A countryside walk in London

It’s lovely when you start the day with only a vague plan, and then it turns into an unexpected, memory-making day you never expected.

In one of our last trips of the Summer, we met up with some friends at Brent Lodge Park, which turned into a beautiful countryside walk in the middle of London (well, zone 3/4).

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I’d taken the kids to Hanwell Zoo and the Brent Lodge hedge maze for the morning (review to follow), then met up with some friends for a picnic in the last of the summer sunshine at the playground and cafe in Brent Lodge Park, known to locals as ‘Bunny Park’.

The children had a lovely time in the playground playing with kids they’d not seen all summer, while the mums managed a catch-up on the grass, updating each other with stories from summer breaks.

A friend had the great idea of walking through Brent valley and along the canal to The Fox pub (with enticements of juice and ice cream for the kids at the pub), so off we all strolled with 10 children in tow between us!

Now, I’ve spent many afternoons wandering through Brent Valley and Brent Lodge park – mainly because of my need for long, quiet walks to push baby to sleep in the buggy when Littlie was tiny – so I know my way around the area.

I’ve realised, however, that even some locals don’t know that they have the countryside in their doorstep, in the middle of London!

We headed south and came to the River Brent, passing underneath a tall railway bridge. The children were aged from 1 to 11 years and they were exploring the fields and paths when we spotted tonnes of blackberry bushes full of perfectly ripe blackberries.

The mums agreed that they’d be fine to eat provided they’d been washed, so the kids set to picking! I showed them what the best ones looked like and how they felt, and soon enough little cupped hands full of juicy blackberries were thrust towards me for rinsing clean.

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And so our stroll continued onwards down the Capital Ring walk to the Brentford canal, eating and collecting blackberries on the way.

After a quick spell down the canal we came to The Fox, a lovely pub but unfortunately closed for refurbishment over the summer. So instead, we headed to the nearby The Green pub on Hanwell Green for ice cream and coffee to recharge our batteries.

The Green was a pleasant surprise, very welcoming and family friendly (I also spotted a Thursday £25 prosecco and pizza deal I may use with hubby on our next rare night out).

It had taken so long to get to the pub with the kids’ exploring-everything-and-getting-distracted pace, that we weren’t finished until 3pm and were all starting to flag a little. Luckily we could take a shorter route back to Brent Lodge park (not shown on the map) where the cars were parked.

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We didn’t have the time or energy to head north of Hanwell zoo, however Brent Valley does continue north for quite a way, so there’s plenty more open space to explore. In fact, the Capital Ring walk goes from the Brentford canal all the way through Brent valley and onward towards Harrow if you felt up to it…

We all agreed what an unexpectedly lovely day out it had been, one that will certainly stick in my memory when I cast my mind back to halcyon summer days in Ealing!

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