Regent's Canal Near The Limehouse Basin And The River Thames In East London Editorial Image

The City Road Basin, the nearest to the City of London, eclipsed the Paddington Basin in the amount of goods carried, principally coal and building materials. These were goods that were being shipped locally, in contrast to the canal's original purpose of transshipping imports to the Midlands. By the early twentieth century, with the Midland trade lost to the railways, and more deliveries made by road, the canal had fallen into a long decline