47-776: The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Cut , just over 1 mile (1.6 km) long, connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure. It was acquired by the Regents Canal Company in 1857, and became part of the Grand Union Canal in 1927. Like its 1766 predecessor,
94-580: A 251-metre (274 yd) long tunnel under Maida Hill east of an area now known as ' Little Venice ', and a much shorter tunnel, just 48 metres (52 yd) long, under Lisson Grove . The Camden to Limehouse section, including the 886-metre (969 yd) long Islington Tunnel and the Regent's Canal Dock (used to transfer cargo from seafaring vessels to canal barges – today known as Limehouse Basin ), opened four years later on 1 August 1820. Various intermediate basins were also constructed (e.g.: Cumberland Basin to
141-577: A British vessel after the Battle of Cherbourg earlier that year. Much of the evidence against Müller was circumstantial , but prosecutor Mr Serjeant Ballantine made a strong case. Defence claims that Matthews had come forward only to receive the reward had little effect. Müller maintained his innocence throughout his three-day trial at the Old Bailey . After he was found guilty, he was sentenced to death . King Wilhelm I of Prussia (subsequently
188-437: A Place called Old Ford Lock , in the parish of St. Matthew Bethnal Green, in the said county of Middlesex. The Act authorised Duckett to borrow up to £50,000 to fund construction, and to charge tolls for using the canal, initially one shilling (£0.05) per ton of goods carried. With Francis Giles appointed as engineer, the canal opened in 1830 and was for some years known as Duckett's Canal or Duckett's cut (or passage). It
235-503: A black beaver hat . Initially it was presumed to have belonged to the deceased but it subsequently turned out to have belonged to the murderer. On 18 July, a cab driver called Matthews came forward with suspicions about a German man known as Franz Müller. He told the Metropolitan Police 's Detective Branch that the 24-year-old tailor had come to his house with a gold chain in a box. After he had attached his fob watch to
282-607: A company called the Regent's Canal and City Docks Railway Company at a cost of £1,170,585. The company altered its name to the North Metropolitan Railway and Canal Company by the Regent's Canal City and Docks Railway Act 1892 ( 55 & 56 Vict. c. clxxxviii), but no railway was ever built; instead it raised money for dock and canal improvement and eventually, in 1904, became the Regent's Canal and Dock Company. The Regent's Canal and Dock Company became part of
329-421: A coolant for the high-voltage cables. The canal is frequently used today for pleasure cruising; a regular waterbus service operates between Maida Vale and Camden, running hourly during the summer months. Due to the increase in cycle commuting since the 2005 London Bombings and increasing environmental awareness, the canal's towpath has become a busy cycle route for commuters. National Cycle Route 1 includes
376-656: A fall of 3 feet 9 inches (1.1 m). It is just 0.13 miles (0.2 km) from the junction with the River Lee. A now demolished public house, The Mitford Castle, by the ramp to the canal, on Wick Road, was where Thomas Briggs – the first victim of a railway murder – was taken to die from his wounds, in July 1864 (see Hackney Wick ). 51°32′26″N 0°01′29″W / 51.540610°N 0.024636°W / 51.540610; -0.024636 The nearest London Overground stations are Cambridge Heath at
423-477: A headroom of 2.79 metres (9 ft 2 in). The navigational depth is, on average 1.15 m (3 ft 6 in). In 2012, playwright Rob Inglis was awarded a £16,000 Arts Council grant to write Regent's Canal, a Folk Opera , a musical that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the digging of the canal. It played in a number of locations around London in 2012. Franz M%C3%BCller Franz Müller (31 October 1840 – 14 November 1864)
470-685: A junction with the old Grand Junction Canal at Little Venice , a short distance north of Paddington Basin . After passing through the Maida Hill and Lisson Grove tunnels, the canal curves round the northern edge of Regent's Park, passing London Zoo and skirting round the base of Primrose Hill . It continues through Camden Town and King's Cross Central . It performs a sharp bend at Camley Street Natural Park , following Goods Way where it flows behind both St Pancras railway station and King's Cross railway station . The canal opens out into Battlebridge Basin originally known as Horsfall Basin, home of
517-456: A large area of central north London – as a result, the Regent's Canal was included in the scheme, running for part of its distance along the northern edge of Regent's Park . As with many Nash projects, the detailed design was passed to one of his assistants, in this case James Morgan , who was appointed chief engineer of the canal company. Work began on 14 October 1812. The first section from Paddington to Camden Town opened in 1816 and included
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#1732772569619564-591: A link from the Paddington arm of the then Grand Junction Canal (opened in 1801) with the River Thames at Limehouse , the Regent's Canal was built during the early 19th century after the Regent's Canal Act 1812 ( 52 Geo. 3 . c. cxcv) was passed. Noted architect and town planner John Nash was a director of the company; in 1811 he had produced a masterplan for George IV , then Prince Regent, to redevelop
611-498: A railway along its banks. The scheme was abandoned in the face of vigorous opposition, especially from the government who objected to the idea of a railway passing through Regent's Park . In 1859, two further schemes to convert the canal into a railway were proposed. One, from a company called the Central London Railway and Dock Company, was accepted by the directors, but once again the railway company failed. In 1860
658-585: A sailing ship, Victoria , to New York City . On 20 July, Richard Tanner, a Scotland Yard inspector, along with Matthews and the jeweller, sailed for New York from Liverpool on the Inman Line steamer City of Manchester in pursuit of Müller. The faster ship arrived in New York three weeks before Müller. When Müller finally arrived in Manhattan on 25 August he was arrested. Among his possessions
705-462: A special general assembly of the proprietors approved the sale of the canal at the price of one million pounds to a group of businessmen who had formed the Regent's Canal Railway Company for the purpose. The advertisement for the company explained: The vast importance of this undertaking, whereby a junction will be effected between all existing and projected railways north of the Thames, combined with
752-473: A spot about two-thirds of the distance 1 mile 414 yards between Bow and Hackney stations". Briggs died of his wounds shortly after being taken to the nearby, now demolished, Mitford Castle public house on Cadogan Terrace. When the train reached Hackney Wick (the local name for Victoria Park Station), the guard was alerted by two bankers who discovered pools of blood in Briggs' compartment. Police later found
799-482: A third man and a young boy. The Macclesfield bridge was destroyed and rebuilt in 1876 reusing the cast iron pillars (made in Coalbrookdale according to an inscription at their top), but turning them by 180° (canal side towards tow path side) so tow rope grooves that were created before the incident can be seen on the outer side of the columns. The explosion was heard 20 miles away. Debris flew in all directions,
846-840: The Kaiser of Germany) failed to get the British Government to postpone Müller's execution. The public hanging of Müller took place outside Newgate Prison in London on 14 November amid scenes of drunkenness and disorderly conduct by 50,000 spectators. Although this was one of the last public executions in England, they did not end until the passage of the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 . Despite consistently claiming innocence at his trial and while awaiting sentence, Müller reportedly confessed to
893-719: The Limehouse Cut , the Hertford Union Canal was intended to provide a short-cut between the River Thames and the River Lee Navigation . It allowed traffic on the Lea heading for the Thames to bypass the tidal, tortuous and often silted Bow Back Rivers of the Lea via a short stretch of the Regent's Canal , and provided a short-cut from the Lea to places west along the Regent's Canal. The canal
940-700: The London Canal Museum . Continuing eastwards beyond the Islington tunnel it forms the southern end of Broadway Market and meets the Hertford Union Canal at Victoria Park, East London . It turns south towards the Limehouse Basin , where it meets the Limehouse Cut , and ends as it joins the River Thames . On the Regent's Canal the maximum length is 21.95 metres (72.0 ft), with a beam of 4.27 metres (14.0 ft) and
987-512: The Museum of London in 2015-2016. Briggs had been murdered in a closed compartment that had no corridor, so after the train started there was no way to leave until the next station. Public reaction resulted in the establishment of the communication cord on trains that allowed passengers to contact members of the railway crew, required by the Regulation of Railways Act 1868 . It also led to
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#17327725696191034-522: The "Limehouse Circuit" commencing at Limehouse Basin and utilising the Limehouse Cut , Lee Navigation, Regent's Canal and Hertford Union in a circular five-mile walk. The Olympic Park was constructed to the east of the Lee Navigation. During the games, the Cut was closed to navigation and used for mooring visiting craft. In the legacy phase of the 2012 Summer Olympics , there is promised access to
1081-471: The 9:50 pm North London Railway train from Fenchurch Street to Chalk Farm . The assailant took his gold watch and chain, but left £ 5 in Briggs' pockets and threw him from the compartment. Just after 10:00 pm, the driver of a train travelling in the opposite direction spotted Briggs lying on the embankment next to the tracks between the old Bow and Victoria Park stations, described as "his foot towards London and his head towards Hackney , at
1128-576: The Olympic Park and Bow Back Rivers . Regent%27s Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London , England . It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal , 550 yards (500 m) north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London. The canal is 8.6 miles (13.8 km) long. First proposed by Thomas Homer in 1802 as
1175-479: The Regent's Canal Company proposed a railway track alongside the canal from Kings Cross to Limehouse, but funds could not be raised. Further schemes over the next twenty years also came to nothing, with the Metropolitan Railway that opened to the south in 1863 serving much the same purpose of linking the lines radiating north of London. In 1883, after some years of negotiation, the canal was sold to
1222-452: The adjacent cottages (No 3 Lock Cottages) is also a Grade II listed building. 51°32′17″N 0°01′47″W / 51.538056°N 0.029783°W / 51.538056; -0.029783 The middle lock has a fall of 8 feet 11 inches (2.7 m) The tail of the lock passes under Cadogan Terrace. 51°32′21″N 0°01′39″W / 51.539082°N 0.027568°W / 51.539082; -0.027568 The lower lock has
1269-523: The advantage of a General City Terminus, is too obvious to require comment. By the proposed railway, passengers and goods will be brought into the heart of the City at a great saving of time and expense, and facilities will be afforded for the more expeditious transmission of the mails to most parts of the kingdom. The railway company subsequently failed, but in 1846 the directors of the canal went about trying to obtain an act of Parliament to allow them to build
1316-580: The canal's original purpose of transshipping imports to the Midlands. The opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838 actually increased the tonnage of coal carried by the canal. By the early twentieth century, with the Midland trade lost to the railways, and more deliveries made by road, the canal had fallen into a long decline. Just before 5am on 2 October 1874 the narrowboat barge Tilbury which
1363-534: The chain, Matthews gave the box to his daughter. The box had been sold by a jeweller in Cheapside , who identified Müller from a photograph and told investigators that the German had visited his shop on 11 July to exchange a gold chain. This was later identified as belonging to Briggs. With this evidence, a warrant for Müller's arrest was issued. However, by the time an arrest warrant was issued, Müller had boarded
1410-416: The creation of railway carriages with side corridors, which allowed passengers to move from their compartments while the train was in motion. Old compartment stock was modified by some companies to include circular peep-holes in the partitions—"Müller's Lights". A low-crowned hat, like a cut down top hat , for a while became known as a Muller from Müller's attempt to alter the hat of his victim. The case
1457-593: The crime immediately before being hanged. Dr Louis Cappel, the German-speaking Lutheran pastor appointed to attend the prisoner, claimed afterwards that Müller's last words (in German ) were " Ich habe es getan " ("I did it") in response to the question, was he responsible for the death of Briggs. Newgate produced a death mask of him, now in the Crime Museum and exhibited to the public at
Hertford Union Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-632: The dam, and deepened and widened the channel. When the Grand Union Canal Company came into existence on 1 January 1929, it became part of that network. Today, it is maintained by the Canal & River Trust . The canal starts at Hertford Union Junction between Mile End Lock and Old Ford Lock on the Regent's Canal . It passes along the north of Bow Wharf, redeveloped in the 1990s with shops and bars, and after Grove Road , passes south of Lakeview Estate , completed in 1958. For much of
1551-406: The district of Old Ford , but are now individually known as Hertford Union Top, Middle and Bottom locks. They are grouped together towards the north-eastern end, and descend approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) from the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. They are all single manual locks, and the largest craft that can use them have a length of 72 feet and a beam of 14 feet. Proceeding west to east,
1598-704: The early 1970s, at the end of 1973, the British Waterways Board embarked on a three-year programme to convert one chamber at each lock into an overflow weir to facilitate unmanned use by pleasure craft without the risk of serious flooding due to incorrect use of the paddles. The City Road Basin, the nearest to the City of London , soon eclipsed the Paddington Basin in the amount of goods carried, principally coal and building materials. These were goods that were being shipped locally, in contrast to
1645-499: The east of Regent's Park, Battlebridge Basin , close to Kings Cross , and City Road Basin ). Many other basins such as Wenlock Basin , Kingsland Basin, St. Pancras Stone and Coal Basin, and one in front of the Great Northern Railway 's Granary were also built, and some of these survive. All the locks were built with duplicate chambers to facilitate the heavy barge traffic. With the demise of commercial traffic in
1692-528: The locks are: This is lock No.1, and is 0.63 miles (1.0 km) from the Hertford Union Junction with the Regent's Canal. It is to the south of Victoria Park , with the tail of the lock passing beneath a cast iron footbridge accessing the park from Parnell Road. It has a fall of 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 m). The lock was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1990, and its bottom gates have rare cast iron balance beams. One of
1739-559: The merged Grand Union Canal Company on 1 January 1929. A new purpose was found for the canal route in 1979, when the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) installed underground cables in a trough below the towpath between St John's Wood and City Road . These 400 kV cables now form part of the National Grid , supplying electrical power to London. Pumped canal water is circulated as
1786-410: The rest of its route it is bounded on the north by Victoria Park . The canal joins the Lee Navigation just above Old Ford Lock. Many of the associated locks, bridges and other features around the canal date from the canal's opening in 1830, and are designated listed structures within a scheduled monument . The locks on this canal have been collectively named Old Ford Three Locks, all lying within
1833-508: The roofs of surrounding houses blew off, windows smashed, trees uprooted and dead fish rained down on the West End. The tugboat's keel was found embedded in a house 300 yards away. The bridge was nick-named the 'Blow-Up Bridge'. The damage would have been far worse had the barge exploded in the highly populated areas of Camden and Islington , which the convoy had passed through earlier that morning. The canal company that owned Tilbury
1880-446: The stretch along the canal towpath from Limehouse Basin to Mile End. British Waterways carried out several studies into the effects of sharing the towpath between cyclists and pedestrians, all of which have concluded that despite the limited width there were relatively few problems at the time of the audits. More recently, in 2019, The Guardian reported on instances of conflict between pedestrians and cyclists. The Regent's Canal forms
1927-531: The western end or Hackney Wick at the eastern end. The canal towpath is open to walkers and cyclists, without permit. At its eastern end, the towpath joins the Lea Valley Walk . At Hackney Wick, the Capital Ring crosses the canal; with section 13 proceeding north-west toward Stoke Newington and section 14, south-east via The Greenway towards Beckton District Park . The towpath forms part of
Hertford Union Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-477: Was Briggs' gold watch and a hat. He had altered the hat by cutting the crown by half its height and carefully sewing it to the brim. An American judge upheld the extradition request to return Müller to Britain, notwithstanding the prisoner's lawyers, by way of defence, citing Britain's refusal to hand over some crew members of CSS Alabama (a warship of the Confederate Navy ) who had been rescued by
2021-485: Was a German tailor who was hanged for the murder of Thomas Briggs, the first killing on a British train. The case caught the imagination of the public due to increasing safety fears about rail travel at the time and the pursuit of Müller across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City by Scotland Yard . On 9 July 1864, Thomas Briggs, a 69-year-old City of London banker, was beaten and robbed while he travelled on
2068-468: Was condemned for gross negligence in permitting the “highly imprudent and improper” practice of carrying petroleum and gunpowder aboard the same barge. The incident accelerated the passing of the Explosives Act 1875 , which regulates the manufacture and carriage of dangerous substances. There were a number of abortive projects to convert the route of the canal into a railway. In September 1845
2115-682: Was loaded with sugar , nuts , three barrels of petroleum and around five tons of gunpowder exploded right under the Macclesfield Bridge, just outside London Zoo . Until the explosion, the Tilbury was part of a convoy consisting of a tugboat and three narrowboats travelling westwards heading for a quarry in the West Midlands. All the people on board died; captain Charles Baxton, a labourer named William Taylor,
2162-401: Was not a commercial success, and within a year offers to waive the tolls were being made. For several years around the 1850s it was unnavigable, as a dam was built across it to prevent the Regent's Canal losing water to it. After failed attempts to sell it in 1851, it was eventually acquired by the Regent's Canal Company and became a branch of that canal on 28 October 1857. The new owners removed
2209-554: Was promoted by Sir George Duckett who succeeded in obtaining an act of Parliament , the Hertford Union Canal Act 1824 ( 5 Geo. 4 . c. xlvii), that gained its royal assent on 17 May 1824. The act was entitled An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the River Lee Navigation, in the parish of St. Mary Stratford Bow, in the county of Middlesex, to join the Regent's Canal at or near
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