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The Grand Union Canal - Paddington Branch
The Canal Feeder

The Grand Union Canal - Paddington Branch

The coming of the Grand Junction Canal (opened Brentford to Uxbridge in 1794) had little immediate effect on Brent. The waterway, engineered by William Jessop and James Barnes, eventually linked London, via Brentford and the Thames, with the canals of the Midlands. However, the problems of serving London from the new waterway via the tidal Thames, made it obvious that a canal route to the city was desirable. Thus the Paddington branch from the main line at Southall was soon engineered. It was to become by far the most important of the Grand Junction branches. In 1929 the Grand Junction Canal was renamed the Grand Union Canal. The line from Southall to the Brent Valley was finished in 1800. Three and a half kilometres of the Paddington Branch run across the south-west of the Borough of Brent. The Canal and the towpath are owned and managed by British Waterways. There is open public access to it at all times.

The Canal's heyday in the 19th century coincided with the rapid urban growth of the then outskirts of London. The Canal was used for passenger traffic, but most importantly, for the transportation of goods. Among these were:
- gravel and building materials for surfacing the roads and urban development;
- as this was the time when most of the town traffic was pulled by horsepower, hay went to the city and manure came back to the countryside via the canal;
- the disposal of rubbish out of urban areas;
- coal as fuel for the city;

A typical user was the huge Heinz factory, on the north side of the Canal at Park Royal. The Factory was built in the mid 1920s, and until the 1960s the company used the waterway as a supply route to bring in beans and tomato puree by boat from the London Docks, and to send the canned products in the opposite direction.

The Heinz' iron gates onto the canal remind us why the road system is so crowded

Heinz Factory remains a huge industrial complex on the Canal today

However, after the second world war, local canal transport never returned to its pre-war levels, and today is almost unknown. Pleasure cruising is on the increase, and who knows, in the future, more expensive fossil fuels, and an honest assessment of pollution costs may result in seeing freight return to the waterways.

The Route of the Canal

The Canal from London enters Brent at Acton Lane Bridge. Many a picturesque view can be enjoyed on its towpath in Brent.

Acton Lane Bridge

Crack-willows along the Canal bank just past the Grand Junction Arms Pub

The Grand Junction Arms pub standing right next to the bridge boasts fine green tiling on the front of the house, and the tasteful use of window boxes round the building. The wooden veranda above the canal frontage was added as recently as April 1997, and a two tier garden provides direct views of the canal (and several narrow boats moored here).

The Grand Junction Arms pub

The Acton Lane Canal Bridge and Grand Junction Arms pub in 1905.

Jack's Cabin cafe

Jack's Cabin, the cafe opposite the Grand Junction Arms, has an interesting history. Jack Simpson ran a boat hire business here before the war in partnership with a Mr. Green. He continued alone after Mr. Green fell into the canal one foggy day in the 1930s and was drowned.

A popular row was up to the Pleasure Boat at Alperton and back after a few jars. Trying to pass a narrow boat pair, which were not keen on being passed, was a frequent event for those leaving things a little late on the return journey. During the war Jack became increasingly worried by the great risk of fire at his sheds, and eventually sold up. Most of the boats went to Richmond on Thames, and the timbers of the shed were used to build the original Jacks Cabin cafe. This lasted up to the early 1980s when the old cabin was demolished and the present modern cafe was constructed a little further from the towpath. New access steps and walls now cover the site of Jack's original refreshment place.

The canal widens near the end of Steele Road to welcome the (relatively) fresh water from the Brent Reservoir, via the feeder which creeps out from under Waxlow Road. The rushes lining the far bank here add considerably to the attractiveness of the area and were planted when the canal was built to prevent the wash of passing boats eroding the canal edges.

The Feeder joining the Canal

Seventy-foot narrow boats can be turned, or 'winded', at this point; one of the few places on the branch where it is possible.

Abbey Road Bridge

Walking past the huge industrial complex of the Heinz factory, we approach the Abbey Road Bridge, or 'the White Stone Bridge', as it was popularly known. It was rebuilt early in 1992 to take traffic from the North Circular via a new road into the Park Royal Estate. This involved both widening and strengthening the existing structure. The old section had to be reinforced with steel braces under the arch.

After leaving the bridge behind, a little further on is the only original canal cottage left in the Borough. Presumably, it is still required by British Waterways because of the vulnerability of the Brent aqueduct. Although it is presently in need of a face-lift, its pedigree is shown by the fine sash windows, some with semicircular tops, and the general air of fitness of purpose and permanence. At the bottom of the cottage garden, instead of fairies, there is a wire compound containing huge timber stop planks for use in the bridge hole though which we have just passed.

The Canal Cottage

The Canal looking towards London, the canal cottage can be seen in the distance on the right, with the Abbey Bridge crossing the canal.

A fine 1930s brick building on the left of the towpath displaying a sign 'Aggregate Supplies' was once Waterlows, where the Radio Times and the Listener were printed, until strikes over new technology resulted in the paper being produced elsewhere.

The former Waterlows building

A fine view of the canal just before the North Circular Aqueduct taken from what was the Guinness Wharf. The Waterlows building is seen in the distance

A wharf close to the bend onto the embankment nearby was the loading bay for Guinness. During war time a boatman named Jack James had the responsibility for delivering the black nectar to Birmingham. He was given the job since he was one of the few who would not tap the barrels, extract some beer, and replace the liquid with canal water!

The rural quietness of the Canal leaves one unprepared for the awesome view from the Canal aqueduct over the North Circular Road, and it is a surprise to see how high the canal is above the natural land level. The first aqueduct here was built in 1933 and survived the attentions of wartime aircraft and of IRA bombers. The building of the original reinforced concrete structure was made difficult by the need to keep canal traffic flowing throughout its construction.

A view from the aqueduct onto the North Circular Road

Old aqueduct. Notice the Middlesex Coat of Arms in the middle of the aqueduct, on top of the central pillar.

Between 1991 and 1993 the old aqueduct was replaced by a modern twin-channel structure as part of a major redevelopment of the North Circular Road.

A mighty heave took place in the week 20-27 March 1993, when the new aqueduct was pulled across from a position adjacent to the canal where it had been assembled, onto the line of the waterway. At the end of that week the structure was being joined to its abutments. By February 1995, both channels were open to waterborne traffic, and at the end of the summer, brickwork and footpaths were complete.

The bronze Middlesex Coat of Arms from the old aqueduct was fitted to plinths on the 'island'.

A little further on, tucked away behind hawthorn, blackthorn and clouds of cowparsley in summer, lies the original aqueduct over the Brent. it marks the boundary between Willesden and Wembley, and dates from the construction of the canal in 1801. On the towpath between the two aqueducts is a covered sluice for draining the canal water into the river Brent, should this be necessary for maintenance or emergency reasons. It was used in the early 1980's when the canal was emptied as far as Abbey Road bridge to facilitate repairs to the old aqueduct, and in the 1990's during the construction of the new one.

The Piccadilly Line crossing with its movable maintenance gallery is functional, if not beautiful, and dates from the early 1930's.

The Piccadilly Line crossing. The maintenance gallery can be seen on the left under the bridge

In the first few decades after the canal was born, deliveries of cargoes of sand, gravel, coal, gas lime and chalk were common. With the increase of the population in Wembley in the 1920s, the problem of refuse collection was solved by barging it out to the landfills sites at West Drayton from Alperton Wharf.

The Pleasure Boat pub

Alcoholic drinks have been sold at the site of the Pleasure Boat pub since before 1851. Like the Grand Junction Arms, this pub has long been associated with the canal, and was a popular point for waterborne travellers in early days. Before the war, rowing boats were a common sight along this stretch of water.

The blue with red trim high rise building is Middlesex House, built on the site of Key Glass Works. Nearby is Sainsbury's store. Like its twin at Ladbrook Grove, a mooring is provided and the canal frontage is neatly dressed. A flock of birds of different kinds congregate on this wide section - it is the best place to see the variety of fowl on the canal, from Canada Geese to swans and even herons.

Middlesex House

Manor Farm Road Bridge

The new red brick structure taking Manor Farm Road over the waterway was constructed in the mid-1990's. From underneath the structure it looks as if the original brick-arched bridge (the last such in Brent) has been incorporated. A cast iron rubbing post, which once protected the old bridge corner from towing rope wear, remains as a reminder of times past.

An angler enjoying a peaceful morning opposite the boat yard

A little further along, on the right-hand side of the canal, is the home of the West London Motor Cruising Club which is believed to be the oldest cruising club on the Grand Union Canal. It was formed in 1938 and for its first two years was based at Abbey Road.

A fine rural view over Sudbury Golf Course and Horsenden Hill reminds us how beautiful old Middlesex was.

Sudbury Golf Course by the Canal

The Brent boundary leaves the canal on the right to skirt Alperton Cemetery, whilst the waterway curves off on its route to Southall, and eventually to the Midlands and the Thames.

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