At Kingston

Here we are at the end of our walk.  Brendan, and Catherine's Mum, Sheila were there to meet us at the end.  We had a welcome cup of tea in a very busy Kingston while Andy was driving to pick Angela up.

We enjoyed this walk and to say it was so close to London it had quite a rural feel to it.  Thinking back to the walk to the Source it is incredible to think that the tiny trickle ends up as such a wide, majestic river.

Teddington Lock

The river is no longer tidal at Teddington.  Earlier we had seen the lock at Richmond which was huge.  This one seemed to be made up of more than one lock across the river which of course is very wide at this stage.  We thought it must be pretty scary and confusing for small boats coming along the river here.

Richmond

We met Brendan for lunch in Richmond at a nice cafe under one of the arches of the bridge (once it was on dry land!)  The cafe turned out to be vegetarian and served lovely vegetable pies and huge salads.  It was very popular and most importantly (for us) had toilets.  Here we are ready to start out again with about 4 more miles to go.

Old Deer Park

Angela is standing on an old meridian which was used to tell the time before Greenwich Mean Time.

What a Lot of Chimneys!

We hadn't been walking for a while so we had worried that we might struggle on this long walk but we were actually making very good time and were surprised to be at Kew Palace so soon.  The weather was being very kind to us - not as hot as last time we walked and no rain (despite the weather forecast!)

Hammersmith Bridge

This was a really attractive bridge that we had driven over earlier.  The man in the background seemed to want to take a photo as well.  We weren't sure why he had to balance so precariously on the wooden railing Catherine did a good job without taking such risks.

I Thought Harrods was in Knightsbridge

There are such a lot of sights to see on this part of the river that we managed to miss a few but we did notice the Harrods Furniture Depository.  Apparently when people took up postings in the Empire they would store their furniture here and when they returned they would occupy a flat at the back of the Harrods store in Knightsbridge while they found somewhere to live.  It is a very impressive building which we assume is now flats.

Walking the Thames Path?

Have Catherine and Angela decided to run this leg?  Actually you can probably tell that this isn't Catherine and Angela.  All along this walk, and particularly at the beginning, there were lots of runners and also lots of cyclists as this part of the Thames Path is a cycle route as well.  There were also lots of boat clubs with rowing, sailing and canoeing on the river.  The people of this part of the Thames must be very fit.

Putney Bridge

I think you can tell we are in London by the number of red buses on the bridge!