{"id":967,"date":"2012-10-14T09:54:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T09:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=967"},"modified":"2016-11-14T10:11:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T10:11:00","slug":"kings-cross-to-birmingham-grand-union-canal-stage-3-greenford-to-uxbridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2012\/10\/kings-cross-to-birmingham-grand-union-canal-stage-3-greenford-to-uxbridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Union canal stage 3: Greenford to Uxbridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the third stage of the\u00a0King\u2019s Cross to Birmingham jaunt via the Grand Union Canal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Map of this stage (12 miles)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Greenford
Greenford to Uxbridge route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I took the tube to Greenford, stopped off to buy a bag of bombay mix and hit the trail just before 1pm.<\/p>\n

The first half of the walk took me deep into the west London suburbs of Southall, Hayes and Hillingdon. \u00a0Once again, light industry alternated with suburbia, factory workers took quick fag breaks, mums pushed buggies. \u00a0I passed mosques, motorways, moorhens and much litter, jets thundered by on their way to Heathrow.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0colony\u00a0of swans forced me off the towpath, they are big beasts once out of the water and best given a wide berth.<\/p>\n

\"Southall
Southall swans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In places the towpath was heavily churned up by cyclists, careful attention was needed to avoid muddy shoes.<\/p>\n

After a couple of hours I reached the half-way mark, Bulls Bridge junction. \u00a0To my left (south) the canal became the ‘Brentford Arm’ which eventually empties out into the Thames. \u00a0To my right, the path to Brum.<\/p>\n

I was\u00a0sorely\u00a0tempted to take the Brentford turn but that will have to wait another day. \u00a0I sat down on the grassy embankment and had lunch.<\/p>\n

\"Bull's
Bull’s Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Refreshed, I started north.<\/p>\n

I walked by the Nestle factory; it gave out a strong, though not\u00a0particularly\u00a0pleasant, aroma of cocoa and chocolate, I passed men walking dogs, a dealer selling drugs in the shadow of a bridge, graffiti, a homeless person camped under the railway.<\/p>\n

I played catch-up for a while with a grey heron until it became tired of the game and flew off, I love how herons manage to look ungainly and graceful at the same time. \u00a0I passed moored narrowboats, some of which had wood-burners on the go, giving out an utterly\u00a0delicious\u00a0smell. I waved at narrowboats heading south and was given waves and smiles in return.<\/p>\n

I passed a\u00a0mileage\u00a0marker, only \u00a0another 87 miles to Braunston,\u00a0wherever\u00a0that might be.<\/p>\n

\"Mileage
Mileage marker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just after the\u00a0mileage\u00a0marker I was stopped by a cyclist heading south. \u00a0She asked me how far it was to Bulls Bridge. \u00a0I noticed the maps and panniers strapped to the back of her bike, a fellow\u00a0adventurer!<\/p>\n

She was from Germany, and was in the UK to attend a conference in\u00a0Leicester. After the conference, rather than return to London by train, she had decided to cycle back along the towpath, \u00a0stopping the night at B&Bs along the way. What a great idea! \u00a0We chatted for a while before she started off again, hoping to find a place to stay in Paddington.<\/p>\n

I found a grassy spot for a rest and finished of the tea in my flask. \u00a0For a while I lay on my back under a tree and watched birds skipping to and throw among the low-hanging branches. The late afternoon sun felt good on my face and I dozed for ten minutes or so.<\/p>\n

One of the great things about walking in the autumn is foraging for free food, i.e. blackberries. \u00a0I found an abundance of this lovely fruit on the towpath, just hanging there ready for picking. \u00a0Free food! \u00a0It really can’t be beaten.<\/p>\n

\"Blackberries
Blackberries – lovely free food<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By 4pm I reached Cowely and the first lock since central London, only 130 or so more to go!<\/p>\n

\"Cowley
Cowley Lock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also at Cowley Lock is the excellent, grade 1 listed,\u00a0Malt Shovel<\/a> pub where I enjoyed a fine pint of Doombar.<\/p>\n

\"A
A pint of Doombar at the Malt Shovel, Uxbridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After that it was \u00a0short walk to Uxbridge and the tube back to King’s Cross.<\/p>\n

From Uxbridge the canal heads out into the countryside which I’m looking forward to after all this urban inner-city walking. \u00a0The next stage will be sometime in\u00a0November, I may even try a bit of narrowboat\u00a0hitch-hiking\u00a0: )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the third stage of the\u00a0King\u2019s Cross to Birmingham jaunt via the Grand Union Canal. Map of this stage…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[51,141,59],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5935,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions\/5935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}