This walk included canalside ambling rather than full-on street walking.
However, once you’ve traversed the towpath from Paddington Basin, you enter the delightfully “Little Venice” area. This triangle of waterways sees the Grand Union Canal, Regent’s Canal and Paddington Basin all link up.
Continue on the walkway but exit onto the Westbourne Terrace Road Bridge. The majority of the houses on Westbourne Terrace Road were built between 1850 and 1855 and are characterised by their stucco mid-nineteenth century terraced design. Most of these houses are grade II listed by Historic England, indicating their historical and architectural significance. Just beside the bridge is a small theatre. The bridge itself dates from 1900 but there was a crossing here (the ‘New Gauging Dock’) dating from the time of the canal’s layout in 1801. Interestingly, the bridge has one of the final “VR” motifs dating from the last year of Victoria’s reign.
Walk over the bridge to Blomfield Road. Blomfield Road is the road running beside the canal on the Little Venice side. It received its name in 1841. Charles Blomfield was a Bishop of London.
Very little building was taking place behind the Edgware Road frontage by the time the 1840s dawned and progress over the fields north of the canal continued to be slow. In 1851 there were only a few buildings in Blomfield Road but many more were built in the 1860s.
Turn left into Warwick Avenue. This was initially Warwick Road – was named in 1840, later to become Warwick Avenue in 1905 in time for the tube station opening in 1915.