Putney Bridge to
Hammersmith Bridge (Circular)
(approx. two and
half hours not including stops!)
Equipment: sturdy walking shoes, bottle of water, Canon
Powershot A2000 IS compact digital camera, spare batteries, Explore London’s Rural River Thames (Map
1) - Hampton Court to Albert Bridge.
I realise that I am a hoarder of touristy leaflets. I pick them up when I see something I might
like to visit or when I’m there for further information. I’m also a sucker for gift shops at
galleries, museums and other places of interest, though I have cut back on the
spending in them! Anyway, I have two
boxes of leaflets, maps, timetables and postcards and as I found myself with an
empty diary this week (apart from choir practice), the thought of being home
with the housework was not an option I could contemplate.
This year I began thinking about the River Thames, where
it starts and where it finishes. I have
maps (surprise, surprise) covering the London area of the Thames but I’d also
looked at the website for the Thames Path National Trail. The idea of walking it sounded rather good
and became more appealing. So this week
I dug out the maps and decided to walk a stretch of it. I picked a walk and then saw a better
one. Hubby and I had wanted to visit
Fulham Palace for a while (we often go past it on the bus) so we had a little
chat and decided to walk the stretch between Putney Bridge to Hammersmith
Bridge but first stopping at Fulham Palace which is about a fifteen/twenty
minute walk from Putney Bridge through some gardens.
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| Main entrance to Fulham Palace |
Yesterday was the big day. We set off on the bus to Putney Bridge and
walked through the Bishops Gardens to Fulham Palace. Established around the year 700 this served
as the Bishop’s residence. It was the
country house of the Bishops’ of London.
The building is a mix of architectural styles – Tudor and Georgian with
the chapel being Victorian. We arrived a little early as the museum doesn’t
open until 1pm, though the café is open all day. To fill in time we looked around the walled
gardens. There were some greenhouses
filled with vegetables and this made a nice spot to be for a short while to get
a bit warmer as though it was bright there was a keen wind. We explored the lawn area then went to the café
for some lunch – filling soup and bread.
By the time we were finished the museum was open so we had a stroll
through it. There was a ‘letters’
exhibition (calligraphy) which was interesting.
Much of the house is not open to the public so there are not many rooms
to view. The museum itself is quite
interesting but for me the highlight was the Tait Chapel. It’s quite stunning
with stained glass windows. In the 1950’s wall paintings were added to both
sides of the chapel and there is a beautiful mosaic as you come into the
chapel.
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| Tait Chapel |
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| Part of the mosaic |
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| What a nice display! |
On leaving the Palace we headed back to the river and
began walking. There were great views
across the river, the tide was out and many gulls and ducks were evident. I was surprised how quiet and peaceful it was
apart from aircraft flying in to Heathrow but even that didn’t bother me. The sun was out as were rowers and we ambled
along the pathway. Most of the time we
were right by the river but there were a few detours like around Fulham
Football Club and Riverside Studios and then we were at Hammersmith Bridge. I was keen to find the house where William
Morris once lived so we walked a little further up the path until we found
it. These days it is the William Morris Society. It was shut but I will be
returning. I became fascinated by the clouds
forming towards Chiswick - dark, brooding clouds but with shafts of sunlight
filtering through. I took rather a lot
of photos! We passed by some nice pubs (there are always nice pubs by rivers)
including The Dove where William Morris used to drink and at different times
was also the haunt of Graham Greene and Ernest Hemmingway. Returning to Hammersmith Bridge we walked
across it onto the other side which was much more shaded and woody. Here we found evidence of the St Jude storm
which blew over us on Monday. There were
several trees down across the path but only towards the end of the walk did we
have leave the path because of tree damage.
There were lots of smaller branches blown across too. From this side, with the sun behind us, I was
able to take a few different shots. My
back began to play up, a little shortly followed by knees and tops of
legs. Even though I play sport I haven’t
walked this far in some time. I have to
say it was good to sit down on the bus to go home.
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| Harrods old warehouse now exclusive riverside apartments |
It was a lovely day and I am already planning the next
walk. The Thames Path National Trail is
184 miles long (double if you are walking both banks, which might not be
possible in some places). The source
begins in the Cotswolds and goes right through to the Thames Barrier and out
into the sea.
I have walked parts of this before – Kingston to Hampton
Court, Kingston to Teddington Lock, almost to Ham and London Eye to Tower
Bridge and the O2 to the Thames Barrier.
There is so much to see. The maps
suggest routes with walking times and miles, highlights on the walk etc., but I
am taking slightly smaller chunks and fitting in visits to places along the way. Obviously for me the London area is easiest
for now as it is easy to get too but I hope I shall be able to walk some of the
other routes as there are many places I have never been. Maybe it will inspire you to walk some place
you haven’t before. It will take me
years to complete the whole pathway. I
just hope I have time!
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| Interesting clouds - looking towards Chiswick - |
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