May 1, 2000: Richmond to Hanwell

The Hanwell Locks

The day came at last, after seven years on the project, for Tosh, Harold and I to walk the last stretch of the Green London Way; Harold had missed out on stage two, but this would be his tenth outing on Bob Gilbert’s route, our eleventh. The Lees wanted an early start so we agreed to meet in Richmond at 9:00. For me this meant a departure at 8:00, a switch of tubes at Paddington and then again at Earl’s Court. I took a copy of The New York Review of Books with me to pass the time; I was just a few minutes late at Richmond.

The Lees were waiting for me, Tosh having already downed one cup of coffee, and we strolled down the high street, looking for some place to have breakfast. We were looking for a little sandwich shop that promised to remedy our deficiency and we spotted its board a few minutes later. On every lamppost Richmond was busy telling us to look out for our valuables and to keep an eye open for pickpockets. The shop was open and we soon settled down for a $2 special of scrambled eggs, sausage (Tosh had bacon) and buttered English muffins. Tosh made Harold return twice to the counter, once for hotter coffee and once for the salt.

Then we returned for one last block to the high street before turning down Water Lane in order to reach the Thames. It was a lovely morning, bright, sunny, neither too warm nor too breezy. We used the towpath for over three miles as we made our way downstream ­– a route we had all used in the opposite direction as part of the Thames Path.

Many of the trees were just going into leaf and there were lots of wildflowers in bloom, especially bluebells. Eventually we had the company of Kew Gardens on the right and here there were wonderful displays of rhododendrons as well. Bird life was very active (there was often a ditch on our right) and we saw many coots, mallards, and even herons. On our left the rowers were out in force – with megaphoned orders being barked at them from trailing craft.

There was a lot of human traffic on the towpath, joggers, and bicyclists and fast moving walkers. We did not pass any of these, it is fair to say. One young lady was stopped in mid-cycle, taking a telephone call on her mobile phone. Other people were yakking away on theirs ­– as though they couldn’t do this in the privacy of their living rooms and leave a pristine natural scene to those who could appreciate it. Harold complained about the pecking order on the towpaths; the hurtling bicyclist and the steaming joggers always expected that the slower-moving walkers to yield. We frequently got out of the way of these speedsters for our own safety.

Eventually we came up behind Kew Palace and began looking for a loo. The pub we had used on day two of the Thames Walk (The King’s Arm) had become a restaurant, but I spotted a public cubicle behind it and we all got our ten pence worth. Then we climbed up to Kew Bridge and crossed the river, descending a second set of steps at the end to follow a riverside path through The Hollows.

Once we were driven back onto the main road but after we had returned to the river and passed behind the Watermans Art Centre we were directed north, away from the river forever, to follow Ealing Road into Brentford.  At the first turning to the left, Albany Road, there was an open pub, The Royal Horseguardsman, and so, shortly before noon, we entered and each of us had a half pint. Tosh was admiring my new short haircut, but I didn’t know how I felt about her comparing it to that of William Hague. The Horseguardsman was a nice old tacky local, with quite a lot of old folks sitting at the bar (we fit in perfectly) studying the racing form.

After this bit of refreshment we continued west on Albany Road, turned right on Brook Road South and left again on Grosvenor Road. This was a well-maintained row of two up and two down terrace houses and the Lees were impressed by the local efforts at refurbishment that, they said, were far classier than similar efforts in Ealing. We walked on a shaded path through a recreation ground and continued past the church on St. Paul’s Road, turning right on busy Half Acre and left again at The Butts. Here was another delightful surprise, a luxuriant street of well-maintained semis and yards choked in spring bloom. There was a square at the end, but here we had to turn south to return to the main road for a walk along pavements up to a bridge that now crossed the River Brent.

Here we turned right for another riverside stroll; or riverside and canalside, for the Grand Union Canal was also in evidence for much of this stretch ­– which was again very lovely on this bright spring day. Around us there were a number of large office buildings under construction but much of the scene was remarkably rural. There were lots of people (in the usual three categories) here too, but even more dogs. Road and rail bridges crossed the waterway above us and once we crossed to the east bank as well. I was looking for a place where we might climb up to a road for a bit of lunch, but the Lees agreed that we might as well finish the walk first. We had only eight miles to do this day.

The river bent westward and there were some pretty open stretches. We passed several lonely herons on their perches on the opposite bank; all the other birds and ducks seemed to be in perpetual motion but the stoic herons seldom moved at all. At the Hanwell Locks we followed a path along the Brent, now separated from the canal, and left it reluctantly at Hanwell Bridge for the Uxbridge Road. There was a great deal of traffic and we were lucky to find a pelican crossing – though not so lucky to get mixed up with a noisy family on their way to the park with a soccer ball.

We walked up another Half Acre and followed a path around some riverside gardens to emerge at the railway viaduct that had been our starting point for this walk in 1993. It was only 2:00, but we had finished the Green London Way!

We followed Station Road and then returned to the Uxbridge Road, where we waited just five minutes for a bus that took us into Ealing. The Lees idea of haute cuisine was the Cafe Unno here ­– so we settled down for a leisurely lunch while the Bank Holiday crowds strolled by outside. Then, as they walked home, the Lees accompanied me up to the Ealing Broadway Station, from which I returned to Earls Court, Paddington and Maida Vale.  I was sorry to have finished this walk, since it was very convenient to have a London route for those days when you didn’t want to head out of town – but perhaps the promised London Outer Orbital Path would be ready soon.

Footpath Index:

England: A Chilterns Hundred | The Chiltern Way | The Cleveland Way | The Coast-to-Coast Path | The Coleridge Way | The Cotswold Way | The Cumberland Way | The Cumbria Way | The Dales Way | The Furness Way | The Green London Way | The Greensand Way | The Isle of Wight Coast Path | The London Countryway | The London Outer Orbital Path | The Norfolk Coast Path | The North Downs Way | The Northumberland Coast Path | The Peddars Way | The Pennine Way | The Ridgeway Path | The Roman Way | The Saxon Shore Way | The South Downs Way | The South West Coast Path | The Thames Path | The Two Moors Way | The Vanguard Way | The Wealdway | The Westmorland Way | The White Peak Way | The Yorkshire Wolds Way