When called upon to navigate the narrowboat ‘Tarporley’ to the Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice, we set out in high spirits on a fine sunny Spring day. Passing a towpath walker, savouring time-off after major dental excavations, we exchanged cheerful greetings. As we were carrying no passengers, he was invited aboard for an inspection. “Come into my parlour…”. Ivan Mendez came, and liked what he saw, and was carried all the way to our destination, Little Venice… our first kidnapping of the millennium.

Ivan had never experienced a narrowboat trip before, and like so many was surprised that this strip of watery countryside existed in the heart of London. He became keen to share this new discovery with others and as a group leader with the West Indian pensioners “The Golden Oldies”, a day out was arranged, and what a day it turned out to be.

Aunty and her friends, average age of 80, arrived at ‘Tarporley’s’ mooring alongside The Waterside Inn at Battlebridge Basin, Kings Cross. Once the group had recovered from the surprise of finding such a large area of water so close to the station they soon found their sea legs and we were chugging along the cut.

A cruise to Little Venice takes almost three hours so there was no time to visit the London Canal Museum housed in Battlebridge Basin within Carlo Gatti’s Ice Wharf, where the huge circular wells that stored ice in times before refrigeration can still be seen amongst many items of canal history. This was left behind as we threaded our way around the back of King’s Cross Station through some beautiful old industrial scenery with a plantation of massive decorated gas holders set behind warehouses.

Our first lock appears at St Pancras, set beside the lock-keepers cottage, our ‘Golden Oldies’ were not yet ready to help opening lock gates and relaxed clapping and singing to entertain the crew and passers by as the water elevated them eight feet. St Pancras lock is alongside Camley Street Nature Park an oasis of plant and watery wild life.

We were soon off twisting and turning under bridges leaving St. Pancras Cruising Club’s new dry dock and their colourful boat basin behind. There are many reminders of the horse power era on the canals. Ramps into the canal can be seen by some bridges, built to bring out a horse who when frightened by the noise of trains fell into the cut.

Camden is our next port of call where three locks raise the canal level twentyfour feet. At Camden the crew are on best behaviour with the canal side thronged with tourists snapping and watching every movement of the locks being worked. Many tourists stand on the beautifully constructed diagonal iron bridge over the top lock, which was built crooked to bring towing horses across the canal. Our passengers in return enjoyed the spectacle of musicians and the local colour. Amongst all this activity we spot giant eggs in eggcups, the Dead Dog Hole, old stables now a music venue, a silent heron concentrating on lunch and a pirate castle!

The scenery constantly changes as the canal travels past gardens of terraced houses to Cumberland Basin with its restaurant on a Chinese junk style boat. This was a canal junction, but the arm was lost in the last war! Now we travel through Regent’s Park and get a wonderful view of exotic animals and birds as we pass London Zoo. Macclesfield Bridge is the next landmark, known as Blow-up-Bridge after a disaster in 1874 when a narrowboat carrying gunpowder exploded. When the bridge was re-assembled the supporting columns were reversed so that the horse pulling rope marks are on both sides and a tree still shows damage from the explosion.

Some lively 80-year-olds are enjoying assisting the skipper to steer and look as if they have spent all their lives on board living in the traditional boatmans cabin.

After fantasising on life in one of the elegant Regent’s Park Villas we continue through a colourful area of residential boats, and then Maida Hill Tunnel – an example of Victorian recycling… the material dug out to make the tunnel was given to Mr Lord who laid it on his field which later became Lord’s Cricket Ground. ‘Tarporley’s’ engine saves our crew from “legging” the boat through the 272 yards of tunnel as in times past. We emerge from the darkness into what must be a different country, Little Venice. An avenue of brightly coloured boats stretch out in front each with their own version of canal folk art. At the end is Brownings Pool and Island – named after the poet Robert Browning who lived nearby. We tie-up in the pool beside Rembrandt Gardens and our pensioners set off for a meal in the pub and are soon entertaining the locales, the publican remarked that they provided their best entertainment this year.

This was just one recent excursion, but ‘Tarporley’ has been providing hundreds of groups of all ages and backgrounds access to London’s canals since 1972 when she was transformed into a community narrowboat by Camden Council. Before, ‘Tarporley’ had been a working, boat built in 1937 for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company to carry cargo in conjunction with a “butty”, a sister boat towed without an engine for additional capacity. Her conversion retained many original features, such as the boatman cabin, home to the working families, and the engine room, passenger living and sleeping accommodation for 12 was added where once the cargo area had been.

In the late 90’s Camden regretfully had to make cuts and this facility was to be lost to Camden. The Camden Canals and Narrowboat Association was formed by canal enthusiasts and galvanised into action by councillor Gloria Lazenby (Mayor of Camden 1996-97 and current chair of the London Canals Committee). L.B. Camden agreed to hand over ‘Tarporley’ to CCNA (a registered charity) for the continued community use and finally the boat transferred ownership on leap-years day this year.

(Taken from an artical in North West Magazine)