Oldshe one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 80.00% of reviewers

I walked from Shepherds Bush to Old Oak Common (almost).
Agree with Jane Taylor, a good and interesting route even though it presently goes nowhere. Still valid as you can walk through Old Oak as part of a longer walk. Good views over West London.
There are steps over the tube line which spoil it for wheels.
Unlike Jane I chose to walk on the Common as the path on the North side of Wormwood scrubs was like an ice rink on this bitterly cold day, as were the paths in the beautiful Hammersmith Park.
Note the Baybrook murders memorial, a huge story in 1966.
I loved the pavement outside Shepherds Bush tube. 'These are old (probably 18th Century) hand riven flags from the coal measures of the south Pennines. You’re seeing complex ripples that formed in Carboniferous rivers around 310 million years ago' - Ruth Siddall.

Leaving aside the Old Oak Common meeting point being inaccessible until the HS2 project completes - this is a really good urban route, direct, safe, and with some interesting features.

From Shepherds Bush to Old Oak Common, first pass Shepherds Bush market; then go by the back of the old BBC studios at Wood Lane, through a lovely Japanese influenced park.
Across the A40 there is a bridge across the central line, with steps. These are the only steps on the route.
Past Hammersmith hospital is the infamous Wormwood Scrubs prison with its high walls; the scrubs itself is an open green space- the route follows an all weather path around the edge; in dry weather it would be pleasant and easy to cut across, but today it was full of lagoons and I think it is the right decision to route around.

Straight after the scrubs the enormous Old Oak Common HS2 station development site begins. This project will finish when it ends… Slow Ways has anticipated it’s importance as a transport hub by including it in the network, at which point it may well be a destination in its own right. For now its a connecting point between Wembley, Ealing, Shepherds Bush and other West London places, so it’s not really an issue that you can’t get to the precise end point.

If you’ve come this way to see the building work (very interesting) then you can continue along Old Oak Common Lane to the A4000, where there are buses.
If you are going on towards Wembley the Slow Ways route to Wembley picks up seamlessly from this one on Old Oak Common Lane.

Quite straight forward down to Wormwood Scrubs, which was a welcome piece of green down to the prison and to the hospital. A bit confused with the path and ended up going over steep steps down to a fairly straight road to Shepherds Bush. Lots of places for refreshment.

For Old Oak Common please begin or end your walk outside the train depot. The Slow Ways network is future proofed and this Slow Ways node will be ready in 2026.

This is a route that minimises contact with busy roads. The first section passes alongside Wormwood Scrubs playing fields and Hammersmith hospital.
I only noticed steps to use the footbridge that crosses the busy Westway road. Assuming there is no ramp nearby, the route will need to be modified for wheelchair users.
The route then goes through a collection of roads that are named after places in Commonwealth countries e.g. Bloemfontein Road, Australia Road. The BBC Studios - now being converted to flats - and Queens Park Rangers football stadium are nearby.
The highlight of the route was Hammersmith Park. There is a Japanese garden, with a pond. It is an area of tranquillity, just before reaching the hustle and bustle of Shepherd's Bush Market.

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