After dabbling with bits of the Thames Path, I decided that this year that I'd walk the part within Greater London from Hampton Court in the west to Crayford Ness in the east, a distance of about 50 miles. The Thames Path is easy walking, nice and flat, no maps required - just follow the river (and the many signposts) and easily accessible by public transport. The journey to Hampton Court should have been quite straightforward, District line to West Ham, Jubilee line to Waterloo and from there to Hampton Court. However on last Saturday, it turned into some kind of Test as there was no District line, no Jubilee line, no Circle line and no Drain (Waterloo and City line)! It took nearly two hours by replacement bus, C2C, walking to St Pauls where I caught the 176 bus to Waterloo. Luckily I had a very good book, Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson which kept me chuckling away throughout the journey.
The Thames Path is only available on the northern bank between Hampton Court and Kingston Bridge and runs alongside Hampton Court Palace and Home Park. The opposite bank is home to rowing clubs and big houses. The towpath is very popular with cyclists and runners and the river was very busy with people messing about, usually eights or fours, being followed by a little launch with a big man and a megaphone. Not exactly a place for quiet contemplation. I opted to walk the last mile through Home Park which is huge and almost deserted, the ground being far too firm for horses. Here it was possible to imagine yourself in the countryside for a little while and enjoy the view back along the Long Water to the Palace.
At Kingston the Path crosses over the bridge back to the southern bank, passing a handy John Lewis store on the way. In Tudor times, Kingston Bridge was next crossing point upstream from London Bridge and must have been a welcome sight for the oarsman on their way to Hampton Court. The Path passes through some municipal gardens and along Lower Ham Road before becoming rural again at the Ham Lands nature reserve. The next crossing point is Teddington Lock, the upper reach of the tidal Thames and scene of the famous fish slapping dance from Monty Python. At this point the Path follows both banks on the Thames but I stayed on southern side.
Beyond Teddington Lock, there is a brief glimpse of Strawberry Hill House, a leading example of Gothic revival architecture. A bit further along is Ham House, where I stopped off for some welcome light refreshment. Only the gardens were open. Almost opposite was Marble Hill House, home of the mistress of George II. After Ham House the Path emerges from the woods and you get some fine views of Richmond Hill and monolithic Star and Garter Home. This part of the towpath was quite popular, even on a raw cold day, with riverside meadows and eateries, and small children tottering towards the unguarded edge, but I think the ice cream man was rather hopeful.
I left the Path at Richmond and headed back to the railway station across Richmond Green, surrounded by more Georgian architecture. I had a vague memory of getting drunk in a nearby pub during a hot summer in the late 1970’s. It took me nearly five hours to cover the nine miles from Hampton Court, (it felt further). I then had the joy of working out how to get home (District line to Westminster, Jubilee line to West Ham, C2C to Barking, replacement bus to home in just under 2 hours). It was a fairly uneventful journey until we reached Earls Court when every New Zealander in London got in my carriage on their way to celebrate Waitangi Day. (The Mayor’s no drinking policy on the Tube was working well!).If you are thinking of walking the Thames Path in London, Transport for London produces four excellent leaflets;
London’s Rural Thames – Hampton Court to Chelsea
Heart of London’s River Thames – Albert Bridge to Tower Bridge
Seafaring London by the River Thames – Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier
London’s Working River – Thames Barrier to Crayford Ness.
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