Charville Lane Estate to Yeading

The eastern end of Weymouth Close is the next location at which the canal feeder can be seen. It is very overgrown, and to be fair, there isnt a lot to see on the remainder of the route as far as Marvell Avenue. But if perseverance is made one can find some substantial sections of the feeder as the pictures show

The feeder by the houses at the east end of Weymouth Close. The route of the feeder heads almost eastwards and then south east for about quarter of a mile and then south, as if tracing the sides of an isosceles trapezoid to the side of the Grosvenor playing field. Bearing this in mind it should be easy to follow the feeder. The path that heads east from Weymouth Close doesnt quite manage this however, instead it crosses the feeder about 50 yeards from the end of Weymouth Close, and then one must focus on heading south somehow until another path is found that follows the feeder as far as the rugby club near Kingshill

If one reaches this point from the north they have either come directly along the Hillingdon Trail! If they arrive from the right they have been following the course of the feeder. At this point one must head south and in a short distance the path takes up the east side of the trapezoid mentioned
    
Left: The path along the top edge of the Grosvenor football field, with the feeder in the undergrowth. Both path and feeder form three sides of an isosceles trapezoid. Right: Some bits of the feeder is visible from the path

If one can manage to scramble through the undergrowth (its best in the winter obviously!) some great views looking along the feeder bed are there for anyone to see. This view looks through an intriguing line up of trees that have grown on the feeder bed
    
Left: Yet again the Hillingdon Trail turns away from the feeder. Right: A view through the modern culvert
The Hillingdon Trail signs say go left. Dont! Turn right instead and immediately beneath is a modern culvert through which the feeder passes – complete with the obligatory modern plastics that have been dumped just because these adds clarity and harmony to the environment! It is clear this section sometimes carries water which eventualy drains into a tributary of the Yeading Brook near Fairholme Crescent/Pine Place.

A section can be seen adjacent to the Hayes rugby and football clubhouses, forming a boundary between the two premises.
The feeder can be seen clearly heading southwestwards from this point. Immediately beyond is Kingshill Avenue and a (probably 1930’s) bridge whose abutments can be seen (as shown above.) on either side of the road. from this point the feeder continunes to head south towards Fairholme Crescent
    
Left: The feeder runs near the houses in Fairholme Crescent, and the local council obviously sees it still performing a service because three modern footbridges have been constructed across its route. Right: At this point the feeder turns south west towards the bottom end of Fairholme Crescent and one will find a breach in the feeder’s banks where any water that finds its way down here is destined to head into the Yeading Brook via a tributary. When one reaches this point it is best to cross to the north side of the feeder route. At many locations along here one can see on the horizon the prominent gasometer that stands between the canal and railway in Southall

This open common has the canal feeder running along its southern boundary. This view looks south east and at the far end of this field is Yeading Brook Meadows nature reserve and Marvell Avenue
    
Just before Marvell Avenue if one can scramble through the undergrowth a short concrete channel wil be found, which means that it must have had some importance at one time as a drainage channel, although what the concrete section is for I dont know. It may have been used to repair the banks but the feeder is in a cutting at this location so its not the reason.
The building of the A40-Heathrow By-Pass (A312 Parkway) necessitated the diverting of the Yeading Brook and unltimately sealed the fate of the section of feeder between Marvell Lane and the Yeading Brook in Hayes. Immediately beyond this concrete channel the feeder is no-more, for the houses in Marvell Avenue have extended their back gardens upon the feeder’s alignment. The image above right shows a hedgegrow where the feeder once stood at the rear of these houses.
    
The gate that gives access to Marvell Avenue can be found adjacent to Yeading Brook Meadows nature reserve. The view above left shows the access point and some slight traces of the canal feeder can be found in the trees, including a rail that once protected people from ever falling into the feeder’s waters! From this point the remainder of the route is entirely on-road walking, and there are very few traces of the feeder. But there a re still one or two small surprises …

Marvell Avenue
Marvell Avenue is the first of the streets that must be walked en route to Hayes. The houses on the north side of the avenue have gardens that sit upon the former alignment of the canal feeder. From Marvell Avenue one must take a route eastwards that takes in Shakespeare Avenue, Findhorn Avenue, Lothian Avenue, Shaftesbury Waye, Dorchester Waye, Cranborne Waye, then via the A4020 London-Uxbridge trunk road across the Ossie Garvin roundabout and up Quebec Road and thence the remainder of the route as is described on the next page.

Next: Through the streets in Hayes

The Ruislip Feeder pages:
intro + the lido / the aqueduct / west ruislip / ickenham / north hillingdon / gutteridge wood / yeading / hayes