The London Canal Museum focuses on the history of the city’s inland waterways, including the Regent’s Canal, and offers information on the trade and storage of ice in the Victorian era. The museum is housed in a building from 1860, is wheelchair accessible, and offers audio tours for visually impaired visitors. It features a restored riverboat, an ice warehouse, and stables. The museum is run as a charity and offers private event bookings.
The London Canal Museum is dedicated to the history of the city’s inland waterways, particularly the Regent’s Canal. The information presented by the museum specifically concerns the canals, their history and the goods transported, as well as the social history of the canal workers and their daily lives. The London Canal Museum also offers information on the trade and storage of ice in the Victorian era, when ice was brought through the canal system after a journey from Norway.
This British museum on New Wharf Road in King’s Cross is housed in a building constructed around 1860. The museum welcomes children and adults to its exhibits and is wheelchair accessible. There are lifts and stairs to provide access to all floors and electrically powered main doors allow for easy access at the push of a button. Restrooms for the handicapped are available, and audio tours are offered for blind or visually impaired visitors.
The London Canal Museum opened its doors to the public in 1992. The museum allows visitors to step onto a restored riverboat and learn about the types of cargo and the people who carried the goods. An ice warehouse is visible, built for a Victorian ice cream maker, Carlo Gatti. The stables of yesteryear show where the horses were housed when they weren’t working.
Carlo Gatti is believed to have been among the first to sell ice cream as a company. His penny ice was a popular treat, and he and his partner also had a chocolate-making machine that was displayed at the Great Exhibition in London. Carlo Gatti was responsible for importing 400 tons of ice from Norway when he later set up an ice business.
London’s climate was not conducive to natural ice formation. The amount of ice that formed was not sufficient to meet public demand and the ice that formed was not of good quality. Before Carlo Gatti started bringing Norwegian ice, London imported ice from the United States.
The London Canal Museum is run as an official charity and its programs are self-sustaining. Private events can be booked there after hours, with fees going to museum management. Volunteers do much of the work at the canal museum.
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