So the fourth day of this block of walking the Thames Path and today we are going from Shepperton to Teddington. Sadly no Jenny as she’s feeling a bit uncomfortable, we have been transported by minibus and it’s obviously a repeat journey from the night before which makes navigation easier and there are toilets in the car park!
One of the elements we have found interesting as we’ve progressed along the river are the information boards by each lock. These ones at Shepperton don’t disappoint but we can’t linger too long as the clocks have changed and it will get dark earlier tonight.
Having walked about a hundred yards from the car park I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the ferry to be open- if it is it will save a long and boring detour away from the river. We’re in luck and the ‘ferryman’ urges to get on the boat – he goes back and forth on demand, including taking children to school! £3 a person but I suppose he does have to maintain his boat- all too quickly over and we are in Weybridge and about to walk along the other bank.
Not sure the weather is going to be quite so kind today, as long as it doesn’t rain! We start with a great deal of open ground next to our path and lots of people out for Sunday morning walks and a variety of boats on the river.
We soon approach Walton on Thames and again we find evidence of a previous life on the river which was more commercial and less leisurely. We are walking alongside houses for a while but as the other side is quite open it still has a feeling of ‘openness’. We have Anna’s husband Andy with us today so we are still six. We notice a rowing and skiff club but we’re not sure what that entails. A little further along and our question is answered as another boat house was opened up and people were busily gathering oars. Fiona found out that these wider, more stable boats are often preferred by older rowers!
As we pass through this built up area we now have water processing works on our right and it is possible to see from the map that there are several large reservoirs. Not much sunshine but the water is still and the reflections look good. We get to Sunbury where there are a set of double locks, in parallel rather than series. One is the old manually operated version and the other a new hydraulic style.
We notice an impressive building on the far bank and note that it is annotated as a Water Works – we wonder if it still has its original designation or has long since been updated to smart apartments. We are noticing more house boats, of many more designs. Several square cuboid boxes on a platform as well as an increase in vessels that have been extended upwards. We can see a distinct church on the horizon- this is Hampton Church which can only mean we are nearing the palace. In addition to the rowers and canoeists we also now have sailing dinghies on the water.
One disadvantage of this type of more built up locality is that ‘comfort breaks’ can’t be quite as ad lib! We find a cricket / sports club that is open for refreshments and we use their facilities and some also end up buying drinks, biscuits etc. we had planned to eat at Hampton Court but we are now running a bit late and we are getting hungry. We press on and have to go up to cross the river- the traffic always seems busier when you have done a quiet stretch. Typically there is no where to sit as we approach the palace and sitting on the wooden fences is prohibited! We eventually find a suitable spot to enjoy our much needed lunch!
The Thames bends around the park which continues to be enclosed, with a few ways in for people working in the grounds but not for public entrance. It was a good site for the RHS flower show that I visited earlier in the year.! Trees line this wide boulevard next to the park and one can imagine it having been an area for promenading for many years.
We cross the river again at Kingston upon Thames Bridge and leave Surrey arriving in Greater London. Not far to go now until we reach our goal for today Teddington Lock – well nearly. Built up again in part next to the river but still a feeling of serenity and space. More boats moored again in this section but these are more expensive leisure cruisers and not house boats which proliferated as we approached Hampton Court. Having contacted Jane we were warned of an impending shower and we did get a few spots but really not much at all- we have been so lucky.
Now which side of the bridge will Jane be? We eventually managed to pinpoint where she was and it was on our side of the river. We will save the bridge for next time when we arrive from the station. The river will soon become tidal so that will be different and at this point you can choose whether you wish to do the north or south bank route. We are taking the south bank but it does dangle the idea of coming back to walk the north bank!
Luckily not quite so far today, 18.5 km / 11.5 miles.
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 