Colour - # 120/2011

Detail of rudder and rope "fender" on canal barge, moored at Little Venice, on Grand Union  Canal, Paddington, London.

Little Venice - # 98/2011

Before the railway age great canals were built to carry goods from the industrial midlands and the farm lands into London.  The Grand Union canal entered the Thames at Brentford near Richmond, but a spur was built to travel around the northern edge (it is no longer "the edge") of London to connect with the docks and the canals serving the eastern side of England.  Here at "Little Venice", close to Paddington Station, in West London the Grand Union met the Regent's Canal and a Y shaped basin was created. This is a delightful spot in the Capital. It's a "must see" for any tourist or even resident.

Industrial design(s) - # 180

Staying with the "coal lady's" barge at Brentford Dock, here's a detail of the pretty traditional designs found on the English canal "narrow boat". Click to enlarge the picuture, and appreciate the work and care that went into the designs.

The coal lady - # 179

Between 1805 and the 1930s Brentford Dock was an inland port at the point where the Grand Union Canal enters the Thames. Today the canal basin is surrounded by luxury apartments, but the waterborne life style continues. The "narrow boat" in the photo really is long and narrow, because the English canal system was developed that way. The topography, the early age of the industrial revolution, and the construction methods forced that upon us.

I discovered this lovely lady, who operates her traditional cargo "narrow boat" carrying smokeless coal, logs and bottled gas around the canal system to supply boat dwellers.

She covers the system from Brentford, through "Little Venice" (Paddington, London) to Limehouse in the East of London and then up the River Lea canal system to Hertford, serving all the barge moorings. I never knew anything like this existed today. It was a pleasing discovery.

Industrial Economy meets Knowledge Economy - # 178

We are staying with the waterborne theme up at Brentford, immediately north of Richmond.

Here is the Grand Union Canal, completed in 1805, to bring industrial goods by canal from Birmingham to London. This was a very important stepping stone in the advance of the economy. Within about 40 years it was struggling to compete with the new railway. Today it makes a pleasant recreational area at the foot of the huge Glaxo Smith Kline HQ complex, but the canal is still an active and well used resource.