The Canalside Activity Centre

On the Canal Bridge
We stood on the canal bridge looking west towards the
Gasworks and Sainsbury’s. Next to the canal on the left was a centre for canal based sporting activities.

CANALSIDE ACTIVITY CENTRE.

Canoeing developed in Kensington on the Canal at Meanwhile Gardens operating out of some old buildings. Meantime, three sites were becoming increasingly derelict in the north of the Royal Borough, to the west, off Ladbroke Grove, south of Harrow Road namely - Kensal Green Cemetery, Western Gas Works, and Great Western Railway shunting yards, not to mention the neglected state of the Grand Union Canal itself.

One of the groups set up round about 1980 by local residents was The North Kensington Canalside Trust to provide better facilities for water sport in the Gas Works

Canoeing developed in Kensington on the Canal at Meanwhile Gardens operating out of some old buildings. Meantime, three sites were becoming increasingly derelict in the north of the Royal Borough, to the west, off Ladbroke Grove, south of Harrow Road namely - Kensal Green Cemetery, Western Gas Works, and Great Western Railway shunting yards, not to mention the neglected state of the Grand Union Canal itself.

One of the groups set up round about 1980 by local residents was The North Kensington Canalside Trust to provide better facilities for water sport in the Gas Works “Large Basin”.

After many years, construction began on the Boathouse in 1994, but only using the “Small Dock”. The block was on four levels, comprising flats on the top two, one shared floor beside the towpath, but the Workshop, Stores and Changing Rooms etc. at water level.

During 1996 the sixteen fully accessible flats were all occupied by people with physical disabilities and CanAC opened, with a Sports Hall, Teaching Room, Gymnasium, Coffee Bar, Admin. Office, Control Room, and Boat Sheds.

E.G. 2008



The Electricity Pumping Station
The strange blue building on the left in the photo is a pumping station built in the 1980s for the huge electric cables that now run under the canal towpath. Before the 1980s the towpath was not paved and very muddy. There is a power station on the canal at St John's Wood.