Part 4 Richmond to Greenford

So it turns out other people have lives, Ariel had to work on his App, Sheena had to visit her family in Norfolk, Lucy had a doctors appointment, Lizzie was going to Ikea, Matthew was in Wivenhoe, Emerson was trying to stop Syrian's being tortured. Excuses excuses. So I set off the Richmond on my own. It was however, a beautiful day and after a week in Scotland hanging out in hotel rooms and watching films it was nice to be out in the open air.

At the start of the legs I have been taking photos of the people I walk with by the signs. So here's the first one:

And here's me. Taken with my swanky new phone that has a camera on the front. It also means the picture quality is greatly improved and all the photos are the right way up this time. Hurrah. I look in pain. Not quite sure why.

View back along the Thames to Richmond Bridge.


The river was gorgeous at this point- it was low tide and it didn't remotely feel like the same river as at Woolwich. In fact the majority of this walk didn't feel like London at all. Compared to the last one which went practically by my house, this took me to completely different areas I'd never been to before. Which is kind of the whole point.

House boats


At one point the path actually goes straight through the veranda of a pub. Note the picturesque church in the background.

And then to Syon Park. Whose history is awe-inspiring. Henry VIII and Capability Brown on one plaque- my kind of place.
It did feel, looking across the meadow at the grazing animals a bit like you were stepping back in time....except for being right underneath the flight path to Heathrow.

Ha-ha!
And after the park it was onto the Grand Union canal. Which if you followed it far enough and took one of the branches would lead you to my home town of Market Harborough. And depressingly enough I think the canal-side development would look almost exactly the same.

A less-glamourous section of the canal path

The canal and GSK head offices


This really could be Leicestershire


This is roughly the half way point of this leg and in fact the whole capital ring. Unfortunately I couldn't find the official marker of the end of leg 7 and the beginning of leg 8. But it's roughly here.


I stopped at the locks as a boat was passing through. I love locks.

Snack for today was a variation of The Best Coleslaw In The World. Carrots, beetroot, Raisins and Mayo. Sadly not quite enough mayo and no spring onions at this time of year but still, pretty darn awesome.

This bit of the path was underwater

Viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. If you ever get a chance to go to the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe- do. It's awesome. And also did you know his sister was described as Brunel in petticoats and probably had a finer mathematical brain than he did but as a woman in the Victorian age was unable to fulfil her potential? Well now you do.


Again just lots of greenery and not much else to say. It was very pretty and not at all like being in London. Although what this walk has taught me so far is that there are far more golf courses in London than I anticipated.


If you squint (a lot) in the background is the wembley arch- the only London landmark I saw on the whole walk.

And finally it was out of the parks and over a very ugly bridge over a busy road.

To the end of the walk, outside a shopping park. And with that I was over half way round. 44 miles done, 34 to go. Join me next time?

One last thing. The escalators at Greenford station were wooden. Which I thought was pretty awesome.