5 January 2014: London Bridge to Richmond
| Walk descriptor | Test walk | Day | 00 | ||
| Date | Sun 5 Jan 2014 | Start to end time | 05h 58m | ||
| Start point | London Bridge station | End point | Richmond station | ||
| Miles today | 18.03 | Cu miles | 0,000.00 | ||
| Ft today | 301 | Cu ft | 000,000 | ||
| Route miles left | 0,000 | Route ft left | 000,000 | ||
| Today’s weather | Bright frosty start; clouded over about noon and started to rain about 3pm. Average temperature (4 to 8C), almost no wind | ||||
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| Today’s location (the red cross in a circle shows where I am at the moment) |
GPX based track of today’s walk (click here to access to access downloadable file) |
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Commentary
A bit of a different theme to today’s final in the “Xmas walk” series. Joined the London branch of the Long Distance Walkers’ Association for this 18 mile hike along the Thames Path long distance route, from London Bridge to Richmond.
An excellent day out – and not just because it wasn’t raining! Interesting and enjoyable group of walkers, and some new sights to see. I knew the area in Central London near the start, and around Kew and Richmond at the end, quite well. But the bit in-between, around Battersea and Wandsworth, was all new to me. I enjoyed walking along the route of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, between Putney and Chiswick bridges, and to see Battersea power station from a different angle. Fascinating fact for engineers is that it was the first large power station in the world to be fitted with flue gas desulphurisation, in 1931. Largely as a result of George V’s asthma apparently.
Finished the walk in Richmond, after taking in good views of Kew Gardens from the outside, and the archaeological curiosity of Richmond Lock. A couple of fallen trees, plenty of muddy paths, and several pubs spotted en route, but for the sake of variety, not photographed today. And one of the great benefits of walking in a city is that generally speaking there are no marauding bullocks or arsenic crazed dogs.
A great finale to an excellent series of winter walks!
Today’s photos (click to enlarge)
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| The Shard, near London Bridge start of the walk | Replica Golden Hinde near Southwark cathedral |
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| Tate Modern art gallery with iconic chimney, in former Bankside power station | London Eye – just receiving its first visitors about 9:30 this morning |
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| Another iconic power station – Battersea, currently being converted into bijou pieds a terre – but still a long way to go by the looks of it | Kew Palace, as seen from the Thames path |
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| Spectacular sunrise on early train from Amersham to London Bridge this morning | |
