You can cycle from Fulham in west London to Brentford, entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 9.5km long (5.92 miles) and makes use of the Cycleway 34 and Cycleway 9, as well as other quiet filtered streets around Fulham. This trip recently became easier due to the extension of Cycleway 9 to Brentford.
If you find this video useful or you just enjoy watching it please remember to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon so you’re alerted to new videos, as I try to post new ones like it every week.
And if you like what the channel is doing, you can also contribute to the London Cycle Routes Patreon below. It really helps keep the channel going:
http://patreon.com/londoncycleroutes
You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1782142474?share_token=abBpjCF6o2jUxpcqMONTjhU1yrX6hhrbVZ3gvxvDZr02EMQO3E&ref=wtd
The Cycleway 9 consultation from Brentford to Syon Park is here and open until Monday 9 September:
https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/brentford-syon-park
And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1h9Hxm57fPvZmcuSXajM_Wu0G0s6f_bs&ll=51.50521349609208%2C-0.1285238120117249&z=12
I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle London map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XlpvN9R-Wg7qZHyezO8y-eVlftr4e0WX&hl=en&ll=51.516975804561255%2C-0.21828576419061996&z=12
33 Comments
Great upload as always. Agree with your point at 10:01 – most uk drivers aren't aware of rule H3 and as a result I find using that new cycle lane more dangerous than riding in the main carriageway – especially if you want to cycle at the speed limit. It's great you're championing these changes to the highway code. But I noticed unfortunately you ignored rule H2 cutting in front of the pedestrian at 02:02 . Arguably she wasn't in any danger as you were riding a bike not in a car – and it's a situation where I'd also probably keep riding – but the effect is pedestrians don't learn that they actually have priority over turning vehicles which in turn keeps reinforcing the old behaviour from drivers.
That Hammersmith to Chiswick and Kew cycle route is a game changer, I'll definitely be checking that out. Thanks.
New subbie here! Can you do a trip from Peckham to Blackheath Village or near Blackheath Hospital 🏥?
Thanks for also mentioning the markets at Old Market Place, Chiswick High Rd. FYI the schedule is Flowers on 1st Sunday (not January), Antiques on 2nd Sunday, Cheese on 3rd Sunday and Street Food on 4th Sunday.
I think you might have slowed down briefly to let that woman cross, she had both feet on the road you were turning into, ie she was on a road you were entering…. it doesn't cost much, think of it as a PR exercise …. I'm as guilty as the next man of forgetting to do it from time to time too ….
Love this route! Does help too with the lovely weather!
Being a ‘Westy’ I will of course sign the consultation form.
Big up the SW/TW link ups 😅😅
So true about putting up a sign of a cycle route and calling it a day. I've got a 40-minute commute to work, which is mostly good, but I always dread the necessity to ride through Poplar High St. Definitely the worst part of CS3, I wonder if there are any plans to fix that.
It's great that the section between Kew Bridge and Brentford is complete, but the council could have saved a lot of time and money by keeping both lanes to the river side from the petrol station to mcdonald's.
There would have been an uber short section of shared path before dropping down into the park, with there being plenty of width to make it dual direction.
After seeing the spelling of Gowan Avenue all I hear is Mrs Doyle from Father Ted TV show.
"Ah go-on go-on go-on go-on"
At Hammersmith you passed the Riverside studios, now theatres with a cafe but famous for being where the early Doctor Who episodes were made. If you go inside you can have coffee and cake sitting next to a Dalek. I find that quite creepy as I have seen plenty of episodes where supposedly dead Daleks come back to life! There are some large black and white pictures on the walls showing behind the scenes images.
Spot on with the route EXCEPT you should be turning right out of Doneraile Street into Woodlawn Road. Follow Woodlawn Road to the end and where it bends to the left bear right through the Fire Gates into Crabtree Lane. Take the second left into Rannoch Road and go through the planters which brings you into Mambre Road. And then follow your route.
Doneraile Street is part of the 'alphabet' set of streets in Fulham. It runs from Niton Street to Cloncurry Street, so if going the other way just remember the street beginning with 'D'! As an aside, you mentioned 'passing Fulham Football Club' in your video but no mention of passing Brentford Football Club when you went past the stadium, just before Kew Bridge!
Imagine a Heathrow to Romford non-stop cycle lane one day 😆
@8:30 the short sketchy section is at the building site around Hammersmith Town Hall – which is due to be completed later this year
@11:41 i really don't like the Heathfield Terrace / Wellesley Road section – so I normally continue on Chiswick High Road and across Chiswick Roundabout using the pedestrian crossings and down the short section of dual carriageway to rejoin the cycle lane. far from ideal, but at least it's wider than Heathfield Terrace / Wellesley Road, which gets a bit scary when the boy racers charge at you!
It’s a cliche people in Chiswick are very unfamiliar with the rest of their borough – maybe the cycle could change that. Admittedly, there are already great bus connections into Brentford and beyond, so I think a disparity in affluence is the real reason. That said, things like the cycle lane and the riverside development could help to fix that.
Chiswick’s name comes from the old English for “cheese town”, hence the choice to hold a cheese market
6:02 to 7:03 – a golden moment of slick commentary!
Wow, route through Waterman's Park is gorgeous
🤟🏽🤙🏽🤟🏽
I'm not much of a cyclist but I live in Fulham and make extensive use of the Thames Path for some long distance walking. Interesting to see the route you took and nice to see more cycling infrastructure giving you some safety on the streets!
@10:40 > "Markets on the left"…that's a remarkable indicator of progress on many fronts, all 'taking back the streets' for shoppers, pedestrians, cyclists and poets'!
I have to admit I am not comfortable with two way cycle lanes where they cross over junctions both as a driver and as a cyclist as it increases a chance of collision particularly because the junctions aren't controlled by a stop sign 🛑 . With flow is always better since drivers naturally look in the vehicle offside direction to oncoming traffic first. The streets are plenty wide for them and the motor vehicle lanes could be narrowed, and junction turnouts given a wider radius for buses and lorries.
The bit of C9 from Turham Green to Brentford honestly just frustrates me with all the errors and wasted potential.
Wellesley road should indeed have a bus gate, however it's also silly that they blocked off the end of it, as leaving it open would allow buses to bypass all the traffic on the roundabout (they previously went this way). It's also constantly full of vans doing 5 point turns after delivering to the wealthy multiple car owning residents.
The Brentford section also has bus stop bypasses that are below TfL and DfT standards, even though they easily could have made them better.
There is also no way to turn right onto Ealing road, the sign says you should use the pedestrian crossing instead.
Lastly, there are no dropped kerbs allowing access to and from side roads!
I've cycled past Watermans park a couple of times and it's looked so nice I've meant to make it my destination i shall do. I still dismount under the Hammersmith flyover as it just feels wobbly to me, and in the ltn i cycle up the one over as that squeeze thru is so tight id rather just cycle up another road. I tend to go barons ct behind the hospital 🏥 to get the lights across Fulham palace road but this does look quieter. They need something to cross Fulham palace road and id swap – i don't like being on a busy corner with cars behind and pressure x
It was great to hear some of the history of people and buildings along the route. Thanks for including that.
I live in Brentford and just did this route a few days ago! Well, almost! I went to Bishop's park which is a lovely spot in it's own right. The only difference is I cycled along the riverside for a while after Hammersmith Bridge (coming from the Brentford direction). The new infrastructure has been great for my partner too as she works near Kew.
Great video! Lovely to see how joined up these cycle routes are getting. I often cycle through these stretches of town sometimes with my children in tow, and one thing to point out on the C34 Fulham portion is the brick plant filter between Rannoch Road and Manbre Road is incredibly narrow, and too narrow for a trailer. When I go through there I use the chicane to the sides but have to dismount and push and pull through (takes a while) as that too is very narrow and there's millimetres to spare, it's a real blocker – it could really do with being widened, or in my view, removing entirely.
Keep up the excellent work, I really look forward to your videos.
Brentford has changed so much, when I lived there it used to be quite empty and desolate, now it's all fancy and shiny. I read they were doing quite a development next to the end of your video, close to the canal! I wish I'd visit again sometime but your videos are enough until then! Thank you!
That is amazing. It was hard to recognise the Chiswick High Road I used to bike down in the early 1980’s during a 3 year overseas experience from NZ. London seems to have just got better and better since those days of congestion, grime, and a alow and unreliable bus network. It feels like that anyway over few times we’ve gone. back for a visit. The video is pure joy, thank you.
Good vid, and from Brentford you can sneak out of London on the Grand Union Canal towpath; all the way to Birmingham.
Thank you and safe travels!
Have you ever followed the River Wandle from Colliers Wood to Carshalton Ponds? You can start the route from Wandsworth on the Thames, but in some sections, you have to go on the road. But most of the journey is off-road. Plus, there are some quite nice parts!😊 There is a section where the sister of Octavia Hill has a stone seat, probably as a memorial?
I should of also added that William Morris had some mills on the river, and they are at Merton Abbey Milks. Plus, there is a large White House in Morden Hall Park, a garden centre there too.😊
"Hounslow for the Hounslowsians!"