I walked from Hanwell to Sudbury Hill in February and picked up the path again in March. I had been planning to finish it this year, but that plan is now on hold for obvious reasons.
I caught the train from Marylebone out to Sudbury Hill Harrow, an hourly service on a stumpy two-car train, and watched from the bridge above as it pulled away.
A bit of road-walking, a muddy footpath
and a bit more road-walking took me to Harrow-on-the-Hill, where I knocked off a couple of finds for the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt.
The High Street was upmarket, much as you would expect, with a pocket-sized village green to one side,
and a nineteenth-century fountain which has recently been restored to provide drinking water again.
The town is dominated by Harrow School, with many blue signs on the buildings which belong to them. This one in particular made me smile at boys' taxis being paired with deliveries:
Heading further into town, I picked off an impressive array of school buildings:
Druries, one of the boarding houses,
the school chapel, designed by George Gilbert Scott
the library, another George Gilbert Scott design,
and the Speech Room, their main assembly hall and an events venue.
My route path continued steeply down Football Lane and then across the school's playing fields (via a permissive path).
Looking back, I could clearly still see the school buildings mentioned above, and also the parish church of St Mary's.
I then climbed over the only stile on the Capital Ring
and crossed the road beyond to join the Ducker Footpath (which takes its name from the school's swimming pool)
soon regretting my decision to wear trainers rather than walking boots today. This path runs between two fences with hospital on the left, golf course on the right and no escape in either direction. I trudged onwards as the path became more and more pond-like, eventually giving up picking my way from island to island and just wading through it all.
I eventually emerged into Northwick Park, surprising a litter-picker who probably didn't expect anyone to use that path in those conditions. In many ways it's a pretty standard suburban park with playground equipment, an outdoor gym and some playing fields,
but it does have a special view, one of the Wembley Arch curving up above the local buildings.
More squelching as I crossed this waterlogged field and thankfully moved on to a bit of pavement-walking towards South Kenton underground station which marks the end of Section 9 of the Capital Ring.
I ducked through the underpass and embarked on Section 10 following roads and alleyways to Preston Park
where I checked my progress towards the ultimate finish point at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel.
Leaving the park behind me, I encountered this fellow
en route to Preston Road, which was a sharp contrast to Harrow earlier in the day.
A bit more pavement-walking took me to what my guide describes as a grassy pathway,
which was an ominously squelchy introduction to Fryent Country Park. The path crossed a field, climbing steeply, and then looking back I was surprised to still have Harrow in sight.
I followed the path through sparse woodland
and emerged by a pond atop Barn Hill
where this heron wasn't bothered by my presence in the slightest.
Finding a handy bench with a decent view,
I ate a late lunch while watching the adverts scroll on Wembley Stadium below me. The clouds rolled in and a breeze picked up so I decided to check my phone for a weather forecast; the first drops of rain fell on the screen as it loaded, so I decided to abort my walk here and head for Wembley Park station.
My walk is on hold for now and I'm not sure when I'll get back to it. Travel on public transport is permitted again and I have been on a train, but I am in no hurry to get back on the tube if I don't have to.
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