London Canal Museum

Museum of the inland waterways, & the Victorian ice trade, beside Battlebridge Basin on the Regent's Canal near King's Cross. Regular guided tunnel boat trips.

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Uncover a hidden side of the city at the London Canal Museum. Explore the rich history of our canals and ice trade, and peek into a Victorian ice well. Our boat tours offer an unforgettable way to experience London's unique heritage.
Plan your visit: https://t.co/O1xv9Eo2TV⚓️🧊

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

"The book covers locks, aqueducts, tunnels, including the Regent's Canal Islington tunnel through which our seasonal tunnel trips run. A fascinating book."

Pick up your copy of Britain’s Canals next time you visit our museum bookshop! 📖
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Looking for your next read? June's pick from Alette: 'Britain's Canals: Exploring Their Architectural & Engineering Wonders' by A. Burton & D. Pratt.

"This book is about the architecture and engineering of British canals...how they met them through design innovations."
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

(2/2) We are looking for people willing to share anecdotes, sit for a recorded interview, or let us digitise photographs or personal ephemera from their time on the water. If you lived here at any point from the 1970s onwards, please get in touch with Jane: [email protected].

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Did you live on Battlebridge Basin — or do you still? We're planning an exhibition on the basin's history, from industrial use to the community here today, and we need your memories to tell the modern chapter.
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Physical access to our wells is reserved for our Ice Weekend, but you can explore digitally today!

Use our digital guide to learn the story, then visit our site to peer into the darkness via our live, controllable 'well-cam'.

🔗 https://t.co/tORAFa9grx

(2/2) #IMD2026

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

It is International Museum Day! 🏛️

We are closed on Mondays, but you can still look beneath the surface. Our building wasn’t built to be a gallery - it was a giant Victorian 'refrigerator' used by Carlo Gatti to store tonnes of ice shipped from Norway. 🧊

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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

(2/2) He opened Gatti's Palace of Varieties and Gatti's in the Arches, bringing working and lower-middle-class Londoners a family-friendly night out, featuring stars like the original 'Champagne Charlie'.

Check out our Gatti's Music Hall event: https://t.co/DiORYJUwbT

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

It's #MusicHallVarietyDay 🎭

Carlo Gatti is known as London's Ice King — but the ice trade was only half the story. After his café was demolished in 1862 to make way for Charing Cross Station, he used the £7,750 compensation to build an entertainment empire.
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

...These slips allowed the horses to be led to a safe exit where they could simply walk back up the ramp. While rarer on other canals, they are a signature feature of the Regent's Canal heritage.

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

It is #MysteryMonday! 🧩 Exploring the Regent’s Canal for #NationalWalkingMonth? You will see these brick slopes every few hundred metres.

They weren't built for people, and they are almost unique to this canal. Can you identify what they were built for? 🔍
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

@PaulJohnson65 has got it - It is a horse slip.

When towing horses were startled by the sights and sounds of the growing city, they would sometimes stumble into the canal. While the water was shallow, the high towpath walls made it impossible for them to climb back out.....

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

(2/2) ... then return to the museum to construct your own Nature Crown inspired by the local wildlife 👑

Our school holiday boat trips are very popular, and spaces are strictly limited. 
Children £5.50 · Adults £10.50. 
🎟️ Book your tickets: https://t.co/fUfVhvruTC

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Looking for a half-term activity? Join our Nature Crowns Fun Day on Tuesday, 26th May. Board our boat 'Long Tom' for a trip to St Pancras Lock. The Regent's Canal is a designated Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, so there’s plenty of wildlife to spot
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

(2/2) ...they open just once a year, on Ice Sunday in July, as part of our annual Ice Weekend - why not join us?

Find all the details and tickets at https://t.co/m0oUomqKzQ

Image of St Pancras © St Pancras Old Church
#StPancrasDay #IceSaints #LondonCanalMuseum #LondonHistory

[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

St Pancras, whose feast day is today, is one of three Catholic saints known as the 'Ice Saints', associated with a last cold snap in mid-May. Our museum building in King's Cross was built for the Victorian ice trade, with the only publicly accessible ice wells in the UK...
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Clue: Nearby Victorian railway engines produced steam, smoke, and sparks that could spook a working animal. If they fell in, they couldn’t jump back up the high towpath walls.

Tell us your guesses below!

#RegentsCanal #HiddenLondon #LondonHistory
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

Gatti employed workers from his home region to run his 42-foot-deep ice wells and sell his famous 'penny ice' ice creams. Step inside his original Victorian warehouse at the museum this month to learn more! 🧊🍦
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

May is Local and Community History Month. Ever wonder why Clerkenwell was known as 'Little Italy'? It became home to Italian-speaking immigrants like Carlo Gatti, who arrived from Paris in 1847 and built an ice empire right here in King's Cross.
#LocalHistoryMonth
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

@canalcavalcade We're moored up and making trips around Little Venice all weekend. Come find the London Canal Museum stand, chat with our volunteers about historic boats, London's canal history, and the hidden story of the Victorian ice trade. We would love to see you!.
#LondonHistory
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[London Canal Museum @canalmuseum]

The @canalcavalcade is in full swing at Little Venice! ☀️ Have you spotted Bantam IV yet? Listen out for the distinctive sound of her original 1950 Lister JP2 engine. She has just returned from a specialist engine rebuild and is running beautifully.
#CanalwayCavalcade
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