This GOC London midweek had been postponed from the previous Wednesday because of an appalling weather forecast we had then. The day of the postponed walk fortunately turned out to be a lovely sunny day - not too hot and just right for walking. Some of us met on the 10:06 train from Waterloo, while others joined us at Hampton Court station, eventually 15 of us assembling.
I led the walk off shortly after 11:00 am; we crossed the road bridge at Hampton Court with good views of the palace. We entered Home Park at the first opportunity by an inconspicuous minor gate on Kingston Road into the very quiet Home Park. (It seems to be so quiet partly because it is severed, except at the extreme eastern end, by the aptly named Long Water). After leaving an enclosed paddock area, we found ourselves at the rear of the Palace, where we had a view through railings of its rear elevation and surrounding gardens. Here I gave a short historical summary of Hampton Court Palace and the Home Park, which had originally formed part of the grounds. We then followed the course of the Long Water eastwards where there were sunny and shady options (in an avenue of lime trees), noticing a herd of fallow deer some way off. We turned sharply to the north turned to follow a path inside another more mature avenue of lime trees, to eventually join the banks of the attractive Hampton Wick Pond. We were not sure whether this had ever been a true village pond, as its name implied, outside the boundary of the Royal Park.
Leaving Home Park we had a short section of road walking before we entered Bushey Park, where we got rather entangled with another walking group for a short while. Fortunately they took a slightly different route than us shortly a bit further on. As we crossed some open country, we noticed some more fallow deer, this time closer up sheltering under a tree, before joining the route of the London Loop along the water course in Bushey Park. We found a pleasant spot for lunch with a bench and a sloping shady grassy area in the Woodland Gardens.
After finishing our packed lunches we continued through the very pleasant Woodland Gardens and eventually exited Bushey Park into Hampton. After a brief hiatus of busy street walking through Hampton, we crossed the Thames on the tiny passenger ferry, having to do this in two groups as it could only take eight people. The remaining section of the walk along the towpath on the south bank of the Thames didn't take long, and we were soon back close to our starting point in the village of Molesey. It was quite warm by then, and most of us opted to "rehydrate" in the garden of the Prince of Wales in Molesey to celebrate the end of a very nice walk.
Andy Fisher
