Osterley Park walk

Osterley Park, Tentelow Woodland, Grand Junction Canal, Hanwell Flight of Locks, River Brent, a riverside meadow and the stunning Wharncliffe Viaduct.

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
Thu, 16-May-24 Evening Walk - Bluebells in the evening: Osterley Park
Thu, 11-May-23 Bluebells in the Evening: Osterley Park - Tentelow Woodland, Grand Junction Canal, Hanwell Locks, Brent River with meadows and Wharncliffe Viaduct 6 cloudy and dry
Thomas G
Length: 10.4 km (6.5 mi) [shorter circular walk possible, see below]
Ascent: 50m
Net Walking Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Meet at Osterley Underground at 18.30. Travel time on the Piccadilly Line is 33 minutes from Green Park, 22 minutes from Earls Court and 16 minutes from Hammersmith.
Return trains from Hanwell: every 15 minutes on xx.04, with 16 minutes journey time to Paddington. Both stations are in Zone 4.
This varied route of many delights initially meanders through the publicly accessible parts of the landscaped Osterley Park, while limiting the exposure to the noise from the M4. Some parts of the park show fine displays of bluebells in season. On an extension through the ticketed part of the park, more bluebell areas can be seen, and a flower garden and a walled garden can be explored.
From the café in the Stables Courtyard right by the grand Osterley House, you leave the park in a northerly direction to cross the M4 and a field into Norwood Green, where the fine bluebell wood of the Tentelow Woodland is passed through, before you cross the Grand Junction Canal and walk through the Glade Lane Canalside Park to join the towpath along the canal. Pass the famous Three Bridges site, an engineering feat of its time where railway, canal and road intersect, and walk along the former Hanwell Insane Asylum (now Ealing Hospital) and past the Hanwell Flight of Locks to the junction with the River Brent.
Turn left upstream along the river and through a large riverside hay meadow to the picturesque, grand Wharncliffe Viaduct, which carries the Great Western Main Line 20m above the Brent Valley. Another small park lies between the river and Hanwell Station with its vintage (and heated) waiting room.
Walk Options:
A Circular Walk (returning to Osterley Station from Osterley House) is 5.9 kilometres long.
Tea: plenty of options, both on the Hanwell and the Osterley ending. See the walk directions for details.
For walk directions, map, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here. T=short.50
Length: 10.4 km (6.5 mi)
Ascent: 50m
Net Walking Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Meet at Osterley Underground at 18.30. Travel time on the Piccadilly Line is 33 minutes from Green Park, 22 minutes from Earls Court and 16 minutes from Hammersmith.
Return trains from Hanwell: every 15 minutes on xx.04, with 20 minutes journey time to Paddington. Both stations are in Zone 4.
This varied route of many delights initially meanders through the publicly accessible parts of the landscaped Osterley Park, while limiting the exposure to the noise from the M4. Some parts of the park show fine displays of bluebells in season. On an extension through the ticketed part of the park, more bluebell areas can be seen, and a flower garden and a walled garden can be explored.
From the café in the Stables Courtyard right by the grand Osterley House, you leave the park in a northerly direction to cross the M4 and a field into Norwood Green, where the fine bluebell wood of the Tentelow Woodland is passed through, before you cross the Grand Junction Canal and walk through the Glade Lane Canalside Park to join the towpath along the canal. Pass the famous Three Bridges site, an engineering feat of its time where railway, canal and road intersect, and walk along the former Hanwell Insane Asylum (now Ealing Hospital) and past the Hanwell Flight of Locks to the junction with the River Brent.
Turn left upstream along the river and through a large riverside hay meadow to the picturesque, grand Wharncliffe Viaduct, which carries the Great Western Main Line 20m above the Brent Valley. Another small park lies between the river and Hanwell Station with its vintage (and heated) waiting room.
Walk Options:
A Circular Walk (returning to Osterley Station from Osterley House) is 5.9 kilometres long.
An Extension through the (ticketed) garden of Osterley House is described (and the 2.2 km long route is shown on the route map), but this is only possible during the day.
Tea: plenty of options, both on the Hanwell and the Osterley ending. See the walk directions for details.
For walk directions, map, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here. T=short.50
  • 12-May-23

    From a correspondent: " 6 turned up at Osterley. Despite the forecast of showers the weather remained cloudy and dry .

    Walking through Osterley Park we saw plenty of bluebells and several horses.

    The group took an early dinner stop at The Fox, luckily 15 minutes before the kitchen closed. A pub quiz meant the inside was full but plenty of outdoor covered seating. Food arrived quickly and was tasty except for a dry schnitzel.

    There was still around a mile of the official route left but all 6 took a more direct route to Hanwell, with one catching a bus, a local walking home and the others given a lift to Ealing Broadway station by a walker with a car. Unfortunately the 3 at Ealing Broadway just missed the Elizabeth Line connection and the next was surprisingly in 18 minutes. Overall a fine evening out"