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Tubewalker: The Tube, on Foot

Piccadilly Line: Hatton Cross to Boston Manor

Osterley Park
Osterley Park

Today's walk seemed to go on a lot longer than I thought it would, but it was only when I got home that I realised why. Last night, after writing up my Heathrow walk, I sleepily looked at the mileage for today's walk, and figured it would be an easy day at just 7.6 miles and that I'd probably be home around lunchtime, as I live just two stops from Boston Manor along the pretty nippy Piccadilly line.

Hatton Cross to Hounslow West

Rubbish along the River Crane
Rubbish along the River Crane

Day 7 of the London Loop ends at Hatton Cross, having come from Kingston, so I thought I'd follow it south for a while, as the Loop is a pretty good arbiter of taste. It's a fairly long walk from the Tube station to the River Crane, past a farm just to the side of the A30, complete with horses and some extremely fragrant piles of hay, but soon enough the Loop turns right off the road to follow the river. After yesterday's rain, the woods lining the Crane were humid, slippery and full of biting mosquitoes, and the overgrown theme set by the section of the Loop I followed round the eastern edge of Heathrow yesterday continued with a vengeance, with the river hardly visible for most of the way. There is one difference between yesterday's walk along the Crane and this section, though: here in the south there is way more rubbish, and whenever you come across a hole in the bushes and peer through at the river, it's like a modern version of a beaver dam, with the detritus of 21st century life spread out in a big arc across the river, snagged on branches and tree roots. I remember being unimpressed with the amount of litter when I walked this part of the Loop back in 2003; in over five years nothing has changed, which is a pity.

Hounslow Heath
Hounslow Heath
Hounslow West station
Hounslow West station

Hounslow West to Hounslow Central

Low-flying planes over Lampton Park
Low-flying planes over Lampton Park

Walking east along Bath Road is not one of life's great pleasures, as the traffic is busy and the architecture is fairly standard for a busy A-road through zones 4 and 5. There is a large stone church on the north side of the road which is worth a look, but it's fairly average walking to the junction with the A3063, a theme that continues left along Sutton Lane. The planes are even lower here, and it's just not a great place to explore on foot.

Hounslow Central to Hounslow East

The Blenheim Centre
The Blenheim Centre

It isn't far from Hounslow Central to Hounslow East, particularly if you take the direct route. There's quite a bit to see, though, not least the houses along Lansdowne Road, where finally the pebbledash gets pushed aside and some decent Edwardian terraces shine out. Enjoy it while it lasts, though, because just round the corner is the Blenheim Centre, a massive and very modern development that dwarfs everything around it. The complex consists of a huge Asda superstore, a health and fitness centre, five retail units, a Post Office, 336 apartments and a car park for over 400 cars in the basement, and there's apparently going to be a second phase of development that will add 38 shops, a ten-screen cinema, a restaurant, 150 apartments and office space. It's an impressive place, but lining the eastern edge of the car park out front is a row of terraced houses, half of them with their windows covered with metal grilles, a reminder perhaps that development has its price.

Hounslow East station
Hounslow East station

Hounslow East to Osterley

Osterley station
Osterley station

Almost the entire walk from Hounslow East to Osterley is along a right of way that slips past Hounslow Bus Garage and continues between scraggly trees and fencing. The initial section is clearly where people come to dump their Stella and Tyskie cans, and it's a sorry little walk north to Spring Grove Road, where things start to improve a little. The path crosses the Tube line over an enclosed bridge and comes out in Spencer Road, where the houses are pleasant enough but nothing special, and a little further on is the rumbling A4, with the Tube station on the other side of a subway under the dual carriageway.

Osterley to Boston Manor

A horse in Osterley Park
A horse in Osterley Park

You don't have to weave around quite as much as I did when walking from Osterley to Boston Manor, but I've got a soft spot for canals, and day 8 of the Capital Ring starts at Boston Manor and follows the Grand Union Canal to the locks at Hanwell Flight, so I thought I'd include this section in my tubewalk. Besides, when I walked this part of the Ring back in 2006, I remember spotting a footpath that headed west from Hanwell Flight, and I wondered at the time where it went to, so here was my chance to find out.

Osterley Park
Osterley Park
Hanwell Flight
Hanwell Flight
Along the Grand Union Canal
Along the Grand Union Canal