The boys have a day out with their friends, walking down from Camden Lock to the Islington Tunnel along the Regents Canal. In Leybourne Street we see trains carrying cars from factories for delivery, and once we get onto the towpath, between the canal and the railway at Camden Lock, instead of the market there is just some industrial area. As we go down the flight we see the paired locks, many both still in use. At Kentish Town Road lock we open the gate, (don't worry, Dad made sure we closed it again.) There is still quite a lot of industry along the canal, despite the obvious decline in the use of the waterway. It is amazing how little has changed around Camden Street Bridge. It looks as though the canal width has been reduced alongside Lawfords Wharf, and new buildings have gone up on the reclaimed land, though the duck egg blue Lawfords Cottage is still there. Royal College Street Bridge has changed less than many of the others, and The Constitution pub, on St Pancras Way, is still there and unchanged, though everything around it looks completely different. We then pass a lot of what seem to be derelict wharf buildings and industrial sites, until we pass under the Camley Street bridge and all the lines running in and out of St Pancras Station, and see the boats moored up at St Pancras Cruising Club opposite the old Victorian Gas Holders. Below St Pancras Lock, the listed Gas Holders stand looking very neglected, with a "Land to let" sign on the fence beside them. Looking East from York Way, we see the the empty Battlebridge Basin to our right, and Bartlett Export Packers further along on the right. Many goods would have been shipped here by land or canal, to then be moved down to Limehouse Basin for transfer to ships for shipping overseas. Here Bartletts sadly looks completely derelict. Finally in the distance you can see the Islington Tunnel, with a large widebeam craft in the foreground of the shot.
Technical info:
Shot by Dr Stanley Solomons on Kodak Super 8 film,
using a Eumig Mini 5 camera.
Digital transfer by on8mil in London
Post production in Adobe Premier Pro by Burl Solomons
Copyright © Burl Solomons 2019
