01 September 2012
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| Kingston Bridge |
Not even the Paralympics would deter me from my date with the Loop. This was a special day as I would cross the Thames after four years walking on on the dark side. I had the most amazing journey, catching every train as I arrived on the platform. My luck ran out at Wimbledon, narrowly missing the connection that would have got me to Kingston in under two hours. It was a rather overcast day in West London but not cold. Once across the bridge, I went straight into
Bushy Park, one of the lesser known Royal Parks, via the Church Grove Gate.
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| A Stag Party |
Bushy is the second largest Royal Park after Richmond and has lots of attractions; lakes, grassland and woods and lots of deer. These were the ones I saw on my walk. The ones I didn't see included the
Diana Fountain (goddess not princess) and the
water gardens. It was certainly an interesting walk as I spotted a deer having a paddle, a man collecting water cress from a culvert and lots of lovely model boats. The Loop passed through the
Waterhouse Woodland Gardens, the only point so far not open to dogs. This was full of rhododendrums and must be wonderful in spring. At one point I spotted about twenty stags gathered round a pond, having a few mock fight and lots of roaring, a bit a lad's gathering. They obviously had not read the "Deer Cull" signs.
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| Shot Tower |
After the delights of Bushy there was a rather long, boring road section through Hampton to reach
Crane Park near Hospital Bridge Roundabout. The Loop would follow the river Crane for most of the remainder of this section. The
Park is in two boroughs, Richmond and Hounslow, and forms a pleasant wooded corridor in the middle of suburbia. In the centre of the park is a
nature reserve on the site of the old Hounslow Gunpowder Mill. The impressive Shot Tower is only open on Sundays. It was a good spot for my lunch break, but I didn't spot any kingfishers or voles.
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| Hounslow Heath |
After another longish road section, the Loop heads west into
Hounslow Heath nature reserve, the last remnant of a huge heath which covered most of south-west Middlesex. The Heath has played host to several armies particularly during the Civil War and cavalry used to train there. It was also popular with highwaymen and it still has an air of menace today. It is a very large open space, with lots of scrub, trees and hedge and very few people. It felt very remote despite being under the flight path to Heathrow. It would be quite easy to get lost without the helpful Loop finger posts. Eventually I crossed a golf course and rejoined the river Crane for the last part of the walk.
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| Donkey Wood |
The last part of this section passes through Donkey Wood, which was quiet enough to tempt a fox out in broad daylight. The path here was also quite muddy and overgrown. The London Loop leaflets I take with me are excellent and the instructions are usually very clear and accurate. However, unknown to me, the route has changed slightly but significantly, since my leaflet was published in 2005. The path for the last 400 yards has switched banks. I was rather puzzled by this but concluded that I was at the end of the walk and started to walk towards Hatton Cross station. As I was in the wrong place I ended up having a scenic tour of an industrial estate before realising the error of my ways. Luckily I found a bus back to the station but not before I wasted half an hour. I will have to do a mile and half loop to complete this missing bit next time.
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| Boats in Bushy Park |
Time for leg
4hr 15m Distance
9¾ miles Time for trip
9hr 05m
Walk log
Fares this leg
£8.50
Section 09 Essentials
Section Map
Directions
Distance and time 8½ miles 4hrs 40m
Walking conditions: Entirely level; mostly on grass and rough footpaths; sections of Bushy Park are subject to flooding; one stile; 2.8m besides roads.
Section 8 of the London Loop marks the start of the return journey for me and the last one south of the river Thames. The weather was absolutely glorious, with blue skies and sunshine that got warmer as the day wore on. The route took me from Ewell in Surrey to the historic market town of Kingston following the course of the Hogsmill River on its way to join the mighty river Thames. The source of the river is in Bourne Hall Park and for six miles it provides a green corridor for wildlife and humans, but not quite hiding the surrounding urban sprawl.
Bourne Hall looks a bit like a spaceship and must have been rather avante garde for Surrey when it was built in 1970. It hosts a library, local museum and possibly toilets but I arrived too early to explore. The lake is home to many species of bird, last time out I spotted a heron, but most of the locals were still roosting. There was plenty of birdsong all along the route which was pleasant. I think I spotted a pair of grey wagtails in the river.
The Hogsmill River was the inspiration for several painters and is particularly associated with Millais and his painting of the drowning of Ophelia. It would be pretty hard to drown there today as there was barely a trickle along the first part of the river. At one point walkers have to tackle a very low tunnel under a railway line, but I just laughed in the face of the height restriction, no worries for me. I wouldn’t call it a very picturesque river with more rubbish than water in some places, but it was very well used by the local dog walking community.
Several other walking routes follow the valley of the Hogsmill. The Hogsmill Valley Walk has been incorporated into the London Loop but officially starts at Kingston. There are plenty of information panels to enlighten you as you pass. The ThamesDown Link has been devised to link the Thames Path National Trail at Kingston with the North Downs National Trail at Box Hill and follows the Hogsmill Walk for several miles. At 15 miles this would be quite a tough day's walking especially if it finishes on top of Box Hill.
About half way along I had a sit down in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church which I think was in Old Malden. Not long after this, the London Loop takes a very boring trail around the less attractive parts of Surbiton as the river is currently inaccessible. It was a very long way from the Good Life. Eventually the river and Loop meet up and make their way together through the back streets of Kingston, which is certainly the largest town I’ve passed through to date.
The historic parts of Kingston are quite impressive; there is the Chair of Majesty Coronation Stone where many a Saxon king was crowned, giving the town its name (possibly); there is the tiny Clattern Bridge, still in use after six hundred years or so; the impressive Guildhall buildings and the Market Square with a golden Queen Victoria, ruling the roost over the Tourist office. The Loop veers down a rather dingy alleyway to bring you out onto the banks of the Thames and follows the Thames Path to finish the leg at Kingston Bridge. I enjoyed a well-earned lunch in a riverside pub before catching the train home. I’ll have to wait another six months before crossing back to the right side of the river.
