London LOOP section 10 Moor Park - Elstree

Moor Park Golf Course

This is one of the longer sections of the LOOP and I had managed to find myself another glorious day to tackle it. Exactly a month after my last foray I was very pleased to find that a lot of leaves were still on the trees, although with a forecast of heavy rain and wind in the next few days, I suspected that this would be the last that I would see of the leaves in all their autumn glory.

Bramble Colours

I took the train from Elstree and Borehamwood station to the beginning of the walk at Moor Park where I had left off last month. By taking the train only as far as West Hampstead and walking the short distance from the main railway station to the underground station nearby I saved myself some time and money on the train ticket (a useful tip for end to end walkers like me). Moor Park was rather different from last time in that it was almost deserted – no school children on a Sunday morning! With a decided nip in the air I was keen to get walking and as soon as I left the station I retraced my steps along the link route that I had traversed last time. Underfoot was extremely wet courtesy of a very heavy dew and I soon regretted not taking a chance on my yet-to-be-worn winter walking boots. My summer boots were very wet very quickly, although to be fair the water didn’t actually penetrate through the canvass.

Crossing the Common

At the end of the wood I turned left to skirt around a golf course, one of several that I would be seeing today. The number of players on the course was quite respectable despite the wet underfoot conditions. I suspect most of the players already on the course were eager to get finished before lunchtime. As I wandered across the course the colours of the blackberry bushes were what struck me most. I had never really considered how bright their leaves can get in the autumn, as I usually lose interest in them when the berries are finished. Yet there was a rich tapestry of reds and yellows on all the bushes, whetting my appetite on what was surely going to come later in the walk.

Autumn Colours

At the far end of the golf course I had the first viewpoint of the day as the LOOP bade farewell to the Colne Valley for the last time and headed determinedly eastwards as the Colne and its partner the Grand Union Canal headed north. After crossing a main road the LOOP crossed a green space that was covered in morning dew. It sparkled in the sunlight so much that you could have been forgiven for thinking it was frost, but it was actually too mild for that overnight. The air was thick with the smell of wood smoke and fireworks from the Bonfire Night celebrations the night before, a smell I always associate with autumn. The green space was thronged with dog walkers all making interesting tracks across the grass, a sort of reverse snail trail!

Golden Carpet

After a brief dalliance with a piece of suburbia I was thrust into Oxhey Woods, a very pleasant slice of ancient woodland full of pretty colours but rather defaced by various pieces of rubbish. Why do people feel it’s necessary to leave their rubbish in such lovely surroundings and spoil it for everyone else? It’s not as even as if it was the odd piece of litter either – we are talking tables and mattresses! After passing by a very expensive looking lodge house and through sun dappled woods I became aware of yet another housing estate and with it brought more fly-tipped rubbish. Groan! Thus far I had also been following a couple of fellow walkers from Moor Park station. They looked lost as I approached them but avoided my gaze so I wandered on having failed to connect with them. I had a feeling that they were fellow LOOP walkers but clearly didn’t want my company. Who knows they may still be lost for all I know!

Oxhey Woods Viewpoint

After a fairly long section of woodland walking I was pleasantly surprised to get out into the open air shortly afterwards. This supposedly was the second viewpoint with a sweep of London allegedly before me (according to the guidebook anyway). It is true that Wembley Stadium and Harrow-on-the-Hill church were very visible landmarks away in the distance but other than that it wasn’t a very memorable if I’m honest. The path soon dropped away from this ‘high point’ (slightly raised more like!) and down to a farm where I met a dreaded mud bath that I had to pick my way through very carefully for fear of being swallowed up by it!

Pinnerwood House

A little past the farm I also passed Pinnerwood House, apparently the home of Edward Bulwer Lytton, all round Victorian hero by all accounts. I have to confess I had never previously heard of him yet it is claimed that he originated some of the great clichés of our time in his capacity as author (he was also a politician, poet and playwright). He coined the phrases ‘pursuit of the almighty dollar’, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ and my personal favourite ‘the great unwashed’. Anyhow his former house is a much photographed landmark of the LOOP and deservedly so.

West Coast Main Line

It was to be the last highlight for awhile; from here it was an airy but rather uninspiring walk around seemingly endless fields until I reached the West Coast Main Line, the main rail route from London to North West England and Scotland. It was surprisingly quiet even for a Sunday, suggesting perhaps that at least some of the lines were closed for the day. A couple of trains did pass though just to dispel my first though, which was complete closure. I crossed the line by means of a bridge where I was almost completely enclosed, presumably to prevent vandalism of the line below by people throwing stuff over. Secure it might have been but I was pleased to get across as it was far from a pleasant experience.

Grim's Dyke Golf Course

The path continued along a road and crossed at a junction by a garden centre, still managing to do decent trade despite the lateness of the season. I was pleased to cross the road opposite and continue out into open countryside. I got the distinct impression that the rather unloved piece of land I passed first was an unofficial rubbish dump and it was therefore some relief to pass through a gate and out into a golf course. This was the third encountered today and clearly golf is a very popular pastime in these parts. I guess planning golf courses was also a lot easier than houses in the green belt around London? I continued up the side of Grim’s Dyke golf course until I got to a track at the top of the hill, where I turned to look back across the view behind me. It was actually pretty good – rather better than the one across London earlier. A little further along the track and I came upon Grim’s Dyke, the ancient feature that the golf course is named after. This earthwork’s origin is a mystery and also barely discernable underneath all the vegetation. It did mark the beginning of another lengthy section of woodland walking as I crossed Harrow Weald.

Grim's Dyke

In the woodland are a number of man-made features of different vintages. First the modern, with a very large telecom mast unsympathetically dumped in the middle of the wood. It was so big that it could conceivably pick up signals from outer space (perhaps that is its function?). A slightly older construction was a little further ahead; the 1870 house also known as Grim’s Dyke and formerly the home of WS Gilbert or Gilbert and Sullivan fame. The weed choked lake reached before the house is the scene of Gilbert’s death. He had a heart attack while trying to rescue a woman who apparently got into difficulties when he was trying to teach her to swim. When I reached the old house I realised that I had strayed from the official path – it was worth it though. The old place is now a country house hotel that still puts on Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Iolanthe and The Pirates of Penzance were upcoming productions – good fun if you like that sort of thing.

Grim's Dyke House

I re-found the path through the woods and came out on Old Redding Lane. This is something of a local beauty spot, with a well-used car park and a great view southwards across the metropolis. Wembley Stadium suddenly looked a lot closer from this point and the intervening countryside looked like an autumn parkland rather than the endless houses you might expect of such a view. I lingered for a minute then continued along the road past the intriguingly name ‘The Case is Altered’ pub. Apparently this is more common a name that I realised, but it usually refers to a change to licensing law some 300 or so years ago. This example though apparently takes its name from a corruption of ‘casa alta’, Spanish for high house. Certainly the pub sign confirms that, for it depicts soldiers trying to capture the place, although the signage itself has seen better days sadly.

The Case is Altered

After a brief respite from woods it was back into woodland walking again, crossing another section of Harrow Weald. On a sunny autumn day it was a joy to be walking through all these patches of woodland, but I’m not sure it would be so appealing at any other time of year. The woodland was finally interrupted by the A409 – a particularly busy road that was tough to cross. On the other side the character of the walk changed completely as I entered the grounds of Bentley Priory. The pathway through the grounds is surfaced, which made the going rather easier. I soon became aware of a very large barbed wire fence on my left and remembered that Bentley Priory was the famed headquarters of RAF Fighter Command during World War II. Apparently the old place is still owned by the Ministry of Defence, hence the rather stern looking security measures around the outside. As I walked around the perimeter fence I got the odd glimpse of the Italianate architecture of the old place, but I wasn’t going to risk taking pictures in these nervous times!

Bentley Woods

At the far end of Bentley Priory were some very salubrious houses of various vintages all clustered together on an exclusive looking estate perhaps once populated by the top brass in the air force but now more likely to be owned by footballers, stockbrokers and swanky lawyers? The path only briefly flirted with such a world though and it was soon back into woodland as I passed by Stanmore Cricket Club and then some picturesque looking ponds known as Caesar’s Lakes. These were allegedly dug by the Romans when they occupied this area (hence the name) but nobody seems sure. As I skirted Stanmore (famed for being at the end of the Jubilee Line) I became aware of two very different gatherings of people. The first was the sporting fraternity of Harrow Rugby Club, where boys from various ages were competing in some fiercely competitive games (if the crowd’s reaction was anything to go by). The second was the gathering of Muslims for what I took to be a pretty important event at the Islamic Centre just opposite the rugby club. There was a degree of traffic chaos in the area caused by both events, but it was good to see plenty of life around. Too often on this walk I have wandered through suburbia and seen no-one at all.

Bentley Park

I finally left the woodland and heathland behind a little further on when I passed by the National Orthopaedic Hospital. Judging from the appearance of the LOOP side of the campus the hospital isn’t used much, since many of the buildings look semi-derelict. Yet there seems to be no reference to this on the website – it’s all a bit confusing really.

Reflections

However, this did mark the point at which woodland walking was almost completely left behind. I could hear the roar of the M1 ahead of me and at the corner of the hospital campus I got a great view out across the green belt towards St Albans. Although the motorway did create quite a din, it did not impose itself too much on the view which was a relief. I wandered down though a few fields before coming to an underpass that I could use to get across. I am always surprised at how wide these bridges are, and this one resembled a short tunnel it was so dark underneath. After playing chicken across the road underneath the motorway (the rather busy A41), I then faced a half mile trudge along the road into Elstree. This wasn’t actually that bad, although I was pretty frustrated not to be able to cross and join the perimeter path around Aldenham Reservoir at the first opportunity. Instead I had to miss a good chunk of it before the opportunity arose.

More Reflections

The bit of shoreline of the reservoir I did walk was delightful. By now the sky was full of puffy white clouds which meant that the shadows and light were even better than earlier when it was a cloudless sky. The water was like glass and all around was a throng of activity with Sunday strollers, families airing their children and the members of the lake boating club busying themselves with preparing their boats for winter. The lake itself was apparently built by French PoWs in the Napoleonic War and in keeping with the reluctance of forced labour they made a poor job of it. Apparently the reservoir leaked for years before it was finally fixed by the installation of a concrete dam.

National Orthopaedic Hospital

From the reservoir it was a short but fairly uninteresting walk into Borehamwood. Sadly the LOOP misses the charming village of Elstree entirely, with a brief view of the church all that is visible from the path. After crossing Watling Street, the old Roman Road that headed for North Wales and is now the pretty unimportant A5183, the LOOP then made an annoying detour away from the short road into Borehamwood, adding an extra half mile to my journey just so I could get a good look at yet another golf course! Over in the distance I was also getting pretty distracted by a police helicopter hovering over Borehamwood and I couldn’t help thinking that it had something to do with my car! Of course when I got closer I soon realised that it didn’t, but I have to confess that I rather rushed the last mile or so of the walk, not taking very much in.

Aldenham Reservoir

This is the longest section of the LOOP so far completed, although it is still a relatively modest twelve miles. It is perfect to do on an autumn day when the colours are at their most radiant. Would I have enjoyed it is much at another time of year? Difficult to say, especially as there are no real stand out parts of the walk. Pleasant it was, but nothing like as enjoyable as the previous section walking along the Grand Union Canal.

Stokes Bay Railway

Gosport Station

Having exhausted all the ‘official’ railway walks/ cycle rides in Sussex my attention must now turn to neighbouring counties to see what I can find there.  Hampshire is a particularly rich vein to tap into and of course I have already found a few (Hayling Billy, Meon Valley Line and the Hamble Rail Trail).  A particularly intriguing railway that demanded exploration in the very short time I had available while in the area a couple of weeks ago is the Stokes Bay Railway.  This short line in the southern part of Gosport was constructed as a short cut to the Isle of Wight before the pier was built in Portsmouth for Isle of Wight ferries.  The line closed as long ago as 1915 so it is something of a miracle that any of it survives at all, but a quick look at the map will show that most of the line has been turned into a cycle path.  An interesting little potted history of the line can be found on http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/stokes_bay/index.shtml including a couple of pictures of the pier and how it would once have looked like.

Former Stokes Bay Station

I parked at the sea end of the line.  There would once have been a pier out to sea here, but the site is now occupied by the local lifeboat station, a rather fitting change of use.  The pier finally succumbed to demolition in the early 1970s when the Royal Engineers were allowed to use the rest of the structure to practice their methods on.  There is almost no trace of any railway across the green area at the back of the lifeboat station so I picked up the trail once again in Crescent Road just to the north.  From here a well defined and signed cycle trail suddenly starts out of nowhere and heads north.  This is the line of the old railway, although inevitably there is little in the way of clues indicating its original use.

Now a Cycle Trail

The walk isn’t terribly exciting until after the next road crossing the only real railway feature left intact appears suddenly.  The line crosses Anglesey inlet via a short viaduct and at this point the view across to Portsmouth and the iconic Spinaker Tower comes into view.  How different must this view have been to the Edwardian traveller?  For a start there probably would have been next to no housing in this part of Gosport.  Its early demise can surely be no surprise when you consider how sparsely populated this part of Hampshire was in those days.  Once the pier in Portsmouth opened, life for the Stokes Bay Pier and its shipping service to the Isle of Wight would always be a struggle.  The ferry service initially became summer only and then ceased altogether in 1913.  It was a miracle there were any railway services at all once the ferry service was withdrawn, but the trains managed to soldier on for another two years!

Anglesey Viaduct

The walk continues between houses after the interesting little interlude of the viaduct.  Autumn has really got a grip now and the relatively few trees alongside the former railway (in contrast to most walks of this nature) showed a nice range of colours from yellow to burgundy.  A little further along the track and there was another glimpse across the water, courtesy of another inlet of Portsmouth/ Gosport harbour.  This one was intriguingly called Workhouse Lake, giving a strong hint to its original identity.  No sign of a workhouse now, just yuppie housing development but at least the presence of some birdlife made it a lot more interesting,

Workhouse Lake

A short way past Workhouse Lake and the trackbed stops for now, although there is an interpretation board reminding people that this was once a railway.  I would imagine few people in the area actually know this without looking at the board since there are so few clues left. 

Autumn Colours

Across the road would have been the only intermediate station on the route, Gosport Road.  The site has been completely changed beyond all recognition from thos days since it is now occupied by a telephone exchange, itself of some vintage by the looks of things.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that too was supplanted by something else in a few years time.  The trackbed immediately to the north of here has also disappeared for about ¼ of a mile and I had to walk the length of St Andrews Road opposite and dive down the back alley of the houses on the left hand side before finding the track once again. 

Progress

This time the trackbed was a more conventional tunnel of trees although to be fair that didn’t last very long at all.  Just ahead the southern end of the former triangle junction of the line as it diverged from the Gosport to Fareham line is still a junction, but this time of cycle routes.  Originally the south to west line in the triangle didn’t exist and passengers for Stokes Bay would have been seriously inconvenienced by having to go into Gosport first and in many cases changing trains entirely.  This arrangement was finally fixed but not until several years after opening.

Now an Alley

As I was pressed for time I decided that the Fareham section of line would have to wait for another day.  I took the right hand option and headed the short distance past a fairly unloved looking recreation ground and past a school and through a housing estate now built right across the trackbed.  I was keen to see Gosport station, one of unusual design and a listed building as a result.  This meant that following closure in the 1960s the old place was left to rack and ruin as no-one really knew what to do with it.  I was rather surprised to find it a building site when I arrived.  The old place is now to become affordable housing courtesy of the Guinness Trust (see the marketing blurb at http://www.guinnesshomes.co.uk/pages/gosport-railway-station.htm ).  It wasn’t too easy to see how the place would look from the end that the trains would have once used, so I headed instead to the other end by negotiating a few streets.  The work then became much clearer, with many of the original features to remain although it would be hard to imagine that it was once a railway station.  Still there were some good pictures on the hoardings.  As I stood looking at what it was to become my image of the finished building was shattered by one of the workers who told me that it would look nothing like the publicity!

Triangle Junction

I couldn’t help smiling to myself as I headed back towards the seafront and vowed to be back to explore more in a few months time when the work has been completed.

Redevelopment of Gosport Station

VeloRail Pont Erambourg

Our Train Awaits

A rather different type of outing this time! During our recent holiday in Normandy I finally got to have a go on a velorail, several years after I first learned of their existence. Now that my children are old enough it seemed like the time to try one out, since there were three opportunities within striking distance of the cottage where we stayed (http://www.eco-gites.eu/).

On Board

For those not in the know, France still has many miles of disused railway lines that are still intact. Apparently they are retained for strategic reasons in case the military need to use them and removal only happens once a solid case is put forward. This has led to the development of velorail (railway cycling) as a popular way of exploring some of these otherwise redundant and unused lines. There are approximately 50 velorail operations across the country and the one we decided to visit was about 12 miles from where we stayed. The operation is centred at Pont Erambourg, a small village between Caen and Flers in Calvados, Normandy. This line closed for passenger traffic in 1970 although there have been numerous attempts to reopen it since, partly because of the scenic nature of the line. It runs through what is ambitiously known as ‘Suisse Normande’ (Swiss Normandy), on account of its supposed resemblance to Switzerland (only in as much as there are a few hills and forests!). It is however, very pleasant countryside reminiscent of the Wye Valley in places.

Deserted House

This stretch of railway line actually has two velorail operations, a few miles apart but on different parts of the same line (http://velorails.pagesperso-orange.fr/ ). There is a society that has been formed to try and restore the line, possibly as a heritage railway. We opted for the Pont Erambourg location as it was nearer and at 13km for a round trip, rather shorter than the other one at Val de Maizet further north, which is a 22km round trip. Our children’s patience would have surely been tested by that one!

Role Reversal

Pont Erambourg is also host to something of a museum and the headquarters of the group trying to restore the railway. In the old goods station is a substantial collection of old rolling stock and a couple of locomotives in different states of repair. Sadly, although it is possible to look inside a couple of the railway carriages (old post office sorting coaches), most of the yard is off limits to casual visitors. I couldn’t help thinking that if this was in Britain it would be stuffed with visitors wanting to see every aspect of what was going on.

Heavy Traffic

However, we weren’t really here for the heritage railway stuff, welcome distraction though it was. Our mission was to acquire one of the nifty little railway cycles and explore the extent of the line that we were allowed to. The experience cost us the grand total of 18 Euros, probably a good deal more than the equivalent train journey would have cost! Before setting off we were appraised of the conventions and ‘rules of the road’. The first thing we had to learn was how to turn the cycle around. At 80kg per cycle it isn’t something you will want to lift unless absolutely necessary. At each end of the line therefore an ingenious little turntable arrangement has been put in place, whereby the whole cycle is lifted off the rails, enabling the users to easily turn it. The other thing we had to remember is that the cycle with the greatest number of people aboard has to give way to the one with the least. At first this sounded counter-intuitive, but the thinking became obvious when you realise that the only way to pass is to lift one of the cycles off the rails entirely. Having had the briefing in a mixture of French and English we felt confident enough to get started. We immediately passed by the station building of Pont Erambourg, now a private house that is well protected by a fence preventing velorail snoopers from gawping in the windows! Another point impressed on us was that there are several railway related buildings alongside that are now private houses, and the occupants appreciate peace and quiet from potentially noisy railway cyclists!

Into The Sunshine

Getting going was quite easy as the first stretch of the line out of Pont Erambourg is downhill. The cycles themselves have no gears and so only modest speeds can be achieved. Braking is fairly rudimentary with a metal shoe being applied directly to the wheel! Anyhow, after the initial novelty value of the cycling it felt really good to be cycling along real rails. Of course I have cycled along many old railway lines, but this experience is much more real since so much of the infrastructure is still in place and not just the rails.

Another Crossing

Shortly after getting going we crossed the Noireau River for the first time. This would be a constant companion for the rest of our journey, for the line actually follows the valley for the velorail section. From the viaduct across the river we caught a glimpse of Pont Erambourg, a scenic little village some distance from the former train station (perhaps a clue as to why the rail service was withdrawn). After we passed the village the next couple of kilometres were largely cut off from the surroundings by the wall of trees that has developed alongside the track. Yet it is a testament to the volunteers that help keep the track free of weeds that there was almost no growth on the track itself. After we had got the hang of the cycle my oldest daughter wanted to have a try but sadly she was too small to work the pedals (I think both of us had the thought that one of us might be able to rest while she pedalled!).

Approaching Berjou

When the trees thinned out and we could see the surrounding countryside, the line passed through a beautiful wooded valley save the small area devoted to growing crops on the valley floor (mostly maize). A house on our left caught my eye. It was one of many in France that awaits renovation, possibly by a foreigner looking for an opportunity to build a rural retreat. This one was slowly receding into nature, but what really caught my eye was a decrepit looking Volvo outside which had not a French, but a British numberplate! I was rather surprised to see an abandoned vehicle so far from its origin. Perhaps a sign of a failed project?

Berjou Station

Our first test of the rules of the road came on this section as we approached a level crossing. Unlike ‘live’ railways the priorities are different at level crossings. Velorailers give way to road traffic, but in all honesty the first couple of level crossings that we reached probably only have a handful of road vehicles using them, so the chance of an encounter is probably pretty remote. At the first of the level crossings I admired the crossing keeper’s cottage. Rather like canal keeper’s cottages in Britain these are obviously very desirable places to live nowadays and this one was no exception with a beautifully laid out garden alongside the rail line too. They would have to like all the cycling tourists gawping at them as they passed by! I had a funny feeling though that it was actually a holiday rental.

Ground Frame

Further along the line we encountered something that would definitely be frowned on by the rail authorities if it were still operational. A herd of goats had strayed onto the track and initially they looked as if they were headed for us out of a sense of curiosity. Thankfully they didn’t get in our way, realising perhaps that we weren’t something to get in the way of as we steamed along the track!

Viaduc de Bordeaux

After another crossing of the river we came upon the next station along the line at Berjou. This was formerly a junction station, with a line that headed off to Falaise from here that closed as long ago as 1938. Unlike the Caen line that we were travelling on I guess that this line was too lightly used to ever contemplate keeping and all the track has been removed. We had passed a few of the remaining features of the line earlier on our way to the velorail. The trackbed doesn’t look as if it is available to walk on although seemingly intact for a fairly lengthy distance. What I took to be a goods yard during operational days has now been fenced off for some reason, although there are clues that it might be undergoing reinstatement as a railyard. New ballast on our part of the track, together with the retention of points (albeit that don’t lead anywhere) and some old railway relics suggested that it might have something to do with the heritage railway operation.

Lonely Cow

Berjou station would have served a fairly sparse community, so even if the railway is brought back as a ‘real’ line there is no guarantee that this station would be brought back into use. Yet, once it would have acted as a junction station between the two lines diverging from here so presumably there must have been some activity in the early part of the 20^th Century. The station now is in good repair, although the platforms are starting to disappear under weed growth. The owner appears to gather rubbish, with a beat up looking Peugeot sitting in the garden which has been there quite awhile I’ll guess.

Finding the Tunnel

Shortly past the actual rail junction which is still quite evident, our line crosses the most impressive bridge yet, the Viaduc de Bordeaux. Not quite sure if there is any connection with the city, but the viaduct is still impressive although it looks like it got a bit of a beating in World War 2. Although clearly built for a double track, part of the decking has been badly damaged and removed entirely reducing the otherwise clean lines of the bridge. By now we could feel that the line was beginning to climb and we finally left the Noireau River behind for good at this point. We climbed over a ‘real’ level crossing that we had actually crossed in the car earlier and then headed up past a field with a very lonely looking cow in it. It tracked our every move as we passed by, presumably weighing up whether we were a threat. I gave it a wave and took its picture to make it feel better! After the cow we headed into woodland and after a short stretch bound by trees once again we caught sight of the French family ahead of us and as far as we knew, the only other family on the line.

Turning Round

As we got closer we could see that we had made it to the end of the line that could be cycled. Ahead was the 1.7 kilometre long Tunnel Les Gouttes, a formidable obstacle to velorailing. The tunnel is gated off now to put off even the most determined explorer. The tunnel had an interesting World War II apparently, with Hermann Goering supposedly sheltering in here in a special train while he met with his generals. Later in the war it became a shelter of a different nature when it protected nearly 1200 refugees while the battle for Falaise (one of the most ferocious of the Normandy campaign) raged around outside. Seeing this almost forgotten relic of the French railway system it is hard to believe that it had such an eventful past.

Berjou Station

For us, we negotiated past the French family by lifting our cycle off the rails temporarily and then turned it on the turntable. After the girls had inspected the tunnel we made our way back to Pont Erambourg. The return journey was a little less eventful although by now it was turning into a warm afternoon. A few other families had ventured out onto the rails and we had to lift our ‘bike’ off twice on the way back to let them past. Perhaps inevitably they were British!

Suisse Normande Countryside

Once back at Pont Erambourg we did our best to look around at the rolling stock gathered on the sidings. Unfortunately we were only really allowed to look inside the old postal carriages, but there were some interesting exhibits of how the line looked in its heyday. I just wish my French was better for I am sure I would have got a lot more out of the visit if it had been.

Pont Erambourg

Having broken my duck on this exercise, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Had my children been a little more patient (they definitely got quite restless on the way back), I would have loved to have a go on one of the other operations during the week. I can honestly see this being a feature of future trips to France and I shall keep abreast of new openings on http://www.veloraildefrance.com/ , the federation of velorailing activity. Having surveyed other opportunities there are some very interesting looking lines to explore elsewhere.

Awaiting Restoration

London LOOP section 9 Uxbridge - Moor Park

Uxbridge Tube Station

It’s been five months since my last trip to the ‘burbs and strangely I had really missed doing this walk.  My original plan today was to walk the next section of the Sussex Coast Path, but a fire at Hastings Pier only a couple of days earlier actually put me off a bit.  I had enjoyed looking at the pier only a few weeks ago and the thought of seeing the only just put out remains just seemed like voyeurism and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Crown and Treaty

Now that autumn has really kicked in the thought of wandering along another section of the Grand Union Canal, as this section of the LOOP does for the first five miles seemed a lot more appealing.  I once again parked in the centre of Uxbridge as further north I had heard about a huge jam on the M25 that I didn’t really need to get involved with.  This also enabled me to get an earlier start on the walk as the public transport bit would be left to the end.  From the shopping centre I headed down to the banks of the Grand UnionCanal, passing the Crown and Treaty pub as I did so.  This Tudor looking building is just a lowly chain pub these days but it has a place in English history, for under a different guise it was the setting for some fairly tense negotiations between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War in 1645.  Perhaps unsurprisingly the treaty was doomed to failure with both sides feeling that they had the upper hand in the war at the time.  It wasn’t too long before the inevitable happened to Charles I.  No doubt Oliver Cromwell would be horrified at the current use of the building!

Lock Keeper's Cottage

Just past the pub I was reunited with the canal at the Swan and Bottle pub and stood for a moment on the overbridge watching the delicate operation that is turning a canal boat.  Fortunately there is a winding hole at this point, for otherwise the manoeuvre would be impossible.  Once the turn was complete I lost interest and continued down onto the towpath.  I immediately sensed that this was going to be a special day for walking since the weather was sunny and still and with virtually no flow on a canal, the surface of the water was almost like a mirror in places.  Just north of the start of my walk I passed the first lock and point of interest when I passed by Uxbridge boatyard and lock in quick succession.  My eyes were drawn to the lock keepers cottage, now a private residence and a great place to live if you are a boat spotter!

Demolition

A little further on and another industrial relic wasn’t so lucky as a large demolition machine was in the process of dismantling the metal shed attached to one side using what I can only described as huge bolt cutters (great attachement by the way!).  I stood and watched mesmerised for a few minutes, secretly wishing that I was actually taking part.  If the canal hadn’t been there, who knows I might have asked for a go.  Perhaps I need a trip to Diggerland one day?

Stern Wheeler

The next half a mile or so I spent nosing at the various boats parked by the side of the towpath.  Most were in very good condition with their beautiful liveries and some displaying business details that in some cases I wasn’t sure were current or historical!  Some had very ingenious ways of ensuring that their owners had plenty of modern conveniences, including bicycles, small boats tethered alongside, satellite dishes and photovoltaic cells all attached to their boats.  I also saw a pretty preposterous looking ‘stern-wheeler’ – never seen anything like that before!  It’s a far cry from the basic conditions the canal boat owners from the 18^th Century would have ‘enjoyed’.

Reflections

I soon headed out of the built up area of Uxbridge and open countryside beckoned on the other side of the roar of the A40 Westway which passed above me.  I soon realised that I would get some pretty good pictures of the canal today as the water was so still and the reflections were amazing.  In this early part of the autumn  it always surprises me how some trees have almost completely shut down and others still look green and thriving and both kinds were very much in evidence along this beautiful stretch of the canal.  In the blackberry bushes alongside the spiders had spun hundreds of webs in order to catch the hapless insects that were still hanging around trying to feed on the last of the blackberries.  It almost felt like Mother Nature cleaning up after the summer and getting ready for the winter hibernation. 

Cobwebs

I had to pinch myself that I was in Greater London, especially as the map showed an area of countryside scarred by gravel quarrying.  Remarkably though the gravel pits have returned to nature and enhance the countryside – it shouldn’t be possible but what can I say?  The canal seems a far from an industrial relic too and the stretch between Westway and Denham Lock is especially enjoyable.  My peace and quiet was rather spoiled though by the ferocious looking guard dogs standing at the gate behind the lock keepers cottage at Denham Lock a little further on.  I was just glad they were contained safely behind the gate, otherwise I think I would have made a dainty mid morning snack.  I couldn’t help thinking that they might be set on customers of the tea room that now occupies the cottage if people don’t pay!  At Denham Lock there was also the intriguing sight of the canal crossing the River Colne.  I don’t know why these aqueducts are so interesting but there is something rather odd about water crossing water that I can’t quite get my head around.

Tea Anyone?

A short while later and at the next bridge the path left the canal to take a course alongside a couple of lakes now filling former gravel pits.  The origins of these beautiful lakes is amazing when you see how they look now – it’s as though they have been here forever.  As I wandered along this stretch of the path I enjoyed looking at the various birds that call the lake home busily gathering nesting materials for their winter homes.  The woodland floor was also littered with fungi, including a few fly agaric, the archetypal fairy mushrooms with their vivid red colour and white spots.

Fly Agaric

At the top end of the lake I jumped out of my skin as a train went rattling past and I realised that I was approaching the former Great Central Line and now line to Birmingham via Chiltern Railways.  I was also reunited with the canal at this point and the reflections of the viaduct in the water were truly amazing.  Capturing them on camera wasn’t so easy though as I had to work my way through stinging nettles and brambles to get the right spot, so I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labour!

Autumn Tints

On the other side of the viaduct another lake appeared and this time it was being used as a sailing and watersports centre although there was no life at all today, save for a grebe in the distance busily taking advantage of the quietness and gathering weed for its nest.  Eventually at the end of the lake the path curved around and I soon realised why as I had reached Denham Boatyard, an enormous parking lot of canal boats,  Yet despite all the shapes and sizes of boat on show it was the one nearest the path that caught my eye, the MSC Frodsham, which I understand now is a replica vessel based on the boats that used to ply the Bridgewater Canal in Cheshire.  It seems to be a much travelled boat for I have since come across pictures of it in Gloucester, Shropshire and Wolverton.

Great Central

For a short while I left canal behind as I rounded yet another gravel pit, this time set up as a delicious looking nature reserve complete with picnic area that definitely would have sparked my imagination.  I wandered over to take a closer look at the lake and was delighted to find a red admiral butterfly sitting on a buddleia bush just begging to have its picture taken.  Once I had a couple of shots it cleared off, heading off into the undergrowth in search of a more private spot.  I soon became aware of some more unnatural looking wood next to me and as I traced it around I quickly realised that it was actually a canal barge that had been pulled up onto shore and left to rot and be absorbed by nature.  Judging by the size of the trees that had taken root inside I am guessing that it had been there in excess of 50 years.

MSC Frodsham

A little further on and I reached a road at the settlement of South Harefield.  The nature reserve that I had been walking through had some pretty robust looking defences around the gateways, I suspect to help protect it from traveller and flytipping incursions.  While I applaud these efforts, it is sad that the countryside surrounding urban areas has to be furnished with concrete blocks, bunding or metal gates in order to stop this anti-social behaviour.  I was pleased to be reunited with the canal once again after this flirtation with normality.

Red Admiral

I dropped down onto the canal by the Horse and Barge pub at Widewater Lock.  The pub looked deserted today but its expansive size, together with plenty of additional facilities like kiddies playground and crazy golf course suggested that this might be quite a popular stop off point for canal boaters.  The canal northward from here was very tranquil and quiet and I passed very few people for the next couple of miles.  Each side of the canal was open countryside for the most part although on the western side I could see glimpses of yet more extensive gravel pit lakes.  Every so often I passed the odd house and in one or two cases they came with very well tended gardens adding even more beauty to the scene.  Most of the houses initially I guessed were canal workers houses, for they certainly seemed to be the right style and vintage.  Just before the end of my canal part of the walk though it seemed as if a developer had finally woken up to the potential of the canal as an attractive place for housing as I passed a reasonably new development.  Far from detracting from the attractiveness of the canal though it seemed as if many of the householders were also canal devotees for there were several boats moored outside what I took to be the house of the owner.  I also suspect that the houses replaced some derelict canal based building, hence they were allowed to be built in what I am sure would otherwise be green belt land.

Returning to Nature

At the rather cheesily named Coy Carp pub (which had some very strange looking cobwebs filling the area under the eaves by the way), I finally left the canal for good today.  I was actually a bit disappointed for I had really enjoyed the Grand Union Canal both today and way back in May when I completed the last section.  I can’t help feeling that sooner or later I may well be back to look at the rest of the canal (maybe as a bike ride?).  I rounded a couple of roads, passing a fairly impressive looking mill building on the way and headed up the hill out of the Colne Valley.  I couldn’t help but see the irony of a missing cat poster being affixed to the directional signage for a cattery and wondered whether the two were linked in some way? 

Canal Cottage

After passing the cattery (which was nestled in a cleared hollow in the woods and looked like a place that anyone would want to holiday) I climbed up through woodland that I took to be some ancient parkland that had been left to rack and ruin.  I say this because alongside the path was some quite elaborate decorative iron fencing that had clearly seen better days and which only about 25% remained in situ.  At the top of the hill the path levelled out and passed between a large allotment site and a large open site with planning permission signs affixed to the fence.  Initially expecting that it was zoned for housing when I read through I saw instead that the locals had actually applied for village green status to preserve it as a public open space, an increasing practice in recent years.

New Neighbours

I reached another road and passed by a pub that has now been turned into a children’s centre, although the style of the building still gave the game away as to its provenance.  Even the old pub sign was intact at one end of the car park.  From here the path then continued across several fields, unremarkable except that the maize crop in one had been left to rot and remained unharvested perhaps as a result of the wet weather we had during September.  The worst part of the day came at the end of these fields when I had to walk about 500 metres along a very busy road with no pavement.  There are fortunately very few sections like this on the LOOP but when they do come they make for nasty walking indeed.  I was very pleased to see the footpath sign off to the left a few minutes and a couple of close shaves later.  I passed along another path that had been securely fenced off from its surroundings for a short while before being disgorged into a huge field with a great view across to Moor Park golf course.  I suddenly became aware of my feet getting a bit wet and realised that the grass in the shade was still damp with heavy dew that hadn’t yet seen the sun and not evaporated. 

Grandeur

Unlike previous correspondents that have complained about the lack of signage in these parts I could have no such complaints so far today, but I did discover a missing sign that almost cost me quite a lot of distance before I realised.  Luckily the very obvious path that had been going forever forward seemed as if it might be heading in the wrong direction and sure enough I discovered that I was correct.  Finding the true path seemed more difficult than I expected but I realised that I should have entered an adjacent wood.  I wasn’t wholly sure though as it was a bit of a rough path and not what I had been used to, so you can imagine my relief when I finally found a LOOP sign once again.

Former Pub

It wasn’t the only time I would be relieved as about 500 metres further on when the path threatened to become ever more swampy after the recent heavy rain, it suddenly detoured at exactly the right moment to avoid the worst of it entirely.  The path through this part of woodland was much less well-defined though and I wouldn’t be surprised if many LOOP walkers have got pretty lost through here.  I reached Betchworth Heath, a lovely little oasis sitting alongside a very busy couple of roads.  The pond was not especially clean though – it looked like the rain had stirred up much of the pondbed, leaving the water pretty brown and murky.

Betchworth Heath

The two pubs at Betchworth Heath couldn’t be more different.  Ye Old Green Man is a pub that looks to have cleaned up on the catering trade, appealing to the well heeled.  Just down the road though the Prince of Wales looks like a much seedier joint, confirmed by its rusty sign and the advertisements for strippers on one of the blackboards outside.  I was pleased that my dalliance with yet another busy road was short lived and I soon found myself wandering down through an area of woodland.  The path though had some strange piles of concrete paving slabs at various points on the way down, suggesting an unfinished civil engineering job.  A little further on and there were excavations of a different nature as the path was completely filled with a very large and freshly dug burrow of possibly a fox judging by the size of it.  After this surprisingly rural stretch through what appeared to be suburbia according to the map, I eventually hit houses and most of the remaining part of the walk was through salubrious suburbia and private estates.

Abandoned Project

When I reached the tube line I was about to travel on I took the link path to Moor Park station.  On one side of me I could hear the odd thwack of a golf ball, while on the other side was the Metropolitan Line to Watford and Amersham.  Yet, between these distractions the little corridor of woodland that the link path travels through was alive with the sound of birdsong, more in keeping with Spring than Autumn.  Yet, on such a fine day who wouldn’t want to sing about it?

Approaching Moor Park

Moor Park station was a bit forbidding and had obviously been made very vandal-proof, slightly out of keeping with the setting that the station is in.  I expected only a couple of minutes wait here for my train back to Uxbridge (via Harrow-on-the-Hill), but in the event I ended up waiting a lot longer than expected since there had been a breakdown further down the line.  Surprisingly this was the first time that I had used the Underground network to get back to my point of origin.  Not a good start!

Moor Park Station

The public transport link is one of the easier ones in North London and this section was mostly a joy, especially the canal section.  The latter half of the walk was less memorable and I’m hoping won’t be a common theme as I now strike eastwards across the top of London.  I guess by the time I come back this way autumn may well be heading into winter…