At the Paddington Basin

After a stop at a very good pub near Little Venice we carried on to the end of this part of the canal in the Paddington Basin one of London's best-kept secrets.  From here it was just a short walk to Marylebone and the train home.

We have enjoyed the Southern Section and are looking forward to starting the Northern Section in July.

At Little Venice

The Regent Canal goes off from Little Venice.  This is another arm we have decided to walk in the autumn.

Nearing Little Venice

We loved this stretch of the canal as we were approaching Little Venice.

Art Work

Would you believe it - this is more art from rubbish found in the canal.

Canal-side Cafe

Well not so much canal-side more canal-on!

Flat with Parking for your Canoe

Very handy if you need to make a quick getaway.

The King

Proof positive that Elvis is alive and well and performing on a balcony in London!

Canal Side

There were some lovely properties around here.

Going Up in the World

At this stage in the walk we weren't too keen on uphill stretches!

Epitaphs

Many famous people are buried in the Kensal Green cemetery - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Charles Babbage considered to be one of the fathers of the computer, Wilkie Collins who wrote The Moonstone an early English language detective novel, other famous writers - William Thackeray and Anthony Trollope and a tight-rope performer called Blondin.

Gas Works

An arm of the canal used to lead into the Kensal Green Gas Works.

The North Pole

This railway maintenance depot really is called North Pole.  Apparently they maintain the Eurostar trains here.

Aqueduct Over the North Circular Road

Brendan was amazed to find out that this bridge that he had driven under on the North Circular Road was actually an aqueduct.

This is the view of the North Circular from the aqueduct.

Road users below assume that cars are going over the bridge.  They would be amazed if they knew it was really barges.

We were not impressed on our walk when we came across this bridge:

Now they are introducing double letters on the bridges as well as the numbers it could be a long time before we reach bridge 10!

Another Mummy with her Babies

I hope the Mummy swan is going to take the bread off her baby's back!

Another Heron

This was a crafty heron who was following the cormorants to find some fish

Cormorants

We didn't need to wait for the Slough Arm to see cormorants!

Interesting Sculpture

What a big bird!
We liked this area with lots of permanent moorings and some lovely facilities for the bargees.

Playing Fields

They must have big moles around here!  

We weren't sure what game they were playing on the pitch on the right maybe gaelic football? 

Last Leg of the Southern Section

Ready to start out on our final walk of the Southern Section with Brendan and Andy.

Greenford

Here we are at a lovely pub in Greenford overlooking the canal.  Just before we got here we were walking past warehouse units one of which gave our nasal passages another treat as we caught an aroma of curry.  We were beginning to doubt whether this pub existed when suddenly there it was.  We had a well-deserved orange juice and shared a packet of crisps.  We are looking forward to walking to Paddington with Andy and Brendan tomorrow. 

Rural Scene

Who would have thought we are close to Central London!

What a Load of Old Rubbish!

No seriously this is a load of old rubbish.  This piece of artwork in Southall was created by an artist working with children from a local school.  It was called Heron and Nest and was made from rubbish found in the canal some of it looks suspiciously like a shopping trolley.  

Bull's Bridge

The start of the Paddington Arm.  Paddington is the end of our journey along the Southern Section of the Grand Union Canal.