A thriving area weaving together history, community and a love and respect for canal heritage.
Alice Elgie reports…
OPENED in stages from 1816 onward, The Regent’s Canal was built to link the Grand Junction Canal’s Paddington Arm with the Thames at Limehouse and for 140 years the canal transported coal, goods and building materials from the major industrial cities of the North to the capital.
Nowadays this history is hidden beneath a green oasis of calm amidst a busy city, and yet it is still remembered and celebrated. One place where this is particularly so is St Pancras Basin, which is perhaps why in 2024 it was deemed a perfect location to film an episode of Sky’s Landscape Artist of the Year!
Built by the Midland Railway Company in 1869, the basin (formerly known as Midland Railway Basin) was used as a location to load coal mined in the Midlands coalfields, from railway wagons to waiting barges, from where it is believed to have been distributed throughout London. It eventually fell into disuse but in 1958 was given a new lease of life and reopened for pleasure craft. Professing to be a ‘friendly canal community in the heart of London’ it certainly lives up to this expectation, home as it is to many long-standing and committed members.
Hon vice-president, Sasha Keir, joined St Pancras Cruising Club (SPCC) in 1983 when her mother, Denise Keir, bought a flat in Camden. Sasha shared with me: “A friend sold us his wooden cruiser, which was moored at St Pancras. The boat was called Rackwick and was very dilapidated but having just set up a theatre costume business in Clerkenwell, joining the club seemed a good way to make friends that weren’t work-related.” Sasha has been a loyal member from that day on and, since 1996, has also played an active role in neighbouring Angel’s yearly canal festival, originally alongside Beryl Windsor who has since died.
This event was first launched in 1986 by local resident, Crystal Hale, as a way to save City Road Basin from being infilled and built over. She started the festival as a party in her back garden and it ended up funding the creation of Islington Boat Club and the Angel Community Canalboat Club. Sasha told me how this has grown: “It is a true community party celebrating the canal environment and the values of neighbourhood. It’s like an urban village fete; very family oriented and free to attend. There’s a regatta with lots of have-a-go boating activities, Punch and Judy, juggling, live music and Morris dancing. It is always on the first Sunday of September and this year is going to be held on the 7th.”
This enthusiasm for maintaining and celebrating our canals is strong and offers a clear example for potential future members of SPCC. Relatively new member and vice commodore of the club, David Leppard, discovered the club when he retired from full-time work: “I was looking for voluntary positions and found an opportunity to be a lock keeper at St Pancras. The training I undertook was administered by Andrew Phasey who was vice-commodore at SPCC at the time, so one thing led to another.” When David commissioned and launched his own narrowboat in 2020 he automatically became a full member of this diverse and vibrant community: “Members come from all walks of life, from London cabbies to artists, retired professionals to carpenters, TV producers to musicians.” No doubt it’s David’s natural curiosity for the industrial heritage of this location, as well as his knowledge of the area gained through his professional work pre-retirement as a commercial property consultant, which has led to him also becoming a guide who gives talks and presentations to the public on the historic Waterpoint, relocated to St Pancras Basin in 2001.
Built to supply water to steam trains visiting the station, it was designed by the office of architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. Scott was behind the magnificent Midland Grand Hotel that forms the frontispiece of St Pancras and the Waterpoint’s ornate brickwork and elaborate detailing indicative of this style was deemed too precious to be lost when, in 1997 it was threatened with demolition due to the development of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. English Heritage intervened and an elaborate plan was hatched that saw the building separated into sections and moved 700 metres by road on a transporter to its new home overlooking the basin.
David told me: “Nowadays we hold a lease on the Waterpoint which requires us to open the building to the public on a minimum of six days a year.” Visitors to these open days are in for a treat as they get to step back in time and find out more about this unique piece of architectural and engineering history.
In addition to open days and regular club events all held in the new clubhouse opened in April 2024, built and paid for by memberships, SPCC has also gained a reputation for their yearly Thames cruises. Sasha Keir told me more: “SPCC began their Thames cruises in the late 1980s with the first using the old ship lock at Limehouse before it closed. That event saw 42 boats in the lock at the same time!” Since then there have been at least two good opportunities each year to cruise the Tideway from Limehouse to Brentford and as the club became more experienced they felt confident in inviting other boats to join them. “Our Tideway programmes are published well in advance to other clubs and have become regular events. The cruise is always preceded by a full briefing, usually at the Cruising Association clubhouse at Limehouse, so that the event is as safe as possible.” With a 100% safety record I would certainly be happy to hop aboard myself!
It seems that St Pancras Basin is as thriving in 2025 as it was in 1869, albeit for different reasons. Without a doubt it is the committed members, with their love and respect for the waterways – both past and present –that have kept this landmark firmly on the waterways map.
Special thanks to Tony Hay, hon secretary of SPCC, for his time. Further info: www.stpancrascc.co.uk
Alice Elgie is a writer with a passion for our waterways, both past and present. She lives for part of the year on a narrowboat where she relishes the nature and community found on the canals: slowintotheseasons.substack.com
