6th January 2026
Well three different weather apps all agreed there would be no precipitation until late evening so an ideal day to tick off the first new Capital Ring walk of 2026, right? With temperatures set to barely rise above 0° C that should prevent it being muddy too. So I armed myself with a Corned Beef sandwich and a flask of Bovril and set off.
The first few snowflakes fell as I stepped out of Boston Manor Station and made my way back down to the Grand Union Canal at Osterley Lock to walk Section 8 to Greenford. The canal was partly frozen over which seemed to have lifted the litter and detritus up onto the surface making it look particularly grotty.
I carried on along the towpath and crossed Osterley Park Weir at the top of the loop of River Brent which flows to the east of Osterley Island. The Grand Union Canal uses quite a bit of the River Brent in its course but the cut through Osterley Lock bypasses this loop.
A little further along the towpath there was the sad sight of a sunken cabin cruiser frozen into the ice covering the canal and with all its side windows put out. Wrecked boats seem to be common along this stretch of canal, there were a few on Section 7. Of course there are also boats that on first sight appear to be wrecks but are actually someone’s home. It’s a long way from the image of gaily painted narrowboats featured in the Canal and River Trust literature. A long low board on the side of the towpath bore the inscription
“BRITISH WATERWAYS
KERR CUP PILE DRIVING COMPETITION
PRIZE LENGTH OF PILING 1959”
I can find little information regarding the Kerr Cup beyond that it was a competition held between work gangs installing the piling that reinforces the banks of the cut.
I passed under Trumpers Way road bridge and past a building on the far side of the cut with a Victorian looking round brick chimney although the building itself looked newer and came to the bottom of the Hanwell Flight of locks. This flight of six locks with another two a bit further up is the largest flight in London and was built in 1794. It carried the Grand Junction Canal (now part of the Grand Union Canal) up and to the west, away from the River Brent which continues Northwards. After the first lock, number 97 - which is actually the last lock in the Hanwell Flight since the Grand Junction ran from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford therefore locks and bridges are numbered from north to south - the Capital Ring leaves the canal to follow the River Brent.
I followed the path alongside the tree lined River Brent until I reached Hanwell Island and then Hanwell Bridge which carries the busy Uxbridge Road over the river. Fortunately the arch taking the path under the road wasn’t flooded as it sometimes is so I had no need to divert to the pedestrian crossing the reach the other side of Uxbridge Road and Brent Meadow. I’ve been to Brent Meadow before because it has a large and obvious interesting feature in it which thousands of people use every day but hardly any of them have ever seen it.
The brick built Wharncliffe Viaduct is 890 ft (270m) long and 66 ft (20m) high and carries the Great Western Main Line and the Elizabeth Line across the Brent Valley between Hanwell and Southall stations on eight arches. You’d not notice it from a train though unless you were specifically looking out for it and even then you can’t really see it, for that you need to visit Hanwell. Then you can admire what was the first major structural design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and the first major engineering work on the GWR project to be completed. It was also the first railway viaduct to be built with hollow piers and later in 1839 carried the world’s first commercial electric telegraph system, installed by Sir Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke between Paddington and West Drayton stations and extended four years later to Slough at which time it became Britain’s first public telegraph system, to the delight of the Royal Household at Windsor Castle though not of one John Tawell, a murderer from Slough who was apprehended at Paddington after a telegraph message was sent saying:
A murder has just been committed at Salt Hill and the suspected murderer was seen to take a first class ticket to London by the train that left Slough at 7.42pm. He is in the garb of a Kwaker with a brown great coat on which reaches his feet. He is in the last compartment of the second first-class carriage
Which is thought to be the first use of the telegraph to catch a murderer. If you do come you probably won’t get to see the viaduct through plentiful numbers of snowflakes as I did though.
I passed under the viaduct and turned left into Churchfields Recreation Ground and with the Brent on my left then into Brent Lodge Park continuing by the river with Hanwell Zoo on my right before cutting across towards the zoo buildings in search of a bench on which to eat lunch, preferably sheltered though the best I could find was under some trees near the coach house. It was OK though because the snow suddenly stopped. A picnic lunch was had accompanied by the sounds of Parakeets.
I carried on after lunch past the Parish Church of St. Mary Hanwell and crossed over the River Brent on the tubular steel Boles Bridge to Hanwell Cricket Ground and then onward across Brent Valley Public Golf Course. There were many signs warning of the danger from golf balls but no one appeared to be up for ruining a good walk in this weather.
Crossing over the River Brent again I climbed up past some allotments to reach Bittern’s Field, a wide open space elevated from the river bank because it was once a landfill site. Where bulldozers once levelled piles of rubbish dogs now run happily across the grass which is managed as a hay meadow. Apparently there are Slow-worms here but this isn’t the weather for them to be out. I followed the path parallel to the river until reaching Greenford Bridge which carries Ruislip Road East over the Brent and where a Heron patrolled the gravel bank in the middle of the river.
Crossing Ruislip Road East on the Zebra Crossing I was nearly hit by a wanker in a BMW who decided that was the best place to furiously overtake the JCB that was impeding his progress even though I was half way across the road. Then the JCB driver blew his horn at me because I had paused to avoid being run down. Two wankers in the space of twenty feet. Welcome to Greenford.
The bright lights and no doubt warm pubs and cafes of Greenford town centre lay just to the west but the Capital Ring eschews such pleasures and turns down Costons Lane to reach Perivale Park. A tarmac path led into the park, crossing Costons Brook then turning left and then right along the north side of the open space passing an interesting memorial bench in the form of a piano keyboard. This commemorates local musician Nicky Hopkins. You might not have heard of Hopkins (I confess I hadn’t) but you’ve probably heard him play. Born in Perivale in 1944 he died in 1994 in Nashville TN. Ill health caused him to work mostly as a session musician and the list of acts with whom he worked is impressive, including The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Jeff Beck, Art Garfunkel, John Lennon, and Rod Stewart.
Leaving Perivale Park I crossed the A40 Western Avenue on the high footbridge just north of South Greenford Station for the final stretch of Section 8, a short bit of suburban street followed by an alley sandwiched between the railway and the fence of Cayton Green Park, home to Northolt Rugby Football Club and Tara Gaelic Football Club, then another curve of suburban houses to reach Greenford Road by the two railway bridges. The first carries the Central Line and the GWR Greenford Branch, the second the Acton–Northolt line, otherwise known as the New North Main Line. Having passed under both bridges I arrived at the crossroads with Rockware Avenue and the end of Section 8.
On the corner of Rockware Avenue as I walked to Greenford Station I noticed a very old piece of street furniture, a habit carried over from my old job, it is a cast iron electricity supply cabinet with the words “Boro. of Ealing Electricity Dept.” surrounding the Ealing Coat of Arms and the date 1910 cast into the door. Quite a survivor, I wonder if it is still in use?
At Greenford station I jumped on a Central line train to head for home.
Capital Ring Section 8 ✅
53 photos from Section 8 are in this Flickr Album
