'Safe' and 'Unsafe' places in london.

[Doodlebug]

Hi all,

 

We are fast approaching london, and I just wondered what the general opinions are of different spots in london.

 

Whats safe, whats not?

 

I know its down to gut instinct, and one persons 'safe' is different to someone elses, but its still worth asking I think.

 

Thanks for any replies.

 

(I know this is almost a repeat post, but the only things I can find are long outdated.)

[Wanted]

Kind of a 'how long is a piece of string' question as you've recogognised but for what its worth there were a spate of break in's around victoria park late last year, I havent heard much since then but do know lot's of people who keep going until limehouse once they leave Islington.

 

The best advice though is to moor near other boats and talk to the natives, the towpath telegrapgh is strong round these parts.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time and be sure to give us a toot if you are in Brentford!

[nigel carton]

I would avoid Brentford, strangers have a habit of leaving bottles of beer hidden in the cart wash rooms for when you arrive!! Tanglefoot aswell !! ;-)

[WJM]

I have heard the advice to never stop anywhere east of Islington until you get to Limehouse. I have several favourite mooring spots on that route!

 

There are no especially dreadful places in London, it is all about using your common sense when choosing a spot.

[Wanted]

I would avoid Brentford, strangers have a habit of leaving bottles of beer hidden in the cart wash rooms for when you arrive!! Tanglefoot aswell !! ;-)

 

There may be others lurking....

[matola]

Don't be overly worried about mooring in London, we've not seen much trouble since last spring in Victoria park.

 

Take usual precautions of locking everything, and speak with your neighbours and enjoy London

[Doodlebug]

Ok thanks, I'm wary of little venice and camden the most to be honest, I never feel that safe.

 

If east of islington is supposed to be bad, at what point up the lee does it start improving?

[the grinch]

never had any bother at Little Venice or Camden and used to leave the boat for a week at either. Limehouse again ok all the times i've stayed there, hackney marsh no problem but i personally wouldn't leave the boat unattended yet a lot of liveaboards sat there (was there today working in riverside close and it was a lovely day) then the next place is ponders end that i'd stop also three mills at bow is usually ok so long as you stay aboard.

[bungo]

You can get into trouble anywhere, although in the past 3 years I personally have only had problems at Broadway Market (Cambridge Heath) and certainly there have been spates of break-in in Victoria Park every year/6 months which is just down the cut. Generally i will stop in Victoria park, but not Broadway market. Mile End park, which is just down from Victoria park is nice and i would stop there if you want to break up the trip from Islington to Limehouse, but i wouldn't leave the boat unattended overnight. Kings cross has quite a lot of mooring space and is relatively safe. Camden you should avoid at the weekend (it just gets really busy with drunk people) but if you can find a spot at the Chalk farm visitor moorings then definitely stop there as there are gates that get locked overnight with BW, sorry, CaRT keys on them which gaurd the moorings. The last 3 times i have been there its been full though and there is no double breasting. The Islington visitor moorings also get locked up overnight and you can double breast there (even triple if you want to) so there is a higher likelihood of you finding a space. Little Venice/Paddington basin area is great, if you can put up with the soulless high rise buildings and high winds then i recommend Paddington basin, look for the moorings on the opposite side of the canal to the pontoons (there is no thoroughfare on the towpath so no one walks past the boat and it feels quite private). West out of the center: I would recommend Perivale (lovely meadow, woodland and park by the canal and only a short walk to the central line), greenford is ok, there's not much to see but you do get to smell the Indian food and bread (depending on the wind direction) from the factories nearby, handy for the pub as well i guess. Between there and bulls bridge i would only stop in the park just east of Willow Tree Marina anywhere else can be touch and go. If you go north of Bulls bridge then definitely try and stop by the Slough arm the lakes and nature reserves round there are beautiful, but there can be problems with kids down the slough arm when the schools are on holiday. South of Bulls Bridge Southall is nice and Hanwell at the bottom of the Hanwell flight is lovely (very peaceful and much more like a little village than a suburb - the Snooty Fox pub does markets at the weekend). East: Hackney Wick, behind the ice rink just after Lea Bridge Road, just north of Springfield Marina and Stonebridge Park are absolutely fine and you shouldn't have any problems. 3 Mills way a bit dodgy the last time i was there, there were kids throwing stuff into the canal and having bonfires in the Tesco's car park opposite my boat every night and it made me a bit nervous. Saying that, i've never had any actual trouble and there are nice things about being there. I'll leave the Filter beds up to your discretion. Personally i'm not going east anymore as the drains were overflowing "partially treated" sewage into the canal below Tottenham Hale lock when i was last there and i saw stuff floating past my boat that would put you off your dinner. Some people seem to love it though and can't seem to tear themselves away....

 

Sorry that's a bit of an essay but there it is such a diverse place even 100m can make a difference. My general rules of thumb are: only moor where other boats are moored, if you're unsure about leaving your boat the leave an LED light on somewhere inside, chain everything down that you wouldn't want to loose and stuff like don't leave lump hammers n you deck (or anything that could be used to smash a window. If you are really being cautious then find out a postcode of where you are moored to be able to give to the emergency services quickly (this did prove very useful to me once). These are all just precautions though as i've had very little trouble at alland generlly its a great placeto visit and most of your problems will be finding somewhere to moor where you plan to so have a plan a and b and possibly c.

 

p.s. is not that clear on the Nicholsons but there is no mooring in Regents park at all, so if you are leaving Paddington and heading east be prepared to go to Kings Cross (below St Pancreas lock) before being able to moor..O and avoid doing the Locks in Camden at the weekend if at all possible..

 

Good luck and happy cruising!!

[blackrose]

All good advice, but brevity is

obviously not one of your strong points!

 

Personally I've never found Paddington basin windy (or soulless) and the Fox wasn't a snooty pub the last time I went, but I doubt any of this will have much bearing on Doodlebug's safety.

[Mike Todd]

The biggest probloem we find is that most of the towpath is impermeable to mooring pins and no piling to use clips or chains. At some stage the towpath was leased out to cable and telecomms companies - I hate to think what conversations are going on beside the canal . . .

Don't be overly worried about mooring in London, we've not seen much trouble since last spring in Victoria park.

 

Take usual precautions of locking everything, and speak with your neighbours and enjoy London

[Domino_2]

If east of islington is supposed to be bad, at what point up the lee does it start improving?

 

Going up the Lee - it improves once you get passed the M25, and don't forget to do the Stort whilst your there.

[WJM]

"My general rules of thumb are: only moor where other boats are moored,"

 

I often moor in places where there are no other boats - on the logic that the 'scrotes' are not expecting a boat to be there so they never notice you! This works especially well if you are willing to climb up high banks. I have used a lovely peaceful mooring at the infamous Tottenham, peaceful because it is at the bottom of a 15 foot ladder. The low-life are not going to bother a boat they can't see.

[onionbargee]

dont stop until you get to paddington basin, then keep going, why anyone would want to visit Londonistan is beyond me ! ( and i was born there )

[bizzard]

I within reason moor up wherever I fancy, the key is not to stay too long thus giving potential thieves and vandals the chance to ''case the joint''.

The border line between industrial surrounds and pleasant open countryside on the R. Lea is Enfield.

[Lady Muck]

the key is not to stay too long thus giving potential thieves and vandals the chance to ''case the joint''.

Also to understand that whenever you read about break-ins these tend to be liveaboard boats that moor for 14 days at a time and are often unattended for long periods of that time because the occupant goes to work and also goes out a lot on evenings and weekends.

It's most unlikely that you will encounter trouble if you are just passing through - you'll be gone before anyone has had chance to check you out.

I've never really worried about where to moor when passing through town, even the old infamous 'no go' spots such as Broadway Market now have triple berthed boats at them, I think I'd be more bothered about 'trouble' outside of the capital - I think it's very telling that we don't need vandal proof locks in London, unlike some other places. I'm more worried about moorings being full when I get to them than any potential trouble.

I've had a mooring in so called no-go area Tottenham for seven years now and I love it.

[David Mack]

The biggest probloem we find is that most of the towpath is impermeable to mooring pins and no piling to use clips or chains. At some stage the towpath was leased out to cable and telecomms companies - I hate to think what conversations are going on beside the canal . . .

There's 400kV cables under much of the Regents Canal towpath. Put your mooring pin through that and there will be a big blue flash (not that you'll be aware of it).

[matty40s]

I can't believe that Bungo has written the moorings of London tales and not included Kensal Green, a spot of countryside in the middle of a city, wide towpath with grassy areas and, like Viccy Park, only occasional trouble.

 

Although I do hear it has become much worse, I also enjoyed several weeks at different times opposite the Muck Manor above Stonebridge Lock.

[onionbargee]

i wouldn't say 6 foot of grass with dog turds on it is " countryside " cemetry one side and gas works the other !

[matty40s]

i wouldn't say 6 foot of grass with dog turds on it is " countryside " cemetry one side and gas works the other !

you can be a bit of a #### at times OB, perhaps you have too much trapped air in your gimp suit.

Edited February 1, 2016 by DHutch

[Peter Thornton]

I can't believe that Bungo has written the moorings of London tales and not included Kensal Green, a spot of countryside in the middle of a city, wide towpath with grassy areas and, like Viccy Park, only occasional trouble.

 

Although I do hear it has become much worse, I also enjoyed several weeks at different times opposite the Muck Manor above Stonebridge Lock.

We were going by there a few weeks ago and my crew told me to check the stove as they could smell gas - look behind you I said!

[eightpot]

I've moored there a couple of times - worst problem I had were the kamikazee cyclists. I thought this might slow them down a bit:

[blackrose]

i wouldn't say 6 foot of grass with dog turds on it is " countryside " cemetry one side and gas works the other !

 

I though his comment was quite reasonable - and funny too!

[magnetman]

And it is not in the middle of a city. Its on the borderline of zone 2 'London' and zone 3 'wastelands'

 

I prefer Nutting Hell as a mooring tbh but depends if you are leaving it alone much I suppose NH has more potential for trouble in a way.

[blackrose]

On the Paddington arm I've only ever stopped in Paddington basin and then Limearse for a few nights on a couple of occasions (before they made it 24 hour), so I wouldn't really know about unsafe moorings in London.

 

The towpath in Brentford used to be ok - I only saw a couple of anti-social elements in the 5 years I was moored in the marina, but I'm not sure you'd want to moor there now with the construction work. Never had any trouble at Bulls Bridge several times I was there, but anything between there and Hanwell really is a shitty part of the canal.

Edited April 25, 2013 by blackrose