in Camden Town. One of the real landmarks of Camden Town is "The World's End", which has been a pub since 1778.
The turning point for our paddling tour came when we reached Camden Lock, a historic lock that was completed in 1820 and helps to bridge a fall of 8 feet (2.4 metres). We turned around and slowly started to paddle back. The city had already woken up, road traffic on the bridges above us was increasing, and office workers were trying to get to work on foot as well. We, on the other hand, could enjoy our slow journey in the kayak and admire the narrow boats that were moored on the edge of the canal.
Narrow boats are, as the word says, boats with a long and narrow design that were formerly used for transporting goods on Britain's canal system. From the 1700s onwards and all the way into the mid 20th century, these working boats were originally drawn by horses on towpaths that flanked the canals; in the early 1900s the horses were replaced by diesel and steam-powered machines. Many of the narrow boats are carefully preserved and decoratively painted by their current owners, most of whom use them as house boats.
As we started approaching the end of our kayak tour, Danny explained the last landmark: London Zoo. Actually, Regent's Canal bisects London Zoo, and we had a great view of the aviary that was right adjacent to the canal. As the world's oldest scientific zoo, London Zoo is a major attraction. Opened in 1828, it became accessible to the public in 1847, and today houses more than 750 different species of animals.
Special features include the African Bird Safari, the Aquarium, the Blackburn Pavilion which recreates a rainforest and cloud forest environment, the Butterfly Paradise, the Children's Zoo as well as the recently opened Gorilla Kingdom which is currently home to four gorillas.
We had safely reached the end of our tour, and I had managed to operate my camera without falling into the water. Now we just had to get out of the kayak, but with Danny's expert help, there was no problem, and we were back on terra firma thanks to the stability of these comfortable touring kayaks.
Andrea and I both agreed that this early morning kayak tour on Regent's Canal has been a real highlight of our trip. Who would ever have expected such a serene and peaceful outing in the often frenetic hustle and bustle of London.
Still elated we thanked Danny for his expert guiding and for sharing his local knowledge, and we started to make our way back for a quick bite to eat before our next adventure: a guided tour of Southall, one of London's exciting multicultural neighbourhoods.
London Travel: Kayaking on Regent's Canal
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