Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The extensive 19th century Hayes brickfields have been landscaped and the canal arms
filled in. The arched Spikes footbridge crosses, moorhens nest and herons fly over. A pocket
of tranquillity has returned. A new development is located around Engineer's Wharf Moor-
ings. During the Second World War the canal was used for testing lifeboats at Greenford.
The 14th century St Mary's church was home to Nicholas Ridley, a vicar who was burnt
at the stake in Oxford in 1555 after supporting Lady Jane Grey. One of the sharpest bends on
the canal is by the Black Horse public house, an area of interesting aromas; fresh coffee wafts
from the Lyons Tetley works, to be replaced by fresh bread from the Mother's Pride bakeries
and, no doubt, the Guinness plant could also add to the aromas.
After this, the canal breaks into its most rural section. A laminated wooden arch bridge
leads towards Horsenden Hill, which rises to 84m on the left bank with rugby pitches. After a
large wooden owl, Sudbury Golf Club is located around its lower parts. Opposite is Perivale
Wood, established as a nature reserve in 1904, a remainder of the ancient Middlesex Forest.
Houseboats are moored alongside the canal as it approaches the Paddington Stop
.
Acton Lane Bridge is colourful. The Grand Junction Arms next to it includes a three-di-
mensional mock-up of a working canal boat and a decor of roses, castles and lace-edged
plates.
The bridges are completed with a complex of railway arches, more following at Old Oak
Common. Here, little is seen except a tall aerial and some old factories on the left bank and
open space behind a long low wall on the right. Beyond the wall and rather lower than the
canal are the massive railway yards that act as a holding area for engines and coaches with-
in easy reach of Paddington and will service Crossrail trains. Across the railway the North
