Hendon Central to Preston Road (Welsh Harp)

Saturday 21st March 2026, and despite the Elizabeth Line not running this weekend, seven of us, Cathy, Richard, Louise, Lynne, Madeleine, Audrey and myself, met up in the coffee shop next to Hendon Central Station.

Setting off, we crossed over the train line and headed into Hendon Park, passing tennis courts before crossing back over the train line and following the Capital Ring footpath, before crossing a main road and then heading downhill, with the Wembley Arch in the distance. After a short while we crossed over the Brent Reservoir, and turned left to walk along the bank of the reservoir, known locally as the Welsh Harp, named after a nearby pub which was demolished in the 1970’s. The reservoir is a popular location for sailing, with a couple of sailing clubs using it.

Nearing the far end of the reservoir, we found a couple of benches overlooking the water, ideal for a lunch break, from where we watched the yachts sailing on the water and saw a red kite flying directly overhead. After lunch we headed onwards, with several people making a detour to a local garden centre and its facilities, before continuing through St Andrew’s church-yard.

There are actually two churches in the church-yard, the old St Andrew’s, which dates back to the twelfth century, and the new church, an impressive building, which was originally built in the heart of the west end, and was moved stone by stone and rebuilt in Kingsbury in the 1930’s.

Leaving the churchyard we zig-zagged between houses to arrive at Fryent Country Park, following the Capital Ring downhill and then climbing to reach the summit of Gotfords Hill, with some good views of Harrow on the Hill and the Wembley arch. We then crossed a road to access the west side of the park, continuing through trees to reach a green open space with the underground line at the end. We followed the path downhill and then parallel to the underground line, before emerging between houses and then followed local roads to Preston Road underground station, and handily, another coffee shop about two doors away from the station.

The total length of the walk was about 6 miles, the weather had been ideal (as I said it would be!) with some good views over the local area, and relatively little mud. All in all, a great little walk!

Trev (Pathfinder) Eley,  24th March 2026