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Ealing Broadway Circular Walk

The green spaces of West London, including The Grand Union Canal, Boston Manor, Syon House, The Thames towpath, Kew Gardens, and Gunnersbury Park.

Circular Easy Kew Gardens London

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 11-Feb-24 a Ealing Broadway to Kew Bridge 13 largely sunny
Sun, 17-Feb-19 Green spaces in west London 14 sunny and warm all day
Sat, 17-Feb-18 a – A varied walk in west London (Ealing to Kew) 18 Sunshine all day
Sun, 10-Jan-16 2 – Waterways and green spaces in west London 10 fine and sunny
Sun, 24-Mar-13 Ealing Broadway Circular Walk 4
Sun, 26-Sep-10 Ealing Broadway Circular Walk
Sat, 03-Apr-10 Ealing Broadway Circular Walk
Sat, 01-Aug-09 Ealing Broadway Circular Walk

Sunday 11-Feb-24

Sean
Extra Walk 104 – Ealing Broadway to Kew Bridge, or back to Ealing

Length: 13.9 km (8.6 miles) to Kew; 18.8 km (11.7 miles) if you carry on to Ealing. Toughness: 1/10

Meet in the ticket hall of Ealing Broadway station to start at 11:00. There are frequent Elizabeth Line trains (20 mins from Liverpool Street; 10 mins from Paddington) as well as less speedy District or Central line tubes, buses, etc.

If you finish at Kew Bridge there are half-hourly trains to Clapham Jct and Waterloo at xx:15 & xx:45, or you could find your way to Kew Gardens station for the Overground and District line. There are frequent trains and tubes back from Ealing Broadway if you complete the full walk. All these stations are in TfL Zone 3.

Thames at Isleworth This exploration of the waterways and green spaces of west London was last posted five years ago so is overdue another club outing. Its route takes in the Grand Union Canal, Boston Manor and Syon House as well as a long undeveloped stretch of the Thames alongside Old Deer Park and Kew Gardens, with views of Syon's landscaped grounds across the river.

If you want a pub lunch you'll be passing two riverside pubs in Old Isleworth at around 12:45, the London Apprentice and the Town Wharf. Kew Green seems a nice spot to end the walk but you could complete the full circuit with an extra hour or so across Gunnersbury Park and more open spaces to Ealing. Conversely you could curtail the walk by diverting into Richmond after crossing the river, and as with any London walk there are plenty of drop-out points along the way.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.104.a page; you might also find a London street map helpful.

  • Sun, 11-Feb-24

    On a largely sunny day, an intrepid 13 set off through deepest Ealing across roads, through parks, down streets, along the Grand Union , eventually reaching the Thames at Isleworth.

    Lunch for most was in the London Apprentice there. People liked what they got. More importantly, there was a surfeit of chips which was lucky for one.

    A late-starting 14 th caught up with us there.

    Then along the Thames, over the fancy green bridge and a long, long stretch back along the river to Kew Bridge. A few dropped into the pub by the station. Some finished there, some reportedly continued to Ealing. Mr Tiger who was lagging behind, having been weighed down by all the chips, got a bus.

Sunday 17-Feb-19

Chris L
Ealing Broadway Circular
Length: 17.8km (11 miles) Toughness: 1/10

10:41 Didcot Parkway train from Paddington arriving at Ealing Broadway at 10:49. Or use the Central or District tube lines to arrive there at the same time. Return services by tube or mainline trains are very frequent. Ealing Broadway is in Zone 3.

In contrast to today’s other walk, this one has a late start, a minimal journey time and is almost guaranteed to be mud-free. It explores many of the green spaces and places of interest in west London, including the Grand Union Canal, Boston Manor, Syon House, the Thames towpath, Kew Gardens and Gunnersbury Park. There are a few helpful tips on the walk’s Comments page.


Recommended lunch stops are the Syon House Refectory or a riverside pub, The London Apprentice (020 8560 1915).

There are plenty of opportunities to shorten the walk by catching a bus or train from various points along the route. A London A-Z is the only map you may find useful.

The walk directions can be found here.

T=swc.104
  • Anonymous
    Sun, 17-Feb-19

    14 walkers.

    6 had delicious tea and cakes at:

    Sowa Patisserie, 32-33 High Street,

    Ealing Broadway,

    W5 5DB

    Sunny and warm all day.

  • Anonymous
    Mon, 18-Feb-19

    There were around 12 of us on this walk, on a lovely sunny day - sunglasses weather ! The river was quite high so there were lots of swans and other feathery critters to watch from the lunch stop at The London Apprentice. We lost one walker here; we think he'd made the 'lunch-and-go' manoeuvre. The group spread out after lunch and by Kew Bridge I was one of the 2 'leading from the back'. The written instructions for Gunnersbury Park need re-writing from points 58 - 61 as a new sports complex is being built.

  • Anonymous
    Mon, 18-Feb-19

    14 walkers

    6 had delicious tea and cakes at:

    Sowa Patisserie, 32-33 High Street,

    Ealing Broadway,

    W5 5DB

    sunny and warm all day

Saturday 17-Feb-18

Sean
Extra Walk 104 (short variation) – Ealing Broadway to Kew Bridge
Length: About 14 km (8.7 miles), or 18.8 km (11.7 miles) if you return to Ealing. Toughness: 1/10

Meet in the booking hall of Ealing Broadway station to start at 11:10. There's a 10:57 Didcot train from Paddington arriving at 11:05, or you can travel by Central or District Line tube (just under half an hour from central London). Use Oyster/contactless or buy a Travelcard covering Zones 3-4.

If you finish at Kew you can return from Kew Gardens station (District Line & Overground), or take a train from Kew Bridge station to Clapham Jct & Waterloo (every 15 minutes at xx:11, xx:26, etc). There are frequent trains and tubes back from Ealing Broadway if you complete the full walk.

I'm surprised this walk doesn't get more club outings – its last Saturday posting was in 2010 – as it has plenty of variety in its journey through the green spaces of west London. It takes in the Grand Union Canal, Boston Manor and Syon House as well as a long undeveloped stretch of the Thames alongside Old Deer Park and Kew Gardens, with views of Syon's landscaped grounds across the river.

If you want a pub lunch you'll be passing the riverside London Apprentice in Old Isleworth at around 12:45. Kew Green seems a nice spot to end the walk but you could of course complete the full circuit with an extra hour or so across Gunnersbury Park and more open spaces to Ealing. Conversely you could curtail the walk by diverting into Richmond after crossing the river, and as with any London walk there are plenty of drop-out points along the way.

You'll need to print the directions from the Ealing Broadway Circular Walk page; you might also find a London street map helpful. T=swc.104.a
  • Anonymous
    Tue, 06-Feb-18

    Orchids Festival at Kew Gardens till 11th March,

    well worth a visit.

  • Anonymous
    Fri, 16-Feb-18

    Take the first train after 10:30am from Paddington to Ealing Broadway.

    Is this still appropriate Sean? Thanks

  • Fri, 16-Feb-18

    "First train after 10:30" is the walk author's recommendation for the full walk. As I'm suggesting a shorter walk ending at Kew I've chosen to start slightly later. And I'd still expect to get to the lunch pub in Old Isleworth between 12:45 & 1pm, which seems about right.

  • Fri, 16-Feb-18

    The Express Tavern next to Kew Bridge Station is excellent. Choice of beer, tea of course & non intrusive music on vinyl.

  • Anonymous
    Sat, 17-Feb-18

    18 walkers.

    Sunshine all day.

  • Anonymous
    Sat, 17-Feb-18

    18 walkers.

    Sunshine all day .

  • Anonymous
    Sat, 17-Feb-18

    Great walk through some interesting green spaces.

    Many thanks to Sean for a lovely day.

Sunday 10-Jan-16

Sean
Extra Walk 104 – Ealing Broadway Circular
Length: About 18.8 km (11.7 miles), with shorter options. Toughness: 2/10

Start from Ealing Broadway station at 10:55. Either take the 10:43 Oxford train from Paddington, arriving at 10:53; or travel by Central or District line tube (just under half an hour from central London). Use your Oyster card or buy a Travelcard covering Zones 3-4.

There are frequent trains and tubes back from Ealing Broadway and other places along the walk route.

Today's alternative choice gives you the chance to do a fairly long walk on a short winter's day, with several drop-out points along the way. The walk takes in plenty of green spaces in west London, going out via the Grand Union Canal, Boston Manor and Syon House to reach the Thames at Old Isleworth. If you want a pub lunch you'll be passing the London Apprentice here between 12:30 & 12:45. For the return route, you cross the river at Richmond Lock and take the riverside path back past Old Deer Park and Kew Gardens to Kew Bridge, then across Gunnersbury Park and more open spaces to Ealing. There's about 11 km after lunch but you could curtail the walk by diverting into Richmond after crossing the river, or finishing at Kew Bridge station.

You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 104 page. There's an unavoidable amount of road walking to link the various open spaces and you'll find a pocket-sized London A-Z helpful. T=swc.104
  • Mon, 11-Jan-16

    10 on this walk with the weather fine and sunny . At the start I did my usual "gpx led" trick of doing a circular walk in reverse but with a bit of improvisation we quickly got back on track to wend our way through the area's parks and canal towpaths. We all decided to have lunch at Syon Park Garden Centre which did nourishing cheap meals. After lunch the group fragmented and 5 of us got to Richmond where 1 headed for the station there whilst the rest of us ambled along the Thames path which in one or two places was very close to being flooded.

    As we had seen enough of the delights of West London we all dropped out at Kew , one heading home and 4 of us having a coffee near the station before catching a train to Waterloo