Islington’s heritage plaques commemorate significant people, places, and events in the borough. In this series, we take a look at the stories behind the plaques. This time: Beryl Windsor, who organised Angel Canal Festival for more than 20 years  

If you’ve lived in Islington for any amount of time, you’ll know that if you head to City Road Lock on Regent’s Canal the first Sunday of September, you’ll find it abuzz with people eating, dancing, singing and – most importantly – boating.  

Every year since 1986 (save 2020, due to Covid), the first Sunday of September is the day of the Angel Canal Festival. And, since 1999 until two years before her death in 2019, we have Beryl Windsor to thank for it.  

The Angel Canal Festival was founded by Crystal Hale, at first as a small event in her back garden in celebration of a successful campaign to save the City Road Basin from development.  

When Crystal became ill in 1999, her friend Beryl Windsor and Sasha Keir took over its organisation ensuring the survival of the festival, which had by then become a staple of the community calendar. The pair ran it successfully for almost 20 years, entirely as volunteers, fundraising thousands of pounds annually to keep it going. 

Beryl’s love of boats was sparked decades earlier by those moored at St Pancras Basin, which she passed on her daily commute from Northampton to King’s Cross. It inspired her to buy her own narrowboat, ticking off a bucket list item on recovery from ovarian cancer. She named the  boat Anne-Louise, after her daughters. It was during that time, through the St Pancras Cruising Club, that she met Sasha, as well as her husband Steve Burt. 

Beryl received the British Empire Medal in recognition of her role as Angel Canal Festival organiser in 2012 and the Mayor of Islington’s Civic Award for her contribution to the local community in 2014. In 2025, a green plaque was hung on the retaining wall beside City Road Lock, next to Crystal Hale’s, in her memory.