The Grand Union Canal Paddington Arm

Connects with the River Thames at Brentford via Bulls Bridge Junction

Researched and written by Jeannette Briggs

The Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal is a great surprise from so many aspects.  The Regents Canal is well known especially its section from Camden Lock along through Regent's Park past the London Zoo and through Maida Hill Tunnel.

The Paddington Arm's route runs from the junction with the Regent's Canal at Little Venice, then through the suburbs of West London until it joins with the main Grand Union Canal at Bulls Bridge Junction near Slough.

Above: Camden Locks and the towpath bridge - photo by J Briggs	Above: Regents Canal Little Venice - photo by SW

The Paddington Arm is - effectively  - a continuation of the Regent's Canal. The locks at Little Venice were used for gauging the narrowboats for tolls.
Above: Paddington Arm - junction with Regent's Canal photo by J Briggs

The canal then leaves Paddington, passing under the elevated section of the A40 Westway, and past numerous blocks of flats, the most outstanding being the enormous Trellick Tower designed by the Hungarian architect Goldfinger.  This was built in the 1960ies, and is either an architectural masterpiece or a complete eyesore, depending on your personal taste.  It has actually been listed as a Grade II building.  The "modern brutalism" style of the tower can be balanced aesthetically against the numerous blocks of smart canalside apartments that have been built in more recent years - these are (in the main) both decorative and in keeping and scale with surrounding buildings, and they make the most of their position alongside the water.

Further along this stretch you see the terrace of Victorian houses in the Harrow Road which turn their backs onto the canal, as though they did not wish to acknowledge their location. Just west of Kensal Green Bridge boaters will find a good supermarket here, with mooring bollards and facilities for visitors.
Above: Kensal Green Cemetery by J Briggs

Just beyond the Harrow Road at Old Oak Common the canal passes the sylvan delights of the huge Kensal Green cemetery.  This was developed under the Victorians when churchyards in West London became too crowded to accept more bodies.  The cemetery is laid out with avenues of trees and huge monuments, and some notable Victorians like Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Anthony Trollope, Richard Makepeace Thackray and Louise Blondin were buried here. Coffins used to be delivered here by the canal and you can still see the landing piers by the canal bank. 

After leaving the cemetery behind you see to the south of the canal the railway sidings and buildings which house the Eurostar trains.  You can also see Wormwood Scrubs prison, whose towers can be glimpsed just above the sidings. It is not - however - unremitting doom and gloom and industrial wasteland here! There are lots of trees like willows, and loads of wild flowers which flourish alongside the canal banks, making this a rural artery and a wildlife sanctuary in this somewhat semi-industrial section of the Paddington Arm.

The canal now turns north west, past what used to be the Heinz Baked Bean factory, demolished in 2002. It then enters a huge aqueduct which passes over one of the busiest roads in London, the A406 North Circular.  It is quite incongrouous to be able to step off a boat on the aqueduct and to look down on the rushing traffic far below the canal.

From here the canal passes through the leafy suburbs of Alperton, where nicely tended gardens border the towpath, and another branch of Sainsburys sits on the edge of the canal, complete with bollards for boaters to moor.  You will also smell the many varied scents of the various food factories which are all around you - mostly very pleasant!

Above: Towpath near Alperton - photo by J Briggs	Above: Horsenden Hill Visitor centre by the canal - photo by J Briggs

If you are lucky you can see herons here, plus terrapins, swans, grebes, moorhens and coots all nesting in the shallow waters of the banks of the canal.

Leaving Alperton the canal skirts the green acres of Greenford Golf Course and sweeps to the south of Horsenden Hill and Perivale Wood, which provide a long stretch of beautiful open countryside. Unusually this is a huge stretch of hilly parkland surrounded by fairly flat countryside, so Horsenden Hill really stands out. It has a nice Visitor Centre located right on the canal.

The towpath is usually lined with walkers, dogs, cyclists and fishermen, and the occasional welcome pub, such as the Black Horse at Greenford, and The Pleasure Boat at Alperton.

Above: Paddington Arm at Greenford Bridge - photo by J Briggs	Above: Canal cruise boat at Greenford - photo by J Briggs

Beyond the Greenford Road the canal sweeps south towards Bulls Bridge Junction.  This section of the canal passes industrial sites and suburban housing with only a few amenities for canal boaters, like the Civil Engineer pub at Southall and Willowtree Marina West Quay Yeading.

There are no locks to contend with - indeed at 27 miles long this section of the Grand Union from Little Venice to Cowley Lock just beyond the Slough Arm is one of the longest lock free pounds in the whole of England.  

Above: Bulls Bridge Junction - photo by J Briggs

Bulls Bridge Junction is reached eventually -  from here you have to turn either west towards the main Grand Union Canal which will take you towards the Midlands - or turn right and travel eastwards to the Hanwell Flight of locks and thence down to the River Thames at Brentford.

Bulls Bridge is the location for a giant supermarket and, like those on the Paddington Arm, they cater for boaters with moorings,trees and seats along their stretch of canal frontage, plus waste disposal. I hope that this brief introduction to the Paddington Arm will both interest you and perhaps arouse your interest in trying out the Arm for yourself!