Sections 11 from West Drayton to Hayes and Harlington; Section 10 Hayes and Harlington to Hatton Cross; half of Section 9 from Hatton Cross to Fulwell
Rain, rain, traffic, pain, planes and more rain were on the menu today. Up at 5.15 and leave at 6 to head off for West Drayton. M1, M25 and M4 what a dish. M25 clogged up and stationary as I reach it at 6.30. We are both on time and start from Fulwell. On a summers day with the sun shining, flowers in full bloom, birds singing and an outrageous imagination it might be possible to find some parts of this walk to get excited about. No....not even then. Miserable. Rob bends down in the rain to keep his map dry at the start and his back goes in to spasm as he gets up. He was in pain and gingerly walked the first couple of miles as if on egg shells. Back pain is horrible but he vows to carry on. I am worried about him for tomorrow and hope his physio can sort him out tonight.
We follow much of the River Crane. Mud, puddles and the clouds dropping their big fat bellies right down to the ground to weigh down our steps. Rob wails some more but on we go as Nurofen dulls the pain. This must be where the phrase completing the circle comes in or, in this case, the loop. There can be no other reason for doing this section. We must to complete the loop. It is busy roads, Heathrow hangers with just a little respite along our friend the Grand Union Canal. There was a moment of sunshine as we meet Mei from Bangkopk in her cafe near Hayes. Not at the heights of Kim's sandwich but she did make a wonderful mug of tea....a real mug...with cartoons on the side and probably as big as a pint pot. There was also a copy of the Sun (on a table again...honest) so we could debate what Cheryl Cole should do with Ashley Cole. We used Vicky Christina Barcelona as an illustration of different responses...great film Karen and I watched last night. Mei had a picture of the King and Queen of Thailand up so we talked to her about Bangkok. I love the palaces and the river there but she said here is much better. I look outside and look at her again and think....that is an outrageous imagination. 
Excitement under the Heathrow flightpath as we stop and watch the planes come in every two minutes. The noise is unbelievable and the planes appear to be a matter of feet from the rooftops of local houses. How do people put up with such noise all day long? Rob and I remember flights in to the old Hong Kong airport where you could see people hanging their washing in their appartments before the steep descent to the runway.
Along the canal we pass the Nestle coffee factory built in 1938 the year after Nestle invented instant coffee. A real factory scene Lowry would have enjoyed painting and complements the experience of the day.Once again we found any pub we plan to go to along the way has shut or is up for sale. It is as if they have heard we are coming and have to leave town before we arrive. We do find an Indian restaurant Asha in Hayes. It is a clean smart restaurant and we both look like dirty drowned rats wet from head to foot with thick mud clinging to our boots. But we are allowed in and looked after very well. I discover that Rob has rarely eaten Indian food and is suspicious. I had a chicken jalfraisi and he had a king prawn korma (Rob also doesn't like chicken....almost as fussy as my dad with his food). Actually was a really good curry and needed to be at £10 per course which I explained to Rob is a lot for a curry.
Back at West Drayton Rob drives his car back to mine at Fulwell. He notices a police car behind us and becomes extremely up tight. I ask him what he has done. Nothing he says but they make me nervous. They pull up beside us at the lights and Rob says...'what have I done...look at the way they are looking at me'. I make a note to probe further in to this phobia in the future.
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