Islington Tunnel

The Islington Tunnel carries the Regent's Canal Arm of the Grand Union Canal for 976 yards (878 metres) underneath the Angel area of Islington, London.

As there is no towpath, barges originally had to be legged through. In 1826 the tunnel was upgraded with a steam tug attached to a continuous chain on the canal bed which would heave barges through. This system remained for over one hundred years, until it was replaced in the 1930s with a diesel engine, which is today no longer in use.

Owing to the lack of a towpath it is not possible to walk through the tunnel. Those wishing to follow the course of the canal can do so above ground by following a trail of waymarkers which have been set into the pavement, connecting the two entrances of the tunnel. The trail runs (assuming one is travelling from the eastern entrance toward the west) up Duncan Street, then right down Upper Street to the crossing near Angel Underground Station, across Upper Street and up Liverpool Road, turning left into Chapel Market. At the end of Chapel Market it turns right into Penton Street, and finally left into Maygood Street. At the end over Maygood Street it passes through a small residential area, before ultimately ending in Muriel Street, from where the towpath may be accessed.

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