Another blue sky and another trip into London. This is actually two half-days combined, compressed due to the travel restrictions on my Oyster card and returning home in time to cook dinner for the remaining, dwindling, tribe.
Westminster Bridge delivers an iconic London scene. You never have to wait long for a bus here. Big Ben chimes me on my way, passing the sombre National Covid Memorial Wall, with over 150,000 hand painted red hearts, each inscribed with the name of a loved one.
Lambeth Palace is surrounded by builders and their vans, making it a little tricky to get a decent shot without standing in the middle of the A3036 — not recommended in rush-hour.
Battersea Power Station looms — an image forever associated with the Pink Floyd Animals album cover.
It opened to the public in 2022 as a shopping mall, while retaining many of its historic features. It’s amazing. All space, glass and light.
Back in the real world, everything changes on entering Battersea Park. The horizon flattens, open spaces appear, and the trees are filled with birds, as I leave the city behind.
An elderly lady dances beneath the London Peace Pagoda.
The park ends at Albert Bridge, built in 1873, which is my favourite Thames bridge so far.
The bridge is nicknamed “The Trembling Lady” because of its tendency to vibrate when large numbers of people walk over it.
I was fooled by Battersea Park, as the city returns, and there are only the houseboats, full of character, to break up the monotony of the apartment blocks encroaching onto the water.
There’s more greenery at Wandsworth Park. Parakeets arrive while I’m enjoying the view from a park bench.
Huge London planes form a shady canopy.
On a tiny spit of land, a small mammal, possibly a rat, is scurrying back and forth, dragging plastic food cartons back to its nest, in fine Wombles tradition, until a crow swoops down and sends it fleeing.
Reaching Putney, the city feels far behind and these goslings have little to fear from gulls.
Rowers begin to appear, a lot of rowers, passing a row of boat houses and coaches bellowing instructions through megaphones. A pretty tree-lined path takes me past Hammersmith and Barnes bridges.
What’s this?
Time for a closer look.
Two men approach. This is a set from A Thousand Blows written by the excellent Stephen Knight. A Victorian drama set in the grim underworld of illegal boxing and criminal gangs. My sort of show. The Disney Plus series production is based in the adjacent Old Stag Brewery.
I can only glimpse the magnificent Kew Gardens across a moat.
Richmond Old Deer Park is just visible through the trees.
Richmond Lock leads to the attractive town waterside, thronged with people eating and drinking.
My day ends at Kingston upon Thames where crowds are feeding the waterfowl including Egyptian Geese.
Walk distance: 20 miles.
Total distance: 44 miles.