Historic video of London’s Regent’s Canal

‘Barging Through London’ (1924) is a short film of horse drawn barges travelling from east to west London on the Regent’s Canal, interspersed with relevant street scenes.  It gives a fascinating insight into what life was like on London’s canals 100 years ago.

Timeline: 

00:00 Departure from Limehouse

00:47 Mile End Road at Stepney Green 

01:13 Whitechapel

01:35 Hertford Union Canal Junction

01:51 Old Ford Lock

02:40 Acton’s Lock, Haggerston 

03:22 Mare Street, Hackney Central

03:59 Islington Tunnel

04:46 King’s Cross

05:16 St. Pancras

05:36 Kentish Town

06:16 Camden

06:57 Regents Park and London Zoo

07:53 Another tunnel, no horses to pull here, just manpower

08:31 Paddington Basin, off Edgware Road.

‘Barging Through London’ was part of the ‘Wonderful London: pictorial sidelights on the world’s greatest city’ series. It was directed by Harry B. Parkinson and Frank Miller for Graham Wilcox Productions. 

Harry B. Parkinson (1884-1970) produced 85 films between 1918 and 1930 and directed over 30 titles between 1920 and 1927. Frank Miller (1891-1950) was a writer and director. Producer Jack Graham Cutts (1884–1958) was also a director who worked with many leading figures in the UK film and stage world, including Alfred Hitchcock, Gracie Fields, Ivor Novello, and Noël Coward. Herbert Wilcox (1890-1977) was also a producer and director, whose third wife was the actress Anna Neagle whom he married in 1943. 

This film was restored by the British Film Institute and it was artificial intelligence enhanced and colorized by https://www.ricksfilmrestoration.com

Music: Across The Sea of Time by John Barry 

FUN FACT: Did you know there is a canal above the North Circular