There is a lot more to discover about canals than you might think. An army of families lived in tiny cabins in primitive conditions carrying goods of all sorts.
You can enter a typical cabin and marvel at how it could have been a family home. Boats were pulled by horses until engines were introduced and in London miniature tractors like the one on display took the place of the horse. You can learn all about the boats, cargoes, horses, and the lives of those people at the museum. Discover too how canals climb hills and get water and watch archive films of the working days.
The building was once an ice warehouse and you can look down into a block of huge commercial ice well below ground. Ice was brought from the mountains of Norway by sea and canal boat for storage here and distribution by horse and cart – making London a cool city even then! Ice was used for all the things we use fridges and freezers for today including making ice
cream.
The museum is next to a tranquil canal basin, an urban beauty spot where our colourful London-built canal tug is moored. You might not believe that you´re so close to King´s Cross station.
