Camley Street to the Thames via Regent's and Grand Union Canals
doubtfulace and I went for a long walk on Sunday from Camley Street near King's Cross to Brentford. This is the route we took. We walked west along the Regent's Canal, passing through Camden Market and alongside Regent's Park, until we got to the mis-named Little Venice where we had a rest in a canal barge/café. Little Venice has enough room for a canal barge to turn around, some weeping willows and is where Regent's Canal becomes the Grand Union Canal (Paddington Branch). It is nothing like Venice! It is moderately pretty though.
We continued on, past Wormwood Scrubs and I thought of the time I walked there with the lovely reddragdiva. We walked past lots of warehouses, distribution centres and closed-down factories. There was a handily-placed Sainsbury's somewhere along the route, so we stopped and got provisions. There were plenty of people using the canal (walkers, anglers, cyclists) until the area between Greenford and Southall. At that point, the towpath was largely grassed over and the track was just about wide enough for a single bicycle. doubtfulace and I both thought that it was a shame that more people weren't using the canal. It's such a lovely green watery oasis.
At Southall we came across our first and only problem. There was a blockage at a railway bridge, and we had to decide whether to risk falling in the canal by trying to get past it, or alter our route slightly. We (sensibly?) decided to take to the road, and walked through Southall. I'd never been in Southall before, and felt a bit like a tourist. doubtfulace and I were a bit miffed by our diversion, but were cheered again by getting back onto the canal again. From Southall onwards, there were much more people enjoying the canal. We got to Brentford, after much moaning from me. I was tired and in pain, and not good at disguising my dicomfort. Luckily doubtfulace has known me for many years and expected that, and it was only the last two miles that did me in. Brentford wasn't quite the end of our walk, as doubtfulace wanted to be able to see the Thames, so we continued on to Thames Lock. There were lots of silly little diversions between Brentford and Thames Lock; we had to climb up a ladder, cross a bridge, go round the outside of an industrial estate. There was a boatyard near Thames Lock, with a variety of boats in dry dock. doubtfulace was excited to see the Thames; we were both re-energised and pleased with our accomplisment. There were public transport glitches getting home, but it was a smooth ride once we got to Hammersmith.
Total walking time: 9 hours. Camley Street to Thames Lock: 22.3 miles (we probably walked 23.5 miles in total).
I'm a lot fresher after doing that than I was when I walked 34-36 miles in a weekend. I think I may actually be able to walk out to the local shops today!
We continued on, past Wormwood Scrubs and I thought of the time I walked there with the lovely reddragdiva. We walked past lots of warehouses, distribution centres and closed-down factories. There was a handily-placed Sainsbury's somewhere along the route, so we stopped and got provisions. There were plenty of people using the canal (walkers, anglers, cyclists) until the area between Greenford and Southall. At that point, the towpath was largely grassed over and the track was just about wide enough for a single bicycle. doubtfulace and I both thought that it was a shame that more people weren't using the canal. It's such a lovely green watery oasis.
At Southall we came across our first and only problem. There was a blockage at a railway bridge, and we had to decide whether to risk falling in the canal by trying to get past it, or alter our route slightly. We (sensibly?) decided to take to the road, and walked through Southall. I'd never been in Southall before, and felt a bit like a tourist. doubtfulace and I were a bit miffed by our diversion, but were cheered again by getting back onto the canal again. From Southall onwards, there were much more people enjoying the canal. We got to Brentford, after much moaning from me. I was tired and in pain, and not good at disguising my dicomfort. Luckily doubtfulace has known me for many years and expected that, and it was only the last two miles that did me in. Brentford wasn't quite the end of our walk, as doubtfulace wanted to be able to see the Thames, so we continued on to Thames Lock. There were lots of silly little diversions between Brentford and Thames Lock; we had to climb up a ladder, cross a bridge, go round the outside of an industrial estate. There was a boatyard near Thames Lock, with a variety of boats in dry dock. doubtfulace was excited to see the Thames; we were both re-energised and pleased with our accomplisment. There were public transport glitches getting home, but it was a smooth ride once we got to Hammersmith.
Total walking time: 9 hours. Camley Street to Thames Lock: 22.3 miles (we probably walked 23.5 miles in total).
I'm a lot fresher after doing that than I was when I walked 34-36 miles in a weekend. I think I may actually be able to walk out to the local shops today!