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Tubewalker: The Tube, on Foot

Metropolitan Line: North Harrow to Watford

Image from North Harrow to Watford

There's something quite physical about the effect of Monday mornings on me, and today was no exception. Yes, I couldn't wait to get out into the sun and get walking, but the high pollen count turned my mind to molasses, and on the Metropolitan line, that can be fatal.

North Harrow to Pinner

Yeading Brook Open Space
Yeading Brook Open Space

The suburbs of zone 5 are noticeably greener than those of zones 3 and 4, and this short leg is a good example. When planning my route, I decided that in the absence of any obvious points of interest – which the unkind would argue defines suburbia – I'd walk via as many green spaces as possible. In the glorious sunshine, this approach is paying heavy dividends, as the parks of outer London are lovely, and one such example is the long, thin Yeading Brook Open Space, just down the road from North Harrow station. The open space is a long, thin stretch of lush greenery, with the backs of houses visible to the south through thick undergrowth, and the gentle trickle of the Yeading Brook hiding behind thick bushes to the north, sandwiching a pleasant, winding path that's completely cut off from the clatter of the outside world. There's a small stone bridge over the river, no litter to speak of, and on a Monday morning, not a soul to be seen. It's a blessed relief after the clanking of the Tube, and sets the scene perfectly for a day of green below and blue above.

Pinner Village Gardens
Pinner Village Gardens

Pinner to Northwood Hills

Pinner Memorial Gardens
Pinner Memorial Gardens

From the station, a quick backtrack takes you past the King George IV pub and into Pinner Memorial Gardens, which continues today's theme not only by being exquisitely manicured, but intriguing too. As I arrived at the park gates, a policewoman waved at me, popped her head out of her fluorescent car and asked, 'Are you going to be walking in the park?'

Houses on High View
Houses on High View
The Northwood Hills Hotel
The Northwood Hills Hotel

Northwood Hills to Northwood

Pinner Road
Pinner Road

There isn't much to report about the walk from Northwood Hills to Northwood, though there's an early highlight just north of Northwood Hills station in the form of a Wimpy restaurant (well, it's a highlight for me, as Wimpy restaurants never fail to make me smile, though I'm not sure why). The houses along the busy A404 (or Pinner Road, to give it its proper title) are much like the houses along any busy road in London, and if England had qualified for Euro 2008, you get the feeling that there would be England flags hanging out of most of these windows. As it is, there's one lonely house proudly flying the Italian flag, and there's a large England flag in the window of the Olde Northwoode pub, up by the Metropolitan line bridge over Rickmansworth Road; then again, it also sports blacked-out windows and a sign announcing 'Adult Entertainment Daily, 2pm-10pm', which isn't terribly enticing, to be honest.

Hallowell Road
Hallowell Road

Northwood to Moor Park

Eastbury Road
Eastbury Road

Somewhere on today's walk, I left London behind. I'm not sure where, exactly, but if I think of Harrow, I think of North London, whereas when I think of Watford, I think of Hertfordshire. If I had to pick the spot where this happens, it would be on this section, somewhere between Northwood and Moor Park; it shouldn't come as a surprise, then, to learn that half a mile to the west of this leg lies Kewferry Road, two houses from which were used in filming for The Good Life. Goodbye London, hello home counties!

Woodland between the Tube line and Sandy Lodge Golf Course
Woodland between the Tube line and Sandy Lodge Golf Course

Moor Park to Croxley

Moor Park station
Moor Park station

Moor Park station is rather functional and shed-like, but I'm still taking photos of all the Tube stations, even the boring ones, just to prove I've been there. The biggest challenge is managing to take a picture without a juggernaut or double-decker bus blurring into one side of the shot, but out here in the countryside, it's a lot easier. Still, that didn't stop me lining up a distance shot of the station, showing the raised platforms behind the entrance, just before a main in a suit walked bang into shot from the left. I figured I'd give him a couple of seconds to get into his car, but I wasn't expecting him to laugh in the process.

Sandy Lodge Road
Sandy Lodge Road
Fields seen from the A4145
The view from the A4145
Croxley station
Croxley station

Croxley to Watford

The Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal

When I dropped back down the hill to the Grand Union Canal, Monday morning struck again, catching me unawares after such a lovely day's walking. Clearly thinking not one little bit, I crossed to the south of the canal to join the Grand Union Canal Walk, blissfully unaware that it actually goes along the north bank of the canal. It was only when the towpath peeled away from the canal at a weir feeding the River Gade, and headed into a bland industrial park, that I spotted my schoolboy error, so if you're wondering why my photographs are magically taken from the wrong bank, now you know. The only positive aspect to this accidental detour was my close approach to the proposed site of Ascot Road station, part of the proposed Croxley Rail Link, which would see the original plans of the Metropolitan Railway fulfilled by joining the Metropolitan line to Watford Junction (the Tube line never made it into Watford town centre, stalling at the rather peripheral Cassiobury Park). If this ever gets completed, it will transform this part of the Tube, but for now, it's still a bit of a sleepy backwater, and is all the more pleasant for that.

Image from North Harrow to Watford
Watford station
Watford station