Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Below is Denham Lock, the deepest on the canal at 3.4m, used for filming a
Mogul
episode.
Denham studios opened in 1936, producing such films as
Brief Encounter, Robin Hood
and,
in 1963, the most famous canal film of them all,
The Bargee
.
The Misbourne river joins and there is a recent gravel wharf with a conveyor for loading
barges. The A40 crosses Oxford Road Bridge, immediately before becoming the M40. Bey-
ond the bridge a gas main crosses over. Gradually the canal becomes more industrial. Sander-
son Fabrics have their playing fields at Willowbank. Uxbridge Lock has a roving bridge. A
flourmill that was once run by Quakers has been redeveloped as flats.
Uxbridge is a mixture of half-timbered, Georgian and modern buildings, less placid than it
appears. In 1555 three people were burned at the stake here during religious unrest. In 1630
there were riots against tolls imposed by the Countess of Derby, the lady of the manor. It was
from the RAF headquarters here that Air Marshal Lord Dowding directed the Battle of Bri-
tain. The Swan & Bottle is opposite the Crown & Treaty Inn of 1576, which was the home
of Sir John Bennet, who hosted the unsuccessful Treaty of Uxbridge in an attempt to end the
Civil War, this being a Roundhead base. The building's panelling went to the Empire State
Building for a time but has since been returned.
Rank Xerox have tower blocks by the canal. At one time Fellows, Morton & Clayton had
one of the largest working fleets on the Grand Union Canal with boats triple-moored here.
Denham Yacht Station and Uxbridge Boating Centre have it easy today.
The General Eliott and a Royal Mail depot are by Dolphin Bridge while the B470 crosses
above Cowley Lock. In 1896 a barge loaded with chalk drifted on to the cill, broke its back
and sank while the crew were in the adjacent Malt Shovel, to which can now be added the
Grade II Toll House tea rooms.
A 43km level pound runs from here to Camden. From 1801 there was a four-horse packet
boat service to Paddington, with precedence over all craft, operating from the Paddington
Packet Boat.
