Boating along the River Lee

Though the Lee Navigation is a dead-end, connecting only to the River Stort in the north, there are three ways to access it from the south: the winding Bow Creek, the more recent Limehouse Cut from the Thames at Limehouse Basin, and the Hertford Union Canal, also known as Duckett's Cut. To the east of the main line, the Bow Back Rivers are an intriguing network of semi-tidal waters, several of which can be explored by the confident navigator.

The navigable waterway is generally known as the Lee Navigation, but the river on which it is based is called the River Lea (with an A). The extensive works carried out in earlier years mean that, despite its origins, the navigation is much more canal than river.

Bridge & lock opening times

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