Grand Union Canal Towpath (Paddington Arm)

The Grand Union Canal was built in 1800 and originally called the Paddington Canal, in order to extend the existing Grand Junction Canal, which ran to Brentford, with central London. Part of the land through which the Canal was cut was purchased in 1799 from the Bishop of London, after much negotiation by the Chelsea Waterworks Co. The new canal was in use until the early C20th when its importance for transporting goods was superseded by other forms of transport. The section in the borough runs from the west along the south boundary of Kensal Rise Cemetery (q.v.) to Great Western Road, part of its route marking Kensington's borough boundary with Westminster. The canalside land was owned by British Waterways and is maintained by RB Kensington and Chelsea. On 2 July 2012, British Waterways ceased to exist in England and Wales and in its place the Canal & River Trust was set up to care for 2,000 miles of historic waterways.

It has been planted with shrubs and wild flowers to enhance the ecology of the area, and a number of gardens are found adjacent to the canal, such as Meanwhile Gardens and Rembrandt Gardens (q.q.v.). To the north is Kensal Green Cemetery (q.v.), which used the canal when coffinsd arrive by narrowboat. At the eastern end is Paddington Basin, to the south of Little Venice, which now includes a Floating Pocket Park.