Length: 11.1 km (6.9 miles). Toughness: 1/10
10:39 Bracknell train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:43, Clapham Jct 10:49, Putney 10:53, Richmond 10:59), arriving Twickenham (TfL Zone 5) at 11:02.
There are six trains an hour back to Waterloo, though not evenly spaced. These all call at Richmond (Zone 4) five minutes later, and this station is also the terminus for a branch of the District line and Overground trains to Stratford.
This is yet another suburban walk which emerged from the lockdown era. It looks like a fairly straightforward clockwise circuit: out alongside a couple of small rivers (going right past the Rugby Stadium) and returning along a picturesque loop of the Thames Path past Richmond†. It's short enough to have had a couple of evening outings and I reckon it's about time we saw it in daylight.
The walk notes mention the London Apprentice for a pub lunch, 100m off the route at its midpoint in Isleworth. Alternatively you could complete 95% of the walk and choose one of the many eateries in Twickenham: the White Swan and the Barmy Arms are its two riverside pubs, with many more places on and around the High Street.
† You could save about 2 km by dropping out at Richmond Bridge and making your way to its station via George Street, where you'd find some tempting opportunities for Christmas shopping.
Remember that there's no walk leader. The L=swc.375 page simply has an outline of the route with its main features, plus a street map. As there might be some places on the first half of the walk where navigation isn't obvious, I'd advise downloading the GPS route.
8 comments:
The Secretive Eel Pie Island in Twickenham Is Open To Visitors This Weekend
Eel Pie Island open day
Thanks, MoonBrain - well spotted. Definitely worth a visit at the end of the walk.
This walk must hold the record for fewest and least adequate walk directions! For someone without GPS, how do you get from Twickenham station to the river Crane? When you get to it, presumably you turn left. Then how do you identify the turning onto Duke of Northumberland's river? And does this take you direct to the Thames and or do you need to identify where it turns right to do so? At least if you manage to find the way that far it should be plain sailing to follow the riverside path back to Twickenham!
@MG: Like it or not, some of the new walks being added to this site have few if any written directions - eg. see Walk 419 Lewes to Brighton, "a short map/GPS led walk" with no route description at all. But that might be enough for most people: after all, the overwhelming majority who come on these group walks simply follow a line on their phone (or the person in front).
As a rule I'd prefer to post walks with written directions together with some information about what to see en route, but we're limited for choice on these short winter days (and my original choice of walk was scuppered at the last minute by the ASLEF action).
If you print off the street map for guidance then navigation on this suburban walk shouldn't be too difficult. You turn right out of the station and I remember the start of the River Crane walk being signposted. There's definitely a large information panel "The Duke's River Walk" where you turn off to go alongside the Duke of Northumberland's River. However, I don't know what the waymarking is like for the rest of the stretch to the River Thames at Isleworth.
There are some lovely old trees in and around Marble Hill Park, including the black walnut tree (described as the 3rd largest in the UK - home to little owls) - located near the towpath entrance; and a few huge, majestic London plane trees further along the towpath (near the viewpoint, across from Ham House). There's also Orleans House next to MH - what's left of it - with an interesting history. There's a café at MH and OH. Plus a couple of pubs nearby.
Church Street in Twick also has some cafes and pubs.
Because of the lack of walk directions for this walk and the fact that I need to walk much earlier than the group walk timing in order to be in central London mid-afternoon I've reluctantly decided not to do this walk today but want to make a plea to those who will be doing so because they have GPS or are otherwise much better at way finding than myself. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could be public-spirited enough to subsequently write in a few directions, especially for the initial stretch through suburban streets to locate the river crane path, anything to look out for on this path, when to shift to the Duke of Northumberland river path and anything to look out for on it. Thank you!
N=16 at the station, with one on a later train, makes n=17 A w=cloudy-mild-mostly-dry day that got damper as we neared Twickers but most would have been on the train home before the real rain came.
A distinctly urban feel to the morning as the rivers threaded through housing and past stadiums.
These at the back had a fleeting moment of smugness when the fast ones overshot a right turn and found themselves bringing up the rear. It didn’t last.
A stop of sorts was made at the Town Wharf, where drinks were consumed. (The official stop was the London Apprentice but we didn’t see that because we were either following the GPS or the people in front). Some picnicked outside. Others went on.
The latecomer did visit the London Apprentice but managed to catch some of us up later.
The afternoon was along the big river. En route, we visited Orleans House and went for a wander round the gardens of York House. Thankfully, the ‘Barenaked Ladies’ were hidden by scaffolding, so any blushes were spared. We had a look round Eel Pie Island, a ramshackle collection of buildings and artists’ studios, then visited the Barmy Arms. Those who stayed for a second drink had a rainy walk to the station.
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