November 13, 1988: Putney to Richmond
Nearing Chiswick Bridge
On November 13, 1988, Dorothy and I, accompanied by my colleague Chuck Sidman and our two dogs, began the long walk from London to the Cotswold source of the mighty Thames.
I had, in fact, one more day needed to complete the London Countryway – but I wanted to wait for the return of Tosh and Harold, for whom the Merstham to Box Hill stretch would also serve as a missing link in their conquest of the North Downs Way. The Thames Walk offered a useful alternative: its early stages were all London-based, it was easy walking with few route-finding problems; and good public transportation links meant that walking could take place on short winter days as well.
In undertaking today’s walk I was tying one record and breaking two others. November 13 had twice before served as the latest walking date of the year. But I had never had a year in which I had been able to undertake nineteen days of walking – so this would be a new record; the mileage total for one year, 180, would also be surpassed by four miles when the nine miles from Putney to Richmond were completed today.
Chuck was waiting downstairs with Chelsea, the yellow Labrador, when we emerged from our Maida Vale flat at 8:30. It was chilly but sunny and the weatherman had promised temperatures in the low fifties. We stopped at the Nosh store and bought the Sunday papers, which I crammed into my blue pack. Then we walked along Elgin Avenue to the tube stop. We had good connections, though Chuck had to carry Chelsea on the escalator as we changed trains at Paddington. We took a Wimbledon train here and got off at Putney Bridge station.
It took me just a little time to figure out how to get up to the bridge itself, which we soon crossed. I had xeroxed pages from my A-to-Zed and I was also using a booklet prepared by the Ramblers Association. The Thames Walk would soon receive official Countryside Commission status but there was no need to wait for this or for a more complete guidebook to attempt today’s walk. As in the case of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path that Chuck and I had used a month earlier, if you keep water on your right it would be hard to go wrong for long today. We paused in front of the Putney Church, where the New Model Army had such profound discussions during the Civil War. Chuck took our picture with the church as background and we were ready to begin following the river upstream.
Pavement and tarmac dominated the first few hundred yards, with the grounds of Fulham Palace across the river. Boating enthusiasts were out in great numbers today. You could hear the coxes calling the stroke and in some instances motorboats trailed the crews broadcasting instructions. Putney Bridge is the starting point for the famous Oxford-Cambridge boat race and we passed by many boathouses busy with Sunday activity. Several belonged to the high street banks. Eventually we escaped the cars and the rowers and began a long walk along the towpath, with leaves soaking up most of the muddy bits underfoot. It was turning out to be a lovely day, even though we were pretty well bundled-up. I loaned my scarf to Dorothy for there was a chill breeze; I wore my tan bomber jacket most of the day.
The dogs were having a wonderful time. They get along quite well and Toby, our Schnauzer, did not seem to resent Chelsea’s position at the front of the pack at all. There were hundreds of designer dogs on view today and the path was well-used by locals: toddlers, joggers, kids on bikes. In an hour we had passed the Harrods furniture warehouse and reached Hammersmith Bridge.
Having rounded a long northern curve we turned to the south and spent the better part of a second hour strolling to Barnes. I dug some apples out of my pack and some biscuits for the dogs and popped a sucky sweet into my mouth. We walked in a thin strip of woodland backed by reservoirs, sewage plants and playing fields. The usually docile Chelsea found a new puppy to dash about with, pinning him to the turf with her paw. Chiswick slowly receded across the river and we left the water’s edge for the suburban sidewalks of Barnes.
Here we took a brief detour along the High Street and found a park bench facing the village pond. It was a most charming sight and such a surprise to find so a rural scene in the midst of the metropolis. But Barnes is a public transportation black hole as far as I can tell, nice to live in – with all of its restaurants, boutiques, and estate agents – but only if you don’t have to go anywhere else. We passed a house in which Henry Fielding had lived and stopped outside a newsagent where Dorothy bought us some candy. Then, as I hummed a tune from The Planets, we passed Gustav Holst’s house on The Terrace and headed north again to complete another mile of riverside walking as far as Chiswick Bridge. I was nursing a sore toenail on my left foot but it really didn’t bother me too much. I wore only my tennies today, another first.
We had a look at a pub but it was not quite noon and its doors remained locked. So we persevered to Kew Bridge, having covered close to six miles in slightly less than three hours. Across the river I could see Strand on the Green, another fossilized Thameside village. Its pub was by now open and a crowd was soaking up the last of the year’s sunshine out in front.
We climbed up to Kew Road and headed for the green. At our first corner we descended to the Kings Arms. It was a bit sheltered down here and there was some warmth coming from the sun. Dorothy and I started off with coffee while our food orders were being processed. I had a not very satisfactory cod and chips. Toby was chided for playing the idiot at our table. The calmer Chelsea, who had completed a 15 mile walk just a week earlier, was resting sedately while the Schnauzer was squeaking with excitement every time one of us went inside. I had half a lager and we used the loos in preparation for departure. Dorothy was convinced that a disgraced wet from Mrs. Thatcher’s cabinet was supping his ale at the next table.
(What an irony of circumstance to note that this same pub, in 2007, served as a brief resting place for the small party gathered to observe Dorothy’s cremation rites at a nearby cemetery.)
We had only three miles to go after our lunch break on this day in November, 1988. On our left now was the strong influence of Kew Gardens and its parking lot and we all walked along the top of a little wall separating the cars from our towpath. Two beautiful Pointers were dashing about as we moved from north to south again and Chelsea was much taken with the Pointer Brothers. We passed the back of Kew Palace and passed opposite Syon house on the other side of the river. Many of the Kew visitors were lined up on benches to have a look at this view as well. A water-filled ditch followed our path on the left for a mile or so but fortunately the dogs took little interest in this. We passed Kew Observatory and began to get grand views of the waterfront scene in Richmond.
We had our last rest on some benches just before reaching the town. It was nearing two but it seemed much later – for the sun was already low in the sky. I was able to take my jacket off for the last few minutes of the walk. The Pointer Brothers swept through one last time and some other cute dogs stopped to make friends. Chelsea began to chew on a stick and one passerby joked, “Poor dog, they’ve given you wood to eat.”
Richmond’s town hall area had recently completed a period of restoration and refurbishment and the effect was quite handsome. After battling through the Sunday strollers we crossed Richmond Bridge so I could get a good photo of the Georgian facades. Then we returned to the town, saying goodbye to the river. We followed Hill Street and continued on to Richmond Station where we bought our tickets for the underground. Our train, which got us only as far as Earl’s Court, left at 2:40. This had been the first walk in which I had been able to use the tube alone at both ends of the journey.
Toby was covered in burrs and seeds and I started picking some of these off on the way home. We said goodbye to the Sidmans at the corner. Chuck had once again proved a wonderful companion, a good conversationalist, a calm, undemanding walker. We were all glad we had used this day for such an outing – although Toby was none too pleased with the bath that soon followed.
To continue with the next stage of our walk you need: