|
|
|
Inner London |
 |
Acton Town to Boston Manor Walk (4 miles)This walk starts at Acton Town (Piccadilly Line) Underground Station and finishes at Boston Manor Underground Station, three stops further on. Paths are well-surfaced with no appreciable hills, although there are several flights of steps around the Brentford area. The length is about 4 miles (6½ km). The walk explores a mixture of environments from the wide spaces of Gunnersbury and Boston Manor Parks, through to river and canal landscapes, and the vestiges of industrial Brentford. There are fine houses dating from the 17th to the early 19th century and some good modern architecture too. There is a short section along busy roads, however, where caution needs to be exercised when crossing. 1. From Acton Town Station, turn left and walk along Gunnersbury Lane. On reaching the North Circular Road after 300 metres, cross and continue along Popes Lane for a further 100 metres, then turn left through the gates into Gunnersbury Park and follow the drive to the museum. Many of the parks in the former county of Middlesex were once the grounds of country mansions and this is true of Gunnersbury. The original house of 1658-63 was demolished in 1800 and replaced by a house known as Gunnersbury Park in 1802, (subsequently much altered in 1835), and Gunnersbury House in 1805. They are now unimaginatively known as the Large Mansion and the Small Mansion respectively. The old house lay between the two. The Large Mansion, once home to the Rothschild Family, is now a museum dedicated to the history of the Boroughs of Hounslow and Ealing (free entry). It contains Victorian kitchens and the Rothschilds’ carriages, on show during the summer months. Toilets can also be found here. 2. Go down the left side of the Large Mansion and take the forward path between lawns. The small building to the right is the Orangery. At the bottom of the slope, look back for a view of both Mansions, then go past railings and turn left at the cross-path to view the Gothic ruins. These are a cheap brick imitation of a Gothic folly and their main purpose was to shield the view of the stables from Gunnersbury House. Now return to the cross-path and continue above a low bank towards the Orangery, then curve to the right past it and head back towards the Large Mansion. Continue to the cross-path just before the park café and turn left to the corner of the Round Pond. The classical temple behind the pond was probably built in the 1760s.
Round Pond, Gunnersbury Park 3. With the pond on your right, walk to the end then continue past flowering shrubs and a play area, turning left around this to follow an avenue of trees. After some way, soon after a slight double bend, turn right and, after 25 metres, fork right to find Potomac Lake on your left. This was formed around 1861 from a flooded claypit. Where the railings bend left at the end of the lake, turn right for 100 metres to find a small gate on the left. Go through this onto Lionel Road North and turn left for 40 metres, then turn right into an expanse of playing fields. Keep to the right of the pitches until a path is reached, go left and soon turn right through a gate in railings. In 100 metres exit onto Clayponds Avenue, where turn left, then cross it at the main road junction. 4. Now cross over the A4 (and under the M4) at lights, then turn left for 25 metres to enter Clayponds Lane on the right. Follow railings for 40 metres and turn left into Carville Hall Park. This is so secluded that it isn’t even marked on most maps! There is only one forward path through this cheerful little park, and even the proximity of the motorway and the tower blocks peering over the other side of the park can’t altogether dispel the charm of this hidden oasis. Go past a lake and exit the park back onto the main road. 
Carville Hall Park 5. Continue for about 150 metres until Lionel Road South is reached. Cross it at this point and turn along its left-hand pavement. NB: The right-hand pavement soon runs out and it is dangerous to cross further up below the railway bridge as you will be blind to speeding traffic. The tedium of this busy rat-run is soon over, but on reaching the main road junction (Chiswick High Road), you will need to recross Lionel Road. Again, traffic charges round this corner fast from both in front and behind, but a gap should appear when the traffic lights change at the nearby main road junction. Cross when safe to do so, and walk past Kew Bridge Station to cross to the foot of Kew Bridge at these lights. Drop-out Point: Several bus routes are available from here, connecting with Brentford, Richmond and Chiswick, whilst trains run from Kew Bridge Station towards Hounslow and back to Clapham Junction and Waterloo. Recommended pub: If you are in need of refreshments, the Express Tavern here can be recommended. The pub, built in 1882, still has a late-Victorian feel to it and possesses a beer-garden. The real ale is always well looked after. 6. Go down the sloping road, to the right of Kew Bridge. After 75 metres, go down a short flight of steps, and turn right along The Hollows. This secluded narrow path threads its way between the backs of modern buildings and the Thames, on which is berthed a flotilla of house-boats, some of which have their own post-boxes. Continue as far as possible, close to the river, noting Brentford Ait, the first of a string of three islands here. Eventually negotiate a slope and then steps to come out on Brentford High Street opposite the new premises of the Musical Museum. The spectacular 71.6 metre-high tower further back towards Kew Bridge marks the Kew Bridge Steam Museum. Musical Museum: This museum would be more accurately described as the Museum of Mechanical Music. As well as the more obviously expected exhibits, such as pianos played by paper roll, there are some fascinating devices which attempt to emulate a wider orchestral experience. The museum also possesses a Wurlitzer organ and recitals are regularly given. (Admission charge). Kew Bridge Steam Museum: This magnificent industrial museum is housed in the former premises of the Grand Junction Water Works Company’s Kew Bridge pumping station. It is now home to the world’s largest collection of steam pumping engines, together with a steam railway and a museum of water treatment and supply. The museum is open every day, except Mondays, and many of the engines are worked at weekends. (Admission charge). 
Kew Bridge Steam Museum 7. Turn left for 15 metres, then go down the slope into Waterman’s Park, continuing by the river. Opposite the park is the ragstone church of St George, built in 1887, and now disused. It was the home of the Musical Museum for some years. At the end of the park, Waterman’s Art Centre is reached. Toilets are available here when the centre is open. Continue between the Centre and river. We are now opposite another small island, Lot’s Ait, which contains a boatyard and is home to a rare snail, Clausilia biplicata, found in only six locations in Britain. Right across the river there is a glimpse of the pink-brick Kew Palace, often hidden by trees in summer. The palace stands in the grounds of the Royal Botanic (Kew) Gardens. It was built in 1631 as a private residence, and began to be used as a royal residence around 1729, although the only king to actually live there was George III between 1802 and 1818. 8. Go down the steps to pass the back of the centre, then ascend Smith’s Hill to reach the High Street again. Turn left here then, after 100 metres, take Goat Wharf back to the Thames. Continue on, passing a new development of restaurants and apartments, then swing left around a dock to reach a point where the Grand Union Canal joins the river. The Grand Union Canal links London with Birmingham and was open throughout its length by 1805 — the section from the Thames to Uxbridge was open in 1794. 9. We now follow the canal towards Thames Lock, clearly visible ahead. Just before reaching this, turn right to follow the edge of a boatyard back up to Brentford High Street. Brentford was once a heavily industrialised town with a huge gasworks, breweries and a distillery, as well as the waterworks. There is now very little left of this industrial past, but part of the atmosphere of old Brentford still survives around the boatyards. Turn left for 120 metres, then take Dock Road back down the other side of the boatyard to Thames Lock. 10. Cross over the canal by the lock gates and immediately reverse your direction by going down steps, recrossing the canal and go down more steps. Walk alongside the lock and go over a metal bridge by a weir onto Johnson’s Island. This whole area is a fascinating labyrinth of alleys and watercourses. Go forward now between fences and over a further bridge to emerge at Fuller’s Brewery Tap pub — another reliable outlet for good ale. Note how the pub has been designed with access on high as an anti-flood precaution. Follow Catherine Wheel Road back up to the High Street for a final time and, this time, turn right. 11. In 40 metres, cross the road by the lights near the Beehive pub and walk up the left-hand side of Half Acre (no nameplate). On your way, note St Paul’s Church over to your right, built with a tall spire in 1868, but extensively remodelled in the 1990’s. Continue for another 80 metres, then turn left into The Butts, the name coming from the area’s former use for archery practice in Tudor times. The street is flanked by fine Victorian villas and ends in a spacious square, the site of the Middlesex elections in the 18th century. The houses here date from the late 17th century onwards. 12. Make for the top left corner of the square and turn into the Market Place. On reaching the corner of the Magistrates’ Court, turn right along a short section of Lion Way to pass a railing at its end. Immediately turn right over the River Brent onto The Island, then turn left alongside the river to arrive at the Grand Union Canal. Ignore the bridge with the curved rising path, but continue forward to cross the second bridge by Brentford Gauging Lock. Once over, immediately turn sharp right (i.e. away from the nearby main road bridge). Pass a cast-iron marker inscribed “C J C Co Braunston 93 miles”. The initials refer to the Grand Junction Canal, the former name of the Grand Union. Braunston is where the Grand Union meets the Oxford Canal in Northamptonshire. 13. Swing left over an inlet and head towards the office blocks in the distance. The smart new apartments are left behind, and there is something of a culture shock as the towpath disappears into a large corrugated iron shed, which serves as a British Waterways Maintenance Depot. Continue bravely on and the path emerges to pass under a railway bridge and twists and turns accompanied by new commercial buildings. Particularly impressive is the GlaxoSmithKline complex on the other side of the Great West Road (A4), the sky spectacularly reflected in the sheer glass curtain walling of the main office block.
GlaxoSmithKline Building 14. As these buildings end, cross over the canal by a wooden bridge, going through railings into Boston Manor Park. Take the forward path between the GlaxoSmithKline buildings and meadows - part of the first meadow has been designated as a wild flower meadow. Continue under the viaduct which carries the M4 motorway then, just past the carpark, turn left alongside a garden area with flowerbeds, trees and a creeper-clad wall. Path and motorway gradually diverge and things become somewhat quieter. Boston Manor Tennis Club is over to the left, but our route continues forward. As we approach the vicinity of Boston Manor House, we find ourselves entering more formally landscaped grounds. Boston Manor House is a fine, if rather severe, Jacobean house, built in 1623 for Lady Mary Reade, who later married Sir Edward Spencer of Althorp. In 1670, it passed into the hands of the Clitherow family who lived there until the property was acquired by the local authority in 1924. The house contains some fine plasterwork and an art collection mainly depicting local landscapes. It is open each year at weekends between April and October. (Free entry). 15. On leaving the house, return to your original path and continue past outbuildings. On arriving at the lake, turn left and follow it before turning right at the junction. There is a circular 650-metre nature trail which starts from here, but this can be muddy. Otherwise, follow the lake around and exit through the park gate at Boston Manor Road, then immediately turn left by the park railings down Boston Gardens. 16. Just after Boston Gardens bends, take the path on the left onto Boston Manor Playing Fields. Walk along the grass close to the backs of houses. When a further gate is reached near the end of the field, turn right and continue up the slope until the main road again. Boston Manor Underground Station is just over to the left. © Mike Biggs, Ramblers (Inner London Area), 2009. If you have any comments about this walk, or notice that it needs updating to take account of changes on the route, then please contact Mike at mike.biggs@o2.co.uk. |