Harmondsworth Moor Circular Walk 18
Enjoy a pleasant walk through landscaped parkland, with plentiful wildlife and views to Windsor Castle and London.
Colne Valley Walk 18
Access: Mostly level ground and good paths or boardwalks. Some small slopes and muddy and wet patches in winter.
Refreshments: Two pubs, The Crown (A) and the Five Bells (B), and shops in Harmondsworth Village.
Public Transport: 350 bus West Drayton to Heathrow T5 and the U3 bus Uxbridge and West Drayton to Heathrow T1-3 both stop in the village.
By Road: On-street parking may be possible in the village. Alternatively, start at either waypoint 2 or 3, near two car parks from Speedbird Way, then Tarmac Way and Accommodation Lane north from the A3044 junction on the A4, just north west of Heathrow airport and following signs to the park.
Postcode: UB7 0AQ (approx.) OS Grid Ref: TQ 057 778 Latitude: +51.4888, Longitude: -0.4787
What3Words: oils.cult.taped
Points of interest/history
A) A great deal of history lies here, including the 12th c. St. Mary’s church and the 15th c. Great Barn that John Betjeman called the Cathedral of Middlesex.
B) On your left, watch out for a memorial to Sir Barnes Wallis. Tests of his famous Bouncing Bomb were held by the Road Research Laboratory on a site here in the lead up to the attack in 1943 on the Ruhr dams in Germany by the RAF 617 Squadron immortalised in the film "The Dambusters".
C) The river is man-made, dug in the 16th c. to divert water from the River Colne to the River Crane in order to supply Isleworth Mill and feed the ornamental ponds in the grounds of the Duke's estate at Syon House.
D) Between this point and Pulpit Bridge is a War Memorial to the 7 crew members of a Royal Canadian Air Force Halifax bomber which crashed here in 1944
E) The park is a former gravel working and landfill site. In the late 1990s the pollutants were removed, and the site was extensively re-landscaped, planted with 70,000 trees. It is now managed for wildlife and public recreation
F) This river is one of the many braids of the River Colne, leaving it at West Drayton and re-joining it at Staines.
G) The Prospect is the highest point of the park. On a clear day you can see Harrow-on-the-Hill, Wembley Stadium, Windsor Castle, the North Downs and the tall buildings of central London. Both The Prospect and The Keyhole are constructed from sandstone blocks stored on this land for decades. They came from the old Waterloo Bridge in London that was demolished in 1935.
H) Under two yew trees just before the church is a large slab table gravestone marking the resting place of Richard Cox, a retired brewer and horticulturist of nearby Colnbrook, who first grew the famous apple cultivar Cox's Orange Pippin.
I) On your left, notice Sun House. Although much altered, it was built during the 16th c. and is the oldest residential property in Harmondsworth. It was a public house until 1912 and a butcher’s shop until much later. Remnants of the inn sign support may still be seen on the wall, and the hooks for carrying the joints of meat can be seen at the far end of the building.