When the canals stopped being commercially viable, no more money was spent on maintaining the Bow Back Rivers for navigation. They became overgrown, and were notorious for being rubbish dumps for unwanted goods. There were still jobs to be had, but the companies were less prestigious - taxi garages, waste recycling, and even the infamous 'fridge mountain' of discarded appliances that sat near where the Aquatic centre now stands.
You can see some photos of the old waterways by sliding the button under the pictures on this page, or by clicking here.
Whatever else you saw floating on the water, you wouldn't see a boat. The channels were too silted up to allow for boat traffic, and since the gates at Carpenters Road were no longer able to lift to allow them in, it didn't matter anyway.
But London is an irrepressible city, and areas which have lost their original use soon find another purpose. The story of the old 1935 lock, left abandoned and rusting next to a rubbish dump, now comes to an end. But the story of the modern day lock, designed to sit in a public park and allow leisure boaters access to the Bow Back Rivers begins. Click here to follow the story.
