CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CANALWAY

This year we’re celebrating 40 years of Canalway Cavalcade! The origin of the name has two sources: The Canal Way project began in the 1970s, with many works and improvements made during the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, which is why the symbol is present on the many Canal Way plaques that are still visible around London's Canal network. The Silver Jubilee Walk and the Canal Way were a combined effort at creating a network of walking routes in the capital. Local councils undertook work to bring London's canals and their towpaths up to Canal Way standards.

The first Cavalcade (a procession or pageant – in this case, of boats) was arranged to traverse north east to west London to illustrate the importance of the continued use of the canal. Hard to believe that back then canal towpaths had only recently been opened for public use. It was organised so that all the mayors from the boroughs east and west of Little Venice, through which the Regent’s and Grand Union Canals run, were involved. Two flotillas converged at Little Venice, the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union and the Regent’s Canals –