LONDON The Hertford Union Canal (or Duckett’s Canal) is a short stretch (c. 1.5 km) of canal in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It runs along the entire south-east side of Victoria Park, the oldest public park in the English capital, connecting the more famous Regent’s Canal to the Lee Navigation.
If you stroll along the Hertford Union Canal towpath, you’ll find a wall to eat. Caroline Walker, Michael Smith and Paul Griffiths from Wick Lane-based Growing Concerns, together with volunteers, have created (in 2012) a vertical vegetable patch along 20 metres of wall along the Bow waterway. It is made up of 12 panels planted with strawberries, lettuces and different types of herbs including thyme, basil, rosemary and sage, which passers-by are encouraged to pick and take home…
Caroline: “We hope everyone – the local community and visitors – can enjoy it, whether to take a picture, think ‘I could do that in my garden’ or just snip a bit of thyme for their omelette”.
