W/C 12th July 2014 - Southern End Of The Grand Union Canal

This week, I took a long train ride to London to explore the southern end of the Grand Union Canal. I had booked my train tickets three months in advance to get the best discounts. At the time, I had absolutely no idea what the weather was going to be like on the day. It turned out to be very hot and humid - hardly ideal conditions for a long walk.

The plan was to follow the canal from Thames Lock in Brentford to Bull's Bridge. Here, I would turn  right and follow the Paddington Arm of the canal to Little Venice near Paddington. I walked a distance of around 23 miles, including the bit from Gunnersbury station to Kew Bridge and on to the mouth of the canal. The almost circular route meant that I was only 4.5 miles from my starting point at the end. I had previously walked the short section from Little Venice to Paddington a few years ago, when I also covered the entire length of the Regent's Canal.

From Little Venice, I had hoped to continue eastwards along the Regent's Canal to Kings Cross. Unfortunately, the uncomfortable weather drained my energy far faster than I had hoped. This, plus several extra refreshment stops precipitated by the thirsty weather made it impossible for me to get back all the way to Kings Cross in time to catch my return train. The last leg was by completed by Underground instead. Nevertheless, I was very happy with what I had achieved.

 On leaving my main line train I travelled to Gunnersbury, which is the nearest Underground station from the southern end of the canal. I walked down to Kew Bridge for a brief walk westwards along the Thames Path to Brentford, where the canal joins the River Thames. This was my first view of the Thames, from Kew Bridge. Notice all the house boats moored on the right.

Just before the mouth of the canal, I passed these boats in a small dock off the River Thames. The middle one appears to have been restored to the state it would have been as a working boat.

The River Thames is tidal at this point - amply illustrated by the low water and mud at the mouth of the canal. Here, we are looking from the north bank of the River Thames up to Thames Lock, which can just be seen in the distance.

The southern extreme of the Canal uses the course of the River Brent. As I reached Thames Lock, the outfall for the river water was clearly visible, just to the right of a large boat yard.

This is Thames Lock in close-up.

Above the lock, the canal and river was lined with a mixture of traditional and modern buildings

I quickly reached Brentford Lock.

Beyond the lock, I crossed the main road and continued alongside a large canal basin lined with modern buildings. Dominating the scene is the Glaxo Smith Klein building, seen here from the south west.

Along the river section, a system of locks allows the canal to descend towards the Thames in a controlled way, whilst the river water flows around the locks through weirs. The next lock northwards shows this principle, with the lock on the left and the unnavigable loop of the river on the right.

Here is the weir north of the lock, with an elevated section of the M4 Motorway alongside.

Many bridges along my walk appear to have been reconstructed for modern traffic - unlike this traditional-looking footbridge, dated 1810.

Osterley Lock came next, just after the canal passed under the M4. The canal was moderately busy with traffic, including this barge carrying gas cylinders being pushed by a tug boat.

Here is the substantial weir taking the river water around the lock.

By now, I had left Brentford far behind. Appearances suggest I might as well have been walking through open counryside. In fact, buildings were never far away, but often well hidden behind trees.

The canal joins the River Brent just south of the Hanwell Locks. The canal meanders north west along the course of the river Brent along the whole section from the Thames to here. There are six Hanwell Locks altogether - the top lock being somewhat detached from the rest. Here is a view from the southern end of the locks.

There are large ponds between the locks. This view is taken north of the second-lowest lock, looking towards the third.

Between the fourth and fifth locks was an arch giving access to the Asylum Dock for the former County Asylum. The site of the Asylum is now Ealing Hospital. A notice board explains some of the details.

By now the canal has turned south westwards. Leaving the River Brent far behind, it becomes much straighter. Two boats were passing down through the fifth Hanwell Lock at the same time, side by side.

Between the fifth Hanwell and the Top Lock is the "Three Bridges", where a railway, a road and the canal all cross at the same point. This shot is looking back down the canal, with the road above and the railway just visible in the middle right. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was responsible for reconstructing the canal in an iron channel here, so that the railway could pass underneath.

A milepost just north of the bridges shows the distance to the northern end of the canal at Braunston as 90 miles. Braunston is just north of Northampton - a mere 65 miles or so in a straight line. When fully opened in 1805, this canal cut 60 miles off the distance from London to The Midlands.

This is a final view of the bridges from the milepost, showing the road bridge above the canal more clearly. There is a Three Bridges Link here disused-stations.org.uk which gives more photos and an explanation of the structures.

The Hanwell Top Lock comes next.

This is closely followed by Norwood Lock. A boat was just being raised up as I passed by.

This was something of a surprise.....!

Some of the minor roads seem to have original bridges still, with traffic passing very tentatively over the hump in the middle.

There were several traditional-looking pubs on this section, including this one - appropriately called "Grand Junction Arms" - Grand Junction was the original name of this canal.

Finally, I arrived at Bull's Bridge the junction of the main canal and the Paddington Arm. There was once a large canal depot here. The southern bank of the canal is lined with houseboats, east of the junction itself.

Here is my first view of the Paddington Arm from the bridge crossing over it at the junction.

There is now a large supermarket across from the junction. Here is a boat turning into the Paddington Arm from the main canal.

From here, there were occasional signposts to guide the way - 13.5 miles to Paddington, though I would deliberately miss out the last half-mile or so.

The Paddington Arm begins by heading almost northwards. Many boats lined the western bank on the early stages of this section of the canal.

The canal passes east of Southall. A mock lighthouse stands next to the main road into town.

Beyond Southall, the canal seems very tranquil. Again, the built-up area seemed far away, though this was really an illusion.

A marina appeared on the left, with a pub amusingly called the "Lock & Quay"

Despite the London sprawl, the canal hosts a succession of parks and open spaces. Soon after the marina was the Willow Tree Open Space, accessible by bridge from the towpath.

In contrast was "Engineer's Wharf" - now a development of modern housing.

The canal boats were often interesting. Some had humorous names - like the "Willieflote"

Passing under the A40 brings us to Northolt.

The banks of the canal along here were lined with industrial premises until I passed under the A4127 main road. The canal gradually turned eastwards. A longish stretch of countryside then appeared, including the only notable hill on the canal - Horsenden Hill.

Some canal boats were covered in vegetation and other ornamentation, like this one.

The canal then passed through the urban "oasis" of Alperton, replete with modern, brightly coloured flats.

The modern aqueduct over the A416 soon followed. This has 2 channels.

Below the canal was the almost inevitable traffic jam......

Park Royal then followed.

Much of this area was very industrial. To the east of Park Royal was this rather derelict looking stretch, between Old Oak Common and Willesden Junction. I was now only around 3 miles, in a straight line, from my starting point at Gunnersbury.

The next section had contrasting banks. To the north on slightly raised ground was Kensal Green Cemetary, barely visible through the trees. To the right, for a long stretch were railway sidings and the Great Western main railway line, well below the level of the canal, behind a tall brick wall.

Beyond the old Gasworks was Kensal Town - quite a busy area, thronging with people.

The canal was by now deep into the built up area of Central London, with buildings lining both banks. The A40 curves over the towpath as we approach Little Venice.

Finally, I reached Little Venice. This is the point where the tolls for the canal boats were once worked out. Apologies for the finger over the lens!

This is the junction at Little Venice. The Regent's Canal comes in from the left, with the Paddington Arm continuing in the middle distance.

As described in the introduction, I was now running late due to tiredness and extra breaks to quench my thirst on such a hot and humid day. I had planned to follow the Regent's Canal for about 3.5 miles to Kings Cross, but took a Tube train instead to make absolutely sure I caught my train home.

So, I was slightly sad that I had not been able to walk the full distance to Kings Cross. Under the circumstances I had no reason to be disappointed. I had already walked the Regent's Canal a few years ago, so did not miss anything I had not done before.