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A walk along the Capital Ring - Boston Manor to Greenford

It was time to hit the Capital Ring once again! After granola with yogurt AND a croissant (oink, oink) I headed off to the rail station and got on the next train to Victoria station, then the district line (tube) to South Kensington and then the Piccadilly line (tube) to Boston Manor.  It took well over an hour to get there!  

On my last walk I had finished at Boston Manor tube station so there I started. 

Okay, the fact that I had walked the exact same route to the canal three days before should be a good sign that I would know what I was doing right?  Nope!  Somehow I got "misplaced" and I turned before I should have.  I could get lost in a paper bag I swear!  Anyway if I hadn't gotten lost I wouldn't have seen this deer sculpture below..this is when I knew I was off my route as I would have remembered this even if I am a little "out of it" at the end of a walk. (should I mention here London was having a heatwave..and it's England so it's too humid for this prairie girl - my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!)   A kind gentleman (I noted in my diary he had a dog - important stuff you know!) directed me to the canal.  




This is looking back to Osterley Lock.   Turns out I kind of skipped that part...being misplaced meant I missed a bit of the route.  Oh well, trust me I've made up the kilometers in getting lost.  


I loved walking along the Grand Union Canal. 


I passed through an industrial area before heading towards the Hanwell Bottom Lock. 



Here is the first of the locks.  There are six locks in a row here but the Capital Ring turned right off the path just beyond here to follow beside the River Brent. 



One of the many things I love about walking the Capital Ring is getting to see more of London.  I had no clue this beautiful viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (remember him from the Clifton Bridge in Bristol?) existed.  The Wharncliffe Viaduct was built in 1836 - 37 and was constructed for the opening of the Great Western Railway.  The man was a genius!   The Victorians were railway mad and so many railway lines were built then.   I was so excited to see this beautiful piece of engineering.  I am interested in Victorian railway construction as my great grandfather, Joseph Price was involved in it.  He started out in railway construction eventually having his own company.  Apparently, his company built lines out of King's Cross rail station as well as on the Great Western Railway. 



It seemed like I was in the countryside here - in the distance is Hanwell Parish Church.  Of course, these were once all villages. London is a city of villages. 


There were a few of these grassy paths - this was in Brent Valley Park.  (good for a toilet break!)  A couple of days after I was here a young man was stabbed to death on one of the benches....



 Here is the mighty River Brent...


Okay so the instructions said take the first left after the bridge so I did...to me this looked like a path; after all I had been walking on grassy paths before this...WRONG!!! 


It was a pleasant river side walk but I grew more uneasy as I walked...and when I came to a dirt hill going up to a bridge I KNEW I had goofed.  So I scrambled up the bank and sure enough there was the proper path!  I really do scare myself sometimes.  


The crazy part was I even walked ahead before I carried on down the grassy path to see if there was another path.  (just trying to justify my stupidity to you...)


This is Bitterns Field, a reclaimed landfill site. 





Isn't this the coolest bench ever?  I had heard of Nicky Hopkins but did not realize he had contributed to so many well-known songs. 




I sat on Nicky's bench, this bench...well you get the drift.  Somewhere before this part of the trail I got quite dizzy. I stopped at a cafe for a coke (I needed sugar!) and to refill my water bottle and saw the menu and said  "to hell with it, I'm having a fry up" (English breakfast) - so I did!  If I hadn't had that stop I would have not been able to carry on as the heat was getting to me. 

The walk to Greenford station seemed to be the longest in history. It's not exactly the prettiest area in London. (huge understatement) 

Another hour back on the tube and the train and I flopped onto my bed and I don't think I moved for the rest of the evening except to brew myself a cuppa in my room.  I had thought it was around 25c - Claudia informed me it had been 28c!  

Still, a great walk and I am so glad I did it!  






 


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