Inner London
Ramblers

Uxbridge Circular Walk (11 miles)

This walk starts and finishes at Uxbridge Underground Station, which is on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines.

This is a country walk of about 11 miles (18 km). There are some hills to be climbed, but these are gentle. Expect some mud after rain, especially where the route traverses bridleways. For this reason, stout footware is essential.

The walk could be done in two parts, using Harefield as the break-point, in which case Uxbridge to Harefield is 6½ miles (10.2 km) and the return is 4½ miles (7.5 km).

This is a real country walk taking in elements of the Celandine Route, the Hillingdon Trail, the London Loop, the Colne Valley Trail and the Grand Union Canal Walk. Often in deep countryside with no buildings visible, it is nonetheless almost all within the boundary of Greater London.

The walk heads out from Uxbridge via river, woods and fields including the River Pinn, New Year’s Green, and Bayhurst Wood to Harefield — still a real village — and then heads back along the Grand Union Canal via Denham.

1. From the front of Uxbridge Underground Station, turn right down the High Street. Opposite is the Market House built in 1788 and behind this is the medieval St Margaret’s Church which contains a coffee bar and toilets. It also has the curious monument to Leonara Bennet, who died in 1638. The lower part has a startling collection of skulls and bones piled up behind a grill. The church is usually open between 10.00am and 2.00pm.

Bennet Monument, St Margaret’s Church

2. Continue down the right-hand side of the High Street, with the Pavilions Shopping Centre on your left, and use the pedestrian crossing to cross Harefield Road. In a short while, turn right into Braybourne Close with Fray’s River on your right, soon forking right to continue alongside it. Go past two bridges, then over grass, to keep by the river again (not obvious at first). The path becomes an earthen one and a more rural aspect gradually asserts itself. Fray’s River is one of a number running from north to south in close proximity in this area, including the Colne and Misbourne.

3. As a tall road bridge comes into view, cross the footbridge and turn right on a gravel drive. This climbs away from the river and emerges at the Abrook Arms. Turn left along Harefield Road here and, in 25 metres, turn right up Gravel Hill to arrive at the 5.2 hectare Uxbridge Common. Go forward to just past the pond, then turn left to walk between gorse bushes and grass, keeping parallel with North Common Road over to your left. Cross over the dual carriageway (Park Road) with care at the top left-hand corner of the common and take the path behind the bus-stop opposite. Turn right on a broad track to skirt playing fields then, in 70 metres, fork left towards the woods. On reaching these, find a track with lamp-posts in front of you, then turn right to take a footbridge over the main A40 London to Oxford road.

4. Now follow a bridleway as it skirts between woods and a school, to emerge at Warren Road. Turn right to follow a cycletrack, then pass an off-set crossroad, cross the bridge (Swakeleys Drive), and quickly turn left to follow a broad surfaced track. As the path curves left, look out for Swakeleys, a substantial Jacobean house, set well back from the other side of the lake on your right, and partly hidden by trees.

Swakeleys House was built for Sir Edward Wright, who later became Lord Mayor of London, in 1638. It was later the home of the Gilbey family who were in the wine and spirit trade and, more recently, offices for an American pharmaceutical company. It is rarely open to the public.

Swakeleys House

5. As the lake ends at a right-hand bend, look for a children’s play area on the left, and turn left in front of it. Do not cross the bridge, but ease right, with the River Pinn on your left. Pass tennis courts and continue to follow the river. Where the path forks, carry straight on, a little way from the river, and continue through woods to come out on Swakeleys Road, a dual carriageway, at which cross with care. Turn left over the bridge and through a gate on the right. Continue along the river, which is now on the right. After 300 metres, pass a bridge (do not cross) near houses. Continue to go over a humped culvert, then turn right to find the medieval moated site of Pynchester, a scheduled ancient monument, behind wooden railings on your left. Little is known of the site’s early history, but comparison with similar sites suggest that it dates from the 14th century.

6. Pass between the moat and the river, then continue alongside the Pinn. Eventually the path leaves the river and comes into an open area, with houses on the left and a railway bridge soon visible over to the right. Leave the fields by crossing the stile ahead, then turn right along the busy Breakspear Road South. There is no footway here so, to be safe, walk in single file along the right edge of the road, facing the traffic. Ignore the first footpath on the left, and continue under the railway bridge to take the next footpath left about 30 metres beyond it, along a driveway signboarded “Schering-Plough”, soon leaving this to continue straight ahead on a broad track which gently rises and then drops to a lane at New Year’s Green after a kilometre.

7. Turn right along the lane and pass a pond (often dry), with Pond Farm sitting on the hill to your right. Just before the lane bends right, turn left through a gate, then between field boundaries along a track for 400 metres, heading for Ruislip Woods ahead.

Ruislip Woods are a National Nature Reserve which were recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, and used to belong to the Knights Hospitallers of St John in the 13th century. The woods are a remnant of the forest which covered much of Middlesex in prehistoric times. Trees here include common oak, sessile oak, hornbeam, silver birch, beech, sweet chestnut, alder, holly and aspen. The wood we are about to enter is Bayhurst Wood, the most westerly of the Ruislip Woods.

The approach to Bayhurst Wood

8. Just before the swing gate into the woods, turn right to follow the bridleway, which first skirts the wood, then penetrates it. As the wire fence on the right comes to an end, turn sharp right on a broad track heading uphill at a Hillingdon Trail signpost. The track penetrates deeper into the wood, but there is little scope for going wrong. The gentle hill levels out and arrives at another Hillingdon Trail (HT) post. Bear slightly left to continue on the main track, which descends gradually to pass a horse trough and then a hut, just before which is an information board.

9. Eighty metres past the hut, go through the metal barrier, then immediately left into the carpark. Cross the carpark to its far end, exiting on an obvious path by a recumbent log. Follow this path forward through the woods, with views through to open country over to your right. Pass through an open area with picnic tables, then continue in the same direction, keeping parallel to the edge of the wood. Our path approaches, then runs next to, a muddy bridleway, but we stay on the drier footpath for a while. At another picnic area, an information board puts your route into context, and there is a fine view on the right.

10. Descend a slope and go through wooden barriers to merge with the bridleway for a short while. Ignore the uphill path left at the junction and continue in the same direction. Just around the bend, look for a fenced-off path for walkers, which will keep you off the muddy horse-trail. The path now drops downhill. Ignore the stile on the right, but go over the one forward, passing under power lines and continuing along the track. At the top right-hand corner of the field, ignore the gate and cross another stile. Pass alongside shacks and through a spinney, then cross a third stile and go uphill along the right-hand edge of a field.

Autumn colours south of Harefield

11. At the top of this field, go over the stile and immediately right over yet another by the HT marker post. Now follow a broad track along the left hand edge of a wood. The track veers away from the wood, dips and rises again to pass a line of oaks on your right. The views to the left are of the Colne Valley, looking over into Buckinghamshire. Turn left downhill on reaching the top of the field, with a hedge now on your right. At the end of the hedge, turn left at the HT signpost to follow a downhill path through trees. Stay with the path as it levels out past some ponds until Harefield Church comes into view. Follow the churchyard wall, then pass through the wall gap into the churchyard.

Harefield Church dates back to the 12th century, but there is a variety of work of many periods. John Betjeman considered it to be the most exciting church in Middlesex; the interior is crowded with fine things. Unfortunately it has to be kept locked, but arrangements can be made for access. On its outside, note the fine monument of 1744 to Robert Mossendew - replete with pious verse - on the north-east corner, and the fine chequerwork and blocked doorway of the south aisle, before leaving the churchyard by the lantern-surmounted gates.

12. Turn right along the lane to Church Hill, and turn right after crossing with care. The building at the top of the hill is the Derby Almshouses, built soon after 1637. Continue past Lovett Road and Countess Close and, after another 100 metres, turn left down Bird Lane. If in need of refreshment, you will already have passed the White Horse pub, and other pubs and shops can be found by continuing towards the village crossroads, where a green also allows for a picnic stop. Then retrace your steps back to Bird Lane.

Drop-out Point: Bus 331 runs to Uxbridge and Ruislip Underground Stations, and Route U9 connects back to Uxbridge

13. Follow Bird Lane, over an estate road and downhill along an earthen track. At the bottom, ignore a stile into a field and continue, this time uphill, on the track. The top of the rise affords the first view of the lakes running all along the Colne Valley — over fifty in number from Rickmansworth to Church Lammas, Staines. Glimpses of these lakes can be seen all the way along our return route. Most of the lakes are former gravel extraction sites, and many now have a variety of recreational uses.

14. Turn left at the T-junction here and continue on the main path, which soon descends through trees. When you emerge, cross a stile into a field and turn half-right downhill towards buildings. Cross a stile by an information board about Harefield Locks, then go ahead along a lane. At the junction by buildings, turn left over the canal bridge. Turn right at Black Jack’s Lock adjacent, then right again to pass under the bridge, and continue with the canal on your left. In passing, note the tow-rope damage to the iron strips under the bridge. Black Jack’s Lock is named after the nearby mill. Black Jack himself was supposedly a slave once sold with the property, although the evidence for this is scarce. A Doctor Who episode was filmed at the mill in 1988.

The descent to Black Jack’s Lock

Our way back to Uxbridge is now extremely easy to follow as we keep along the canal almost the entire way. The canal is the Grand Union which connects London to Birmingham and beyond. It was formerly known as the Grand Junction Canal, the name being changed in 1929, when a number of different canals were amalgamated together. There are more points of interest and opportunities for refreshment on our way:

After 1½ kilometres, Wide Water Lock and Bridge 180 is reached, from where the Horse and Barge pub can be accessed. The extensive Harefield Marina then begins on the other side of the canal, and is partly hidden by a half-drowned hedgerow.

Just over another kilometre takes us under the fine railway viaduct, built as a joint venture between the Great Western and Great Central Railways, c1904, and which carries the Marylebone to Aylesbury line. Footpaths off to the right now lead into the 28 hectares of Denham Country Park, but our route is resolutely forward.

Denham Railway Viaduct

900 metres on, Bridge 182 is a curious affair; it has lost its original span and has to make do with an inelegant girder replacement. A large number of tie-rods seem to be all that is keeping this bridge together, and it has clearly had a troubled history.

We arrive at Denham Deep Lock after another 500 metres. This is aptly named, as it is the deepest lock on the Grand Union. Hard-by is a welcome tea room with under-cover facilities available in its garden. We actually pass from Greater London into Buckinghamshire for a short distance just after this point.

15. Soon the noisy A40 trunk road is reached. Use Bridge 183 just before this, to continue down the towpath, which has switched sides. The outlying buildings of Uxbridge become visible and we pass by moorings. In just over another kilometre, recross the canal and continue for a further 150 metres. Take the steps up to the road bridge just past the Swan and Bottle pub, then turn left over it. The art deco styled Parexel Building on the left dates from the 1930s.

16. Cross over Sanderson Road. The Crown and Treaty pub (formerly known as The Place) opposite was the scene in 1644 of an attempted peace treaty between Royalist and Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War. It has been an inn since c1802. Fork left uphill along the High Street, soon reaching Fray’s River at Braybourne Close again, then retrace your earlier steps back to Uxbridge Underground Station.

© Mike Biggs, Ramblers (Inner London Area), 2008.

If you have any comments about this walk, or notice that it needs updating to take account of changes on the route, then please contact Mike at mike.biggs@o2.co.uk.