Introduction
During the Easter break I went for a walk with my dad in the Brentford area. He took us to various interesting and picturesque locations.
The Thames
We started from Kew Bridge station and walked to the Thames just beside, unsurprisingly, Kew Bridge. We then followed the Thames west a short way to the point where the Grand Union Canal leaves it, passing through Watermans Park (which Dad said used to be a gasworks when he was a kid).
We left the Thames and took a short detour along some roads.
Returning to the river, we walked around the point with a sculpture where the two streams of the Thames rejoin, and where the River Brent (also the canal) then leaves. I’d seen the sculpture before, but not walked around that area as much.
We followed the path beside the River Brent/canal and walked around the boatyards by Thames Lock.
This area used to be a significant port; goods were taken from Thames boats onto the Great Western Railway. The dock used for this still exists but is now part of a large housing estate, which we wandered into and had a quick look.
We followed Brent Way back to the river and took a slight detour along the river and across a footbridge back to the housing estate. The road access to the estate runs over an old railway bridge; you can still see evidence of the route on maps and aerial photos.
We followed the River Brent for a bit back to the high street.
On the high street we went into a shop to buy snacks; the shopkeeper, seeing Dad’s camera, proceeded to show us a folder full of interesting photos he’d taken of Brentford (mainly old buildings that have now been demolished). Not something you expect when you stop off for a chocolate bar!
We continued across Syon Park back to the Thames.
We walked around the river frontage of Isleworth, then followed the line of the Duke of Northumberland’s River along various footpaths and minor roads.
The river and its accompanying footpath runs through the very large Mogden Sewage Treatment Works (which did smell a bit, but not too bad). You can barely see it from the footpath, because it’s screened by trees.
We continued with the river as it passed the rugby stadium in Twickenham.
The river also passes a second and rather smaller rugby stadium, not half a mile from the first. It then crosses under the railway where it joins the River Crane. We followed this across a park, then walked along a few streets and in a subway under Chertsey Road to reach Whitton railway station.
