To Bull's Bridge from Denham Country Park and return

The weather in the previous week had been horrid, with rain, sleet, and some snow, and there was more rain on the way, so we hadn't really expected that we'd manage to get out walking today; luck was on our side for once. It had turned warmer and was almost entirely dry, if a little squelchy underfoot. It was mostly grey, but when the sun came out occasionally it felt positively spring-like. We were well and truly in London, and hadn't had great expectations for today's walk. The reality was generally better than either of us had expected, if nothing special, with the canal forming a "green corridor" through surprisingly varied areas, if spoilt somewhat by graffiti and litter. The wildlife was thriving even in such unpromising circumstances, we enjoyed the company of a pair of swans and various geese and ducks, including a pair of coots who were enhancing a nest on which one of them was already sitting. 

We had a good journey from Milton Keynes, down the M1, round the M25, then a short distance towards the centre of London on the M40/A40 and a very short distance on a minor road to Denham Country Park where we had decided to park. We happily paid our £4.60 to park, partly because it seemed reasonable given that we had parked for free in Rickmansworth on our last walk on the GUC (and the time before) and partly so we could use the Park's facilities. Unfortunately the café and toilets had not opened for the day when we set off walking around 9.20am ; and they'd closed by the time we returned around 3.40pm - we can't be absolutely certain that they'd been open in between.  Not great! As we walked south and then east along the tow path we were on the look out for places where we could stop; we passed a Tesco near Yiewsley, but was still before its 11am opening time, but amazingly there was a Tesco Extra cleary visible from Bull's Bridge, our turning around point. The only problem was that it was on the opposite side of the canal, and Bull's Bridge didn't help, as that spans the Paddington Arm whereas Hayes Tesco Extra (which is what we were looking at) is on the opposite side of the main line of the Grand Union Canal. We had  just passed under a bridge heading in the right direction, but it was a high-level bridge carrying the main A312 towards the M4 and Heathrow, and we didn't know if we would be able to get up to it or walk along it. Apple Maps to the rescue! There were indeed steps up to the A312, a pavement alongside it, and an underpass to the retail park; within 5-10 minutes we'd reached the shop, with its toilets and café. 

Refreshed by a cup of tea, we set off on the return leg to Denham, and (in order to maintain the overall flow of the descriptions) that's the order in which I will describe this section. For the purists, today's photos are largely in the order taken, which means that most were taken on the outward leg (when we saw things for the first time), with just a few photos from the return leg when something specific was happening as we passed in that direction. The area around Bull's Bridge is not terribly attractive.  The bridge would be nice enough were it not for all the litter lying around it, but immediately to the west was an area of industry/redevelopment. After passing underneath the railway (the mainline  heading out from Paddington towards South Wales and the west of England I think) the redevelopment theme continued, with lots of large modern (and reasonably attractive) blocks of flats, and we were soon close to the bustling centre of Hayes, with buses passing over a bridge every few seconds. and sirens from emergency vehicles.  Somewhere here was what the guidebook describes as "The giant Nestle factory"; I think this is probably now one of the sites that has been or is being converted into flats, but another option would be that this is now the large commercial complex on the opposite bank slightly further on.  A few narrow boats moored on the canal and two geese softened the landscape.

Although I'm sure that we were never far from centres of population, we reached a long straight section of canal, largely devoid of buildings apart from a Hanson  works (probably an asphalt plant) on the opposite bank. This section was also largely devoid of the moored canal boats that accompanied the rest of the walk, and it formed a green corridor. Somewhere along here we passed the marker telling us it was 74 miles to Braunston ; the equivalent marker near our flat is 37 miles to Braunston i.e. half-way there. We also found a little wall to sit on for lunch. On the outward leg, we'd passed two swans and as we returned, a cyclist had stopped and was feeding them. 

As we headed further west, we passed a modern commercial park on the right, with large office blocks up a slope from the canal, and soon railway lines came into sight,  carrying the Elizabeth Line to the extraordinarily long West Drayton station. The canal curved around to the north and its character changed again, as we passed through the more obviously built up area of Yiewsley. Soon we reached the junction where the Slough Arm of the GUC heads off to the west, and then we passed Packet Boat Marina. 

On the outward journey we'd passed Jules Fuels, the characteristic boats and butties which deliver fuel up and down the Grand Union Canal. On our return leg, they were in the process of passing through a lock, showing everyone else how it should be done. It was nice to see. We continued on up through Uxbridge, which wasn't quite what I'd expected. I'd thought it would be all modern and shiny - and parts no-doubt are - but we also passed shipyards etc. by the canal, which felt somewhat old-fashioned in places. We also passed through a veritable village of permanent moorings, with the occupants of the canal boats going about their business.

Now to the north of Uxbridge, we stopped for an apple close to the mooring place for the training boat we had seen in operation as we'd walked alongside the canal (on one occasion training some people who didn't seem to have much understanding of how a lock operatures - mind you, although we understand it all in theory, I'm sure we'd be very confused in practice). We passed the junction with the River Colne and the nesting coots. It was amazing to see nature thriving so close to the A40 and within a few miles of the M25/M40 junction. We crossed back to the west bank of the canal by way of an old-fashioned if graffiti-covered bridge, and returned through Denham Country Park to our car. 

Following leg