Walking the Thames Path, Richmond to Kingston

The stretch of river between Richmond and Kingston is the kind of walk that asks nothing of you. It is flat, it is well signed, and the river does the navigating. I started a little after nine, when the rowing clubs were already out and the towpath was still mostly dog walkers.

Past Petersham Meadows the path goes quiet. On one side there is water; on the other, a long wall of trees, and for a while that is all. I counted two herons standing in the shallows, both completely uninterested in me, and a cormorant drying its wings on a mooring post like a small black umbrella.

The bench

About halfway along there is a wooden bench with a plaque for someone who “loved this view”. It is a good view. I sat for twenty minutes, ate a slightly squashed sandwich, and watched a narrowboat take an improbably long time to pass.

Eight kilometres, two and a half hours, no particular reason. The best kind of walk.

Teddington Lock is worth a detour onto the footbridge — it is where the river stops being tidal, and you can see the difference in the water. From there it is an easy last hour into Kingston and a train home.