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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

London Loop: Day 9: Uxbridge to Moor Park

The Crown and Treaty pub in Uxbridge
The Crown and Treaty pub, Uxbridge

If you like walking alongside water, then this is the section of the Loop for you. While day 8 is a good walk and sticks to the Union Canal for most of the day, this part of the Loop combines the canal with a number of large lakes that make it hard to imagine you're in Greater London. When the Loop manages to pull this off, it's at its best.

Along the Canal

The Union Canal
It's pretty along the Union Canal, with its enticing canalside pubs

Even though the Loop passes between quite a few fishing lakes, the canal towpath is the main route, and after a pleasant detour through a wooded picnic spot (marred only by the odd burned-out car, a sight that walking the Loop will surely make you immune to) it's back to a more traditional towpath along the side of the Union Canal. I found the boats along this stretch particularly fascinating; peering into narrow boat windows and imagining just who lives there is one of the most entertaining aspects of canal walking, and the section past South Harefield can be a good spot for people watching. If you're lucky you might also get attacked by the local crusty's dogs; they don't bite, according to the owner...