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Horton to Iver

I won't repeat the positives of the route from previous reviews with which I agree. Even though the route mostly avoid busy areas and roads, this border of greater London is inevitably still used for industrial purposes. I had the impression at times that I was just walking in an industrial backyard. The route follows easy-to-follow public footpaths but it was probably not an accident that I didn't meet any other walker along the way.

The section between crossings of A4 and M4 were wide but surrounded by nettles and other weed. It was also hard to ignore the stench that probably came from the nearby canal. I noticed only after returning from the walk that it passes by sludge dewatering works.

When the route turns across a railway bridge behind Iver railway station, it is necessary to walk on a pavement next to the Thorney Lane Road rather than on a footpath next to it. The footpath leads to the railway station. See the photo below.

This is my immediate write up, which I will expand in the next week or so. I walked Horton to Iver on a mild November day.
Foundry Lane - As stated when you pass the recycling centre you do feel you have gone the wrong way, but preserver past the parked trucks and you will come to the path.
You reach the village of Colnbrook (buses), walk along Drift Way and then along the High Street until the junction at Budgens where you head left along mill street and then the foot path past the truckers cafe to the A4.
In the field between the A4 and M4 just follow the path and track by the side of the river (Colne Brook). There are large number of grazing horses who will observe you but mostly move away as you walk past.
Interesting to see the green areas between the main roads of the A4 and M4, The route uses the Colne Valley paths and bridal ways. When I walked it this section of the M4 was closed for road works so very strange seeing an empty M4! (but other roads busier).
Then into the residential Richings Park, as stated this passes the Iver station (Elizabeth line) where I finished, but is a straightforward walk if you continue into Iver.
Straightforward route.

I walked from Horton to Iver.

From the village green at Horton, the road leads past a lovely old church (photo) out of the village. I turned left to join the Colne Valley Way at Foundry Lane.

The lane is used by skip trucks to go to and from a recycling centre - builders’ rubble mostly. You may need to step aside. When I reached the recycling area I couldn’t work out where the path went, because there are trucks parked across it, and a pile of small stones blocked whatever was left of the space (second photo). I scrambled over the stones and squeezed by the rest of the parked up trucks to get to the other side. The Foundry Lane section is about 400 metres, and then it turns into a pleasant footpath all the way to Colnbrook.

Colnbrook is a thriving village, much more buzzy than Horton. I stopped for refreshment at the Ostrich hotel, there is a long history of an inn on this site and there are some lurid stores on their website which entertained me.

Not long after leaving Colnbrook the path crosses the A4 and enters a huge field with many ponies. The ponies were all off in the distance and I continued to follow the Colne Valley Way around the edge of the field.
The next part involved crossing the M4 on a brand new bridge with lots of new trees growing up. (Last photo). Once over the bridge I carried straight on up an increasingly residential road, and then more roads lined with very nice houses, until I reached Iver Station, which was wearing its new purple Elizabeth line livery.

I turned left at Thorney Lane and the last 10-15 minutes was a brisk walk along this quite busy road (no other option really) to the meeting point at Iver village.

I mostly enjoyed this route (not the bit by the recycling centre though), and found it very satisfying to link together the little villages, which keep their character in face of intense development, Heathrow, and constant traffic. I can imagine this route, and other similar ones in the area that exploit the Colne Valley, could be very useful for routing longer journeys past London, avoiding major towns (eg anyone wanting to crossover from the Chilterns to the North Downs).

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