12 intrepid explorers took to public transport to paddle the Limehouse Loop where they covered 5 canals in one day!
12 intrepid explorers used pubic transport to get to Hackney Wick to start our paddle in East London as there was no parking nearby. This was a first for quite a few having to carry their boards and equipment on the train but we all managed it. Our paddle boarding trips around our patch in West London and further west are mostly of greenery and countryside. The sights on this day around the East End was a day of greater contrasts.
We pumped up our boards and Moo Canoes very kindly offered to store our SUP bags and pumps on their boat which was a relief to us all as that meant we didn’t need to carry them on board with us.
We started off by the boats serving food and drinks on The River Lea Navigation near Hackney Wick heading off with the Olympic Park behind us down the Hertford Union Canal past Victoria Park. Our route took us almost to the River Thames then back up to the Olympic Park in a rough square shape.
Where Victoria park ends we met the Regents Canal which has come around from Islington. We turned left towards Limehouse, on this section was Mile End Park the first half was the greenest with the parks and also quite a few locks.
We paddled on to Limehouse Basin which is a marina with many mostly narrow boats and has the DLR passing on one side. Brett, Clare and Caroline carried on their quest to paddle on every inlet / piece of water in London. From Limehouse Basin there is a passage for boats to get onto the Thames but we turned left into the Limehouse Cut.
From the water you get a different perspective with a better view of what is on either side. It was interesting to see the old factory’s and industrial buildings, some of which have been redeveloped into housing along with many new blocks of flats. Canary Wharf from the canal was an amazing sight!
We spotted a heron on a fence and Swans were chasing after each other – its the season to find a mate.
Soon we were passing Three Mills Island – this was a very historic area with Oast Houses that were used for drying hops for beer, tall round brick chimneys and other historic buildings.
One of the most striking features of the day was the amount of creative graffiti. The highlight for graffiti lovers is the wide curved tunnel in The Bow area with strip lights by the water and over 100m of art to look at – if only paddle boarders would just stay still mid stream so i could get the perfect shot!
On this final stretch with the Olympic Park on our right taking us back to our start point, we could hear the cheers of the crowd from West Ham’s game with Everton at the Olympic Stadium.
The weather was gloomy with no sign of sun but the day anything but dull with 12 of us out seeing such a variety of sights. We went at a very leisurely pace taking just over 4 hours in all.
A lovely day was had by all that culminated at drinks at the White House before we boarded our trains home.
Thanks goes to Anu Aladin from My Sup Stories for being our amazing guide for the day, Moo Canoes for storing our luggage and Dittons for organising an amazing trip!
Blog by Stephen Ingall
