The P trail started at Acton Town underground station, which was opened as Mill Hill Park on 1 July 1879 by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District line) on its extension from Turnham Green to Ealing Broadway.
The name Acton means Oak Town and is an Anglo-Saxon name, suggesting that there was a settlement at Acton in Saxon times. The first recorded mention of Acton was in 1181. Most of the settlement in the Middle Ages lay along the Uxbridge Road and close to the parish church of St. Mary’s. There were several inns here by the late fourteenth century.
The P trail led past Action Fire Station where I found Man Magnet admiring the 1930 architecture or was she in fact dreaming about the hunky firemen inside 😉 …. The original fire station was opened in the High Street 1899 and was in use until the current station on Gunnersbury Lane opened in 1930.
As a south Londoner I was worried about being “north” of the river. On arrival at Aeronaut my concerns were justified. Firstly the friendly (not) bouncer quizzed Man Magnet and me about wearing track suits – the explanation that we were part of a running group appeared to be accepted, next he demanded that I leave my bottle of water at the door. Clearly the draft airport rules on liquids and gels also apply at the Aeronaut.
The Aeronaut is part pub, part brewery and part circus! The pub pays tribute to local aviator George Lee Temple who was the first Englishman to fly an aeroplane upside down.
The trail was well marked and took the pack in a circular route out to the east and south before returning back to the Aeronaut.
Back at the pub some member of the pack watch part a Circus Act that was taking part in the other bar area.
The Aeronaut is also the home of the state-of-the-art Laine’s Brewery:
The Hares Martian Matron and Moron
There was a playground stop where Skylark, Pope, Loveduce & Dingo acted their shoe sizes and not their ages!
Obviously relieved that no one got lost or refused entry by the friendly bouncer and Martian Matron bought a large round of drinks to celebrate. Unfortunately her debit card was refused; the bill was entered as £2075!
The run passed through the sprawling South Acton Estate and one of the sixties tower blocks (Harlech Tower) was the original location for Only Fools And Horses. The RA felt that Plug and Freeloader looked liked Del Boy and Rodney:
Freeloader earned another Down Down by leaving his shoes in the pub and not putting them in the disabled toilet with the bags.The returnees included Sleep Cheeks, Screw Loose, Disco King & Herbert Pecker.
On On DayStripper