Sudbury Hill Harrow - 11 Miles - Thursday 8th December 2016

On a damp and dreary Thursday morning I set off on the 07:36 from Falconwood for Sudbury Hill Harrow (arriving at 09:07) on the Chiltern Line to Garrards Cross to pick up the Capital Ring to bring back into London using the Grand Union Canal (Paddington Branch).

I had already decided (as my rules allow) that I would finish this walk at Charing Cross Station as there are a number of Zone 4 Stations in this part of North West London that will end up there, ie Greenford, Southall, and Kenton. I will complete the Charing Cross to SE9 route once all of these are completed.

I have been past Sudbury Hill Harrow station at least twice, once on the Capital Ring and once on the Regents Canal / Grand Union Canal walk, but I had never used the station. The timetable is not the best and I don't believe its open on weekends anyway, mainly serving the commuter passengers in the early morning, evening rush hours. Apparently during 2015/16 this was the 4th least busy National Rail station in London with 71,000 passengers annually, that's 194 per day! 

So this planned to be a very straight forward walk with little map reading required once I had joined the Grand Union Canal (Paddington Branch), hence forward called the Canal.

However, first I had to negotiate my way through Sudbury, passing Horsenden Hill, one of the major high points of the area at 84 metres (275 feet to me).

I joined the canal at Perivale where North Horsenden Lane bridges the canal.

The walk along the canal was canal walking, a canal on one side and either housing or industry on the other side. There were a few people about including about half a dozen students, no doubt making their way to or back from college, some cyclists but not very many dog workers. A few people were doing work on their canal boats.

There were new flats on the canal edge which looked quite nice from a distance but not quite so as you got closer. 243 Ealing Road, Alperton fell into the former category.

There were a number of swans on route, and Canada Geese.

Just past Alperton but before reaching Park Royal the Canal crosses the A406, the North Circular Road. Some workmen were replacing some of the block paving which no doubt had been removed earlier by yobs to throw at the cars as they sped past below, as happened to me on my way back from Manchester last week on a coach.

Park Royal proved to be an area of industrial buildings, including a power station at Harlesden, well at least that's what my A2Z tells me and an old gas works

I was very much looking forward to the section that passes by the Old Oak Common area were a lot of new Railway work is being undertaken, in fact I stopped here to drink my coffee and have a snack.

Obviously I saw lots of Canal Boats but this one in particular caught my attention, its very green in a literal way as opposed to an ecological way (although it could well be)

There was quite a lot of graffiti as you would expect, these series particularly caught my attention near Old Oak Common.

As I approached Paddington Basin and Little Venice the properties backing on to the canal got older with these terraced houses being a fine example.

Little Venice is obviously a very popular spot but I don't believe you can moor canal boats there, and therefore on the approach is where most canal boats are moored.

Walking under Westbourne Terrace road bridge brings you into Little Venice where the Grand Union (Paddington Branch) and the Regents Canal merge.

There's a small island in the middle of Little Venice, I guess it acted as a kind of roundabout when the canal's were used for transporting goods, maybe it still is.

From little Venice it was a short hop to Paddington Basin and Paddington Station, were I stopped for lunch.

Paddington station boasts a very impressive Art Deco Office block, which you can't really appreciate from close up, but approaching from the canal you get a good view of it.

From Paddington I crossed Praed Street and Sussex Gardens and entered Hyde Park through the West Carriage Drive entrance. At this point my walk became a bit of a London Tourist trip as I took in the sights!

First was The Serpentine

Then came Apsley House (closed for the winter) the former home of the Duke of Wellington, also know as No 1 London.

Crossing the busy Hyde Park Corner via the underpass brought me to the Wellington Arch, I never knew it was called that and I never realised it was a monument to the triumphs of Wellington in the same mould as Nelson's Column (which I also saw).

The Wellington Arch is looked after by English Heritage and is open, with an exhibition of the Battle of Waterloo and  two viewing platforms, one on each side. One side you can look up Constitution Hill and the other over to Hyde Park Corner and the Hyde Park Screen as well as Apsley House. One half of the arch is used as a ventilation shaft for the Hyde Park underpass.

Walking along Constitution House brought me to Buckingham Palace. The Royal Standard was flying so the Queen was in but not on view.

A stroll through Green Park and up The Mall brought me to Horse Guards Parade and the Admiralty (I felt at home here!) on my left hand side 

and on my right was the Horse Guards Barracks and Museum

Finally past Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square and on to Charing Cross Station and Queen Eleanor's Cross and a train home to Falconwood.

New Eltham - 3.5 miles - Monday 21st November

On a wet and miserable morning I set off from home to take Flosi to the vets, having made our visit we made our way to New Eltham Station to catch a train to Lewisham to pick up some pictures I had framed. New Eltham is on the Sidcup loop line from London to Dartford and was my local station for four years following my marriage back in eighties, it was no remembrance visit as its a station I do use from time to time. But back to the walk, I left home and crossed the Rochester Way and entered Shepherdleas Wood. 

From Shepherdleas Wood I crossed the footbridge across both the Railway (Bexleyheath loop) and the Rochester Way Relief Road.

This took me into Eltham Park South, despite the weather there were a number of people out walking their dogs.

Having walked through Eltham Park South I crossed Bexley Road and down Butterfly Lane, where at the end is the former site of Butterfly Sports Ground where I refereed a number of games in years gone by, now derelict, vacated and no longer used. Welling United used to play here before moving to their present ground in Welling.

Butterfly Lane leads you into Avery Hill Park, where the famous Glass House stands which was part of the Avery Hill mansion, and latterly part of the University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Campus, although I believe they have given notice to quit if not already quit. The building will no doubt be made in to luxury flats!

Across the park I exited into Avery Hill Road crossed the road and visited the vets, and another large bill! Having returned to Avery Hill Park I made from New Eltham station.

Avery Hill Park was wet and damp but again lots of dog walkers about, Flosi was kept on the lead thorughout.

I cut through Sparrows Farm Leisure Centre which is used by Charlton Athletic as their training centre. From here is was just a few hundred yards to New Eltham station.