Grand Union Canal: Croxley - Brentford
Section Length: 20.4 miles (32.83 km)
Time Taken: 6 hrs 51 mins
Dates Walked: 23rd & 25th May 2017
Weather conditions: 23rd - generally sunny becoming cloudy with light shower late on, temperature 18°c
25th - Sunny and hot, temperature 29°c
Logistics: Leg 1: (Croxley - West Drayton 11.24 miles) Train to Croxley station. Train from West Drayton station, adjacent to the canal, several trains an hour.
Leg 2 (West Drayton - Brentford 9.16 miles) Train West Drayton, several trains an hour. Brentford station is 0.75 miles from end of canal and has between 2 - 4 trains an hour in each direction
Time Taken: 6 hrs 51 mins
Dates Walked: 23rd & 25th May 2017
Weather conditions: 23rd - generally sunny becoming cloudy with light shower late on, temperature 18°c
25th - Sunny and hot, temperature 29°c
Logistics: Leg 1: (Croxley - West Drayton 11.24 miles) Train to Croxley station. Train from West Drayton station, adjacent to the canal, several trains an hour.
Leg 2 (West Drayton - Brentford 9.16 miles) Train West Drayton, several trains an hour. Brentford station is 0.75 miles from end of canal and has between 2 - 4 trains an hour in each direction
Previous: Tring - Croxley Grand Union Home
Croxley Lock is the starting point for this final leg of the Grand Union walk.
The first half of the walk passes through the Colne Valley country park making it one of the most attractive stretches of the canal and it's really hard to believe you are in Greater London as you pass by lakes and walk through wooded glades.
The park stretches from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge and makes use of many old gravel pits, which have been filled to create leisure lakes. Covering an area of 27,000 acres and home to several sites of scientific interest it is a veritable Eden. A visitor centre can be found at the southern end of the park, in Denham, and is well worth a visit.
Unsurprisingly this is a very popular section of the canal and is also home to many long term moorings, some of which have become "real" homes as many boat owners have built mini-gardens alongside the canal. Many have tables and chairs laid out, which are very tempting stopping places.
It isn't all roses along this stretch of the canal and I choose my words carefully. Shortly after Springwell Lock, near Maple Cross, the canal passes a large sewage works. The works are, visually, generally well hidden from the canal and were it not for some large pipes crossing the canal you may not even be aware of it being there - unfortunately, even if your eyes can avoid the plant, your news is not so lucky as the smell is atrocious, almost nauseating.
Paradoxically Springwell is also home to some impressive reed beds, great for nature lovers.
It's also the first stretch of canal where water lilies make an appearance.
Clearing the park the canal vistas become decidedly urban as it passes through Uxbridge and from here on the nature of the canal does change.
Rubbish, both on the towpath and in the canal, becomes more prevalent and obvious.
The whole experience also becomes a whole lot less friendly as well.
For most of the walk the overwhelming majority of the people I met were friendly, happy to smile, say hello and chat. The last sixteen miles was the complete opposite - avoidance of eye contact at all costs, if you dare to say hello you are looked at as if they have trodden in something offensive.
Even the cyclists - most of the trip around 95% said thank you if I stepped aside to let them pass, in London that dropped to about 30%.
Shortly after Uxbridge there is again a semi-rural feel and a branch line to Slough disappears into the distance.
The canal swings to the left passing West Drayton and, once again, the canal runs close to a railway mainline, this time the Great Western line to Bristol and Wales. The scene as you continue along this stretch is very industrial, passing several factories and the view is somewhat depressing.
Shortly after Hayes the canal splits with the main line continuing towards Brentford, whilst the Paddington Arm heads towards the centre of London.
Passing through Southall and Ealing the scenery is a mixture of urban sprawl and parkland. Passing Ealing Hospital there is a huge brick outer wall which sports a bricked in arch. The arch used to be an entrance to the Asylum which used to be on that site and in days of yore potential patients were bought here by canal boat and entered the asylum through the arch.
After Ealing the canal passes under its final motorway, this time the M4.
The final approach to Brentford passes by modern office blocks before reaching a large modern basin, flanked by an old fashioned boatyard.
Brentford Gauging Locks mark the final stretch of the canal and are used to balance the waters of the canal itself and the tidal River Thames. Past the initial Gauging locks walking the canal becomes difficult and the towpath becomes intermittent and one has to follow local roads to reach the final lock on the canal.
The end of the canal is almost a damp squib with Thames Lock forming the final boundary between the canal itself and the River Thames.
Previous: Tring - Croxley Grand Union Home
Croxley Lock is the starting point for this final leg of the Grand Union walk.The first half of the walk passes through the Colne Valley country park making it one of the most attractive stretches of the canal and it's really hard to believe you are in Greater London as you pass by lakes and walk through wooded glades.
The park stretches from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge and makes use of many old gravel pits, which have been filled to create leisure lakes. Covering an area of 27,000 acres and home to several sites of scientific interest it is a veritable Eden. A visitor centre can be found at the southern end of the park, in Denham, and is well worth a visit.
Unsurprisingly this is a very popular section of the canal and is also home to many long term moorings, some of which have become "real" homes as many boat owners have built mini-gardens alongside the canal. Many have tables and chairs laid out, which are very tempting stopping places. It isn't all roses along this stretch of the canal and I choose my words carefully. Shortly after Springwell Lock, near Maple Cross, the canal passes a large sewage works. The works are, visually, generally well hidden from the canal and were it not for some large pipes crossing the canal you may not even be aware of it being there - unfortunately, even if your eyes can avoid the plant, your news is not so lucky as the smell is atrocious, almost nauseating.
Paradoxically Springwell is also home to some impressive reed beds, great for nature lovers.It's also the first stretch of canal where water lilies make an appearance.
Clearing the park the canal vistas become decidedly urban as it passes through Uxbridge and from here on the nature of the canal does change.
Rubbish, both on the towpath and in the canal, becomes more prevalent and obvious.
The whole experience also becomes a whole lot less friendly as well.
For most of the walk the overwhelming majority of the people I met were friendly, happy to smile, say hello and chat. The last sixteen miles was the complete opposite - avoidance of eye contact at all costs, if you dare to say hello you are looked at as if they have trodden in something offensive.
Even the cyclists - most of the trip around 95% said thank you if I stepped aside to let them pass, in London that dropped to about 30%.
Shortly after Uxbridge there is again a semi-rural feel and a branch line to Slough disappears into the distance.
The canal swings to the left passing West Drayton and, once again, the canal runs close to a railway mainline, this time the Great Western line to Bristol and Wales. The scene as you continue along this stretch is very industrial, passing several factories and the view is somewhat depressing.Shortly after Hayes the canal splits with the main line continuing towards Brentford, whilst the Paddington Arm heads towards the centre of London.
Passing through Southall and Ealing the scenery is a mixture of urban sprawl and parkland. Passing Ealing Hospital there is a huge brick outer wall which sports a bricked in arch. The arch used to be an entrance to the Asylum which used to be on that site and in days of yore potential patients were bought here by canal boat and entered the asylum through the arch.
After Ealing the canal passes under its final motorway, this time the M4.
The final approach to Brentford passes by modern office blocks before reaching a large modern basin, flanked by an old fashioned boatyard.Brentford Gauging Locks mark the final stretch of the canal and are used to balance the waters of the canal itself and the tidal River Thames. Past the initial Gauging locks walking the canal becomes difficult and the towpath becomes intermittent and one has to follow local roads to reach the final lock on the canal.
The end of the canal is almost a damp squib with Thames Lock forming the final boundary between the canal itself and the River Thames.
Previous: Tring - Croxley Grand Union Home