Our journey continued up the Grand Union main line just another 2 miles until we reached Bulls Bridge Junction, conveniently site of a huge Tesco, close enough to wheel a loaded trolley back to the boat. So I took advantage and stocked up on the heavier store cupboard necessities (eg, bottles of wine and cans of beer), whilst Eric filled up Firecrest with water.
It could have been such a pretty bridge if the graffiti vandals hadn’t wanted to make their mark.
But we were pleasantly surprised by how nice the canal is along here.
Yes there’s a lot of residential mooring off side, but also long rural stretches, which we hadn’t expected already being within the boundarys of greater London (the first section of the GU roughly follows the southern and western edges of Ealing) and the first section of the paddington arm, skirts south of Northolt.
And we found ourselves a peaceful overnight home in Paradise Fields, at Horsenden
We were within walking distance of the Brompton folding bike factory, but they were still following covid distancing guidelines, so weren’t running their usual tours. Just as well as we had a long day ahead of us so needed a prompt start to the day. We had been warned by many that “London would be double moored for mile after mile after mile, but we were pleased to find that we continued seeing places to moor for a few more miles. Although the duckweed and rubbish was becoming an annoying feature.
The debris thrown in along the canal is hard to ignor, but the Stowe Youth Club has created a fabulous mural
And it was only when we looked closer we realised it was made up of rubbish pulled from the canal
We are always heartened to see the enterprising art works along the canal,
But our views were about to change dramatically as we passed through Little Venice and the blue bridge marking the start of the paddington basin
