Capital Ring 8 Osterley Lock to Hanwell June 2018

We walked here on the hottest day of the year and were delighted by the English landscape, with birds and abundant summer plants and a cricket match at the end of the day. A hot day with temperatures hitting 24. I was late meeting Robert and Helen at the Boston Manor tube station start because the Piccadilly Line was crowded with travellers for Heathrow. They gave me a beautifully chosen birthday prezzie of a novel about a river by Ester Kinsky. We retraced our steps to the Grand Union canal, a heron perched a large weir. Coots, swans and ducks swam on the canal. There were many canal boats with flower and even solar panels on their roofs. Elthorn Waterside is grassed in now and we would see small trees there. We walked along to the Hanwell flight of locks. Our path tracked the river Brent for the rest of the day. The undergrowth next to the river was abundant and looked like Middle Earth. The huge beautiful Wharnecliffe viaduct built by Brunel in 1838 dominates the valley. The small bricks used in construction reminded Robert and I of N India Moghul architecture. We had excellent ice cream in Hanwell close to the church. A maze, set up to celebrate the Millenium is still growing. Bitterns field, a huge open a wild meadow only mown once a year had with gentle afternoon light on it. Perivale park contained several local cricket matches were taking place with British Indian teams. The Wembley dome dominated the horizon. Crossing the busy, busy A40 on a footbridge, was a low point of the walk. I enjoyed seeing Ealing hospital, where I worked in 1986. Then I used to take the Tube to Boston Manor and bike to the hospital. Our last 2 miles were on tarmac through 1950’s suburbia and we enjoyed seeing the roses in bloom. We ended the day with beer and crisps in a large pub next to the railway station. Highlights had been the Brunel viaduct and it was surprising how english the walk was. We came home by the central line. I have never been this far out on the central line. Danny Dorling wrote a fine small book imaging the people who might live at each stop on the central line. As a social geographer the book had a broad scope. good: Brunel viaduct, ice-cream in Hanwell Bad: journey out to Boston Manor surprising: luxuriant over growth by the paths References “River” by Esther Kinsky 2017 “The 32 Stops”, Danny Dorling Penguin 2013