Thames Path Walk – Richmond to Hampton Court to Chertsey
/Okay, first the bad news … I’ve got a blister on my left toe the size of a Buick. It’s adjacent to a large callous I’ve been cultivating since my days of going barefoot on Nine of Cups. David has a cold blossoming. Though David will probably not catch my blister, I’ll bet my best and only hiking boots that I’ll eventually catch his cold. We blame the plane flight … 10 hours cooped up with hacking fellow passengers and coughing kids and a proper gestation period to nurture those cold germs. We are not, however, deterred from our mission. Now that that’s out of the way, we continue with our walk.
Beautiful blooming flowers on the Kingston Bridge
Richmond to Hampton Court – 8 miles
Actually, 8 miles doesn’t sound bad, but it ended up being closer to 11 miles by the time we found our hotel and a local supermarket for dinner supplies. That’s the end of my complaining though, because it was a pretty spectacular day. Between cities and villages, we’re in the country now and this is what we imagined the Thames Path would be. The air is fresh and earthy; the river is lovely; and it’s a pleasure to be here and be walking.
We’ve been walking on the south bank of the river, but in Kingston, we crossed the bridge over to north side. It appears we’ll be doing this quite regularly from now on. It gives a different perspective of the river. Our guidebook has been good in conjunction with the Thames Path app and a careful watch-out for Thames Path direction signs. Sometimes they’re large and you can’t miss them. Other times, they’re quite small and covered by leaves or only the acorn icon on a small post and it’s easy to be chatting, miss the sign and take the wrong track and then have to retrace our steps. Nevertheless, whoever is responsible for putting up all those signs … thank you.
Hampton Court Palace was the highlight of this day. It’s spectacular. Cardinal Wolsey rebuilt and added on to an existing Knights Hospitaller c. 1515. When Wolsey fell out of favor with King Henry VIII (as so many did), he gave the palace to the King in 1529 to save his neck. King Henry VIII enlarged the palace considerably in the Tudor style. A century later, King William III did a massive rebuild and again enlarged the palace … in a Baroque style. Not since King George II in the 18th century has a monarch lived here. It was Queen Victoria who had the Great Hall restored and in 1838, she opened the palace to the public.
Hampton Court Palace
We had no time for a proper tour of the palace at the end of our walking day, but strolling on the grounds and checking out the gift shop was grand in itself. I especially loved the King’s Beasts, statues of heraldic animals that line the bridge over the moat to the gatehouse which represent the ancestry of King Henry VIII and his wife #3, Jane Seymour.
Fantastic critters also run along the edge of the roof and turrets and sit sentry on the downspouts and troughs. You can click on any thumbnail to enlarge the photo.
We spent about an hour on the grounds before we were chased out for the park closing. We walked over the bridge into the town of East Molesey, past antique shops and Tudor-style buildings. We find a walk after a rest at the end of the day loosens us up a bit and there’s no doubt that walking without the packs feels much lighter.
East Molesey shops in the Tudor half-timber style
Total mileage today: 10.6 miles
Hampton Court to Chertsey – 8 miles (plus a mile off-path to our hotel)
A cool, overcast, but dry day and we were off across the Hampton Court Bridge to the South Bank once again and on to Chertsey. Originally built in 1753, this bridge commanded a 1/2d toll (half-penny) for crossing on weekdays and 1d (one penny) for Sundays. The bridge was replaced two more times and the toll continued until 1876 when it was finally lifted. The toll house is now part of the Mitre Hotel on the north bank of the river. Just for the record, I was perplexed that 1d = 1 pence, so I did a little research on Old English currency and here’s what I found.
The old toll house (the round white building to the far left) from the Hampton Court Bridge is now part of the Mitre Hotel.
We stopped around 10AM at the Anglers of Walton, right on the Path, for morning tea. It’s a lovely place, pretty empty so early in the morning and we enjoyed the hot tea and the short rest.
David polished up his waiter skills in case he needs a part-time job when we go back to the States.
At Shepperton, the path once again crossed to the North Bank of the river, but this time, it was via the Nauticalia Ferry. For £2 each, the ferryman came across the river to fetch us and took us the very short distance to the North Bank. We could have walked several miles out of our way to a bridge up-river, but the path clearly continued on the other side plus the experience and not swimming across at this crossing point was worth the total £4 investment.
The path crossed the river … this time via ferry.
David rang the bell briskly and loudly, signalling the ferryman that he had a fare waiting on the other side of the river.
Heading into the ferry dock in Shepperton
Once in Shepperton, the path continued on the north bank of the river once again. The path changes constantly. We followed it through the Dumsey Meadow en route to Chertsey where it is no more than a cow path … literally. We shared the meadow with lots of grazing cows, dodging large cow pies with every step.
In Chertsey, we stayed at a local pub, the Olde Swan. The rooms are small and basic, but clean and adequate.
We’re in the habit now of washing our socks, undies and shirts every night and hanging them on the windowsill. They’re mostly dry by morning and we’re not toting dirty laundry around everyday. We packed way too many clothes for this trip. More about that later.
Drying the day’s laundry at the window.
David spotted this engraved stone on the building across the street from the Olde Swan and we thought it was a great thought to share before closing for the day.
‘Go and do likewise.’
Next time we’re heading to Windsor … via Runnymeade, the historic meadow in which the Magna Carta was sealed by King John in 1215. Stay tuned.