Fifty five years ago, construction of the Westway forced relocation of hundreds of North Kensington families, earning it a place in history as one of London’s Most Notorious Highways. Today it’s a cautionary tale for Planners and Engineers in how NOT to build public infrastructure … and also how to mitigate its impacts.

Skateboard parks, exercise facilities, shops and offices were eventually added to Westway undercrofts, integrating the highway into neighbourhoods along its length.

Except for a bit that swerves over the canal near Westbourne Park, which stayed notorious, and lately has gotten worse. Burnt, sunken vessels — relics of a remarkable conflagration a year and a half go — still block mooring on one side of the overpass. On the other side a patch of rubbish and construction debris swells and shrinks depending on how recently CRT has evicted the
responsible entity.

How does this cycle end? How does the community take possession of a unique public place? The only rainproof stretch of canal in all of London? Allowing it to fulfill its promise as a weatherproof showcase for commerce and performance? Something London needs more than ever in the post-Covid age?

With the 300+ mixed unit Taxi House development rising within view of the blight, Cheyne Capital has a stake in it, but no clear obligation; their primary obligation is to shareholders and tenants. The Canal and River Trust is obliged to maintain their towpath, but lacks enforcement power and funding. Borough government is the only one with the financial means to address the problem. It is their residents, after all, who benefit most from a beautiful towpath; and their residents who suffer from its absence.

So the City of Westminster must be applauded for developing London’s latest borough-wide strategy to improve the canal in service to constituents.

The ambitious plan, launched after Labour took over for the first time in borough history, details three ongoing projects and seven future ones. The Flyover is listed as high priority.

With borough funding, Your Canal Boat is getting a jump start. Beginning Sunday Feb 23, we present 30 free workshops at the site to demonstrate a different vision for the space, and to grow support for its use as a point of outreach addressing the NHS's new priority, an epidemic of loneliness and isolation estimated to account for 20% GP office visits.

Sessions run the gamut, from drama therapy and teaching your toddler to make music, to journalling, crocheting, mindfulness and cooking. Gerard Williams, the Running Mayor of RBKC, leads running and walking sessions every morning that use our host boat, “Bibo”, as bag drop and refreshment station.

The full program can be viewed here: One of London's most notorious highways

Our partners are “social prescription” advocates Golborne Medical Centre, who believe that doctors should dispense more than pills, including recommendations for time on the water. That’s consistent with something that boaters learned long ago, that the canal boat experience is its own tonic.

Dr. Yasmin Razak leads a lunchtime discussion on the 25th of February on the topic of the canal as a tool for social prescription. A second lunch forum on the 26th features Dr. Greg Cowan, architect, boater and lecturer at University of Westminster, giving a boater’s history of the Westway. Imperial College’s Luke Muscutt moderates a panel of architects dissecting various proposals for the Westway’s future.

Attendance for both discussions is free, but limited to 10. Write to admin@yourcanalboat.com if you’d like to be part of either one.