It was nearly mid-April and we were experiencing the third warmest Spring on record. A pleasant Saturday afternoon beckoned and pulled us towards the River Thames. Actually, it wasn't quite as warm as we expected. I wore a blouse and a spring-weight cardigan , which was okay for strolling in mid-afternoon, but we emerged from a pub after a late lunch/early supper and from five o'clock the temperatures fell and it became increasingly chilly. Nevertheless, the sunshine was welcome, as was the dryness of the day.
My app recorded the total distance walked Hampton Court railway station until a bus stop in Walton-on-Thames as exactly 5 miles. I attach a map of the route but it really is the easiest walk to follow - just walk along the River Thames, with no real interruptions or obstacles. The path was temporarily diverted a few yards inland for a short distance in Hurst Park but we could still see the river.
We encountered relatively few people en route. There were clusters around entry points, indicating that people go for just a few tens of metres along riverpaths before turning back and returning to their cars. None of my business, I know, and some people have good reasons - poor mobility - why they can't venture far, but I'm sure that many more, not necessarily physically lazy, have never considered venturing off into the unknown. Some people maybe anxious about personal security, and one does read of incidents, but they are almost all in the evening, often in the dark or twilight. I don't see too much of a risk on a dry sunny Saturday afternoon - although 'quiet', nevertheless we we were overtaken by cyclists or passed opposite direction walkers every two or three minutes.
As I walked along I took a good few photographs. None of them is outstanding, but I think as a collection, they tell a little story about life beside this 5 miles of the non-tidal Thames.
Lots of houseboats moored on the river. Some of them quite fancy. I increasingly like the idea of living on a houseboat; or an an island in the Thames. Perhaps a houseboat moored alongside an island on the Thames.
Plenty of water fowl at different spots on the way - a Tufted Duck and what I'm pretty sure is an Egyptian goose
Some pleasant houses on both banks of the river - perhaps no more pleasant in design than those that stand only on roads, and, frankly, if you had a river view and mooring rights, would you care greatly about the architecture of your house!
It's not all idyllic, though. You might be stuck with a neighbour who conspicuously flies a UKIP flag. Or have an ugly pseudo-Georgian* mansion overshadowing you (*for all I know, or care, it might be a genuine historic building!)
Everything I have read (admittedly, not much) about this stretch of river mentions the view of St Mary's Parish Church Hampton. The site "is said" to be that of a Romano-British chapel; historical records of a church being here stretch back to 1342, 150 years before King Henry VIII (I mention him because of his close association with nearby Hampton Court). It's reasonably safe to say that this church, and its view, has dominated the entire history of civilised metropolitan Surrey.
And what do I see? The more I look at it, what dominates the eye? Like a portrait taken with a blouse button undone or lipstick on the teeth - no, because they are inadvertent. I see a car park.
Regular readers will know my antipathy towards organised religion and my ambivalence about preserving old churches just because, and may also know that I embrace modern architecture alongside the historically interesting. So more taditional or conservative people than I should be furious at this. All I see is a car park. No spot of land in this sometimes awful country is too nice, historic or strategic to prevent people parking their cars there. Often without paying and rarely paying full market rent for the land they so casually occupy. Well done careless car-driven people of Hampton. Your potentially beautiful church looks like the backdrop to a car park from Hurst Park. You haven't thought this one through, have you?
There are other sights along the way, such as a foot ferry from bank to bank, a little sign that the grand metropolitan river further east is becoming more rustic.
I took a picture of someone's delightful rock garden. It wasn't until I uploaded the photos at home I noticed the topiary teddy bear!
Outside their house across the towpath near their mooring they had sculpted a child riding a bird.
Further along, the houseboats were humbler. I felt it my duty to collect evidence of modern day slavery. Shocking. Those poor rag dolls, desperate for freedom.
We passed a City of London coal duty boundary marker. I photographed it for future reaearch (reading Wikipedia). In brief, if you imported coal into London, you were liable for duty. The post served to remind you. The inscription refers to Acts of Parliament during the 14th & 15th years of Victoria's reign. There's an entire dedicated website City Posts.
We came upon Sunbury Lock. Locks are endlessly fascinating. It was our good fortune to see two pleasure boats enter the lock to be transported downstream.
The lock lies by Sunbury Lock Ait (Ait means a small island in a river). The Ait is accessed by a footbridge. I used this as a vantage point for more photos up and downstream.
We stopped for fish and chips at The Weir. Very good they were, but there's a natural limit to the number of plates of fish and chip one can photograph. And I didn't get my camera out for the brisk walk to a more central part of Walton, and a bus stop. the Weir seemed a very nice pub, apart from the dog (off its lead, despite signs) that slobbered over Jimmy - not at his behest - and stained his trousers. Totally unacceptable in any establishment, especially one that serves food.
View 52-54 Bridge Rd in a larger map
