Hampton Court and Bushy Park Short Walk
Distance: Approximately 4 miles or 7 km for those more metrically minded
Difficulty: 1 out of 10
Travel: 17:57 South Western train from London Waterloo, arriving at Hampton Wick at 18:30. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THE CORRECT TRAIN STOPPING IN HAMPTON WICK (NOT Hampton).
Return trains run every fifteen minutes until 23:30.
This is one of my absolutely favorite evening walks and has proved to be a real cracker of a walk the past few years at this time of year. Plenty of magnificent beasts starting the annual rut!
The walk meanders through a combination of the public grounds of Hampton Court Palace and neighboring Bushy Park with its resident deer population. The grounds are varied with pretty gardens and water features. Please ensure you keep a safe distance from any deer spotted in Bushy Park and do NOT feed them – they are potentially dangerous wild animals!
Post walk refreshments and possibly a meal can be had at the Foresters Arms, open until 23:00 with kitchen open until 22:00.
More information about the route can be found here.
Look forward to seeing you there!
#2026-09-29T18:00T=short.3
5 comments:
Will it not be too dark at 6.30? Will we see anything?
Yes, it will get dark not long after the start of the walk -- but it is usually possible to see some sillouettes. However, you can definitely hear loads of activity.
2 of us setting off at 6 promptly then!
Be careful out there and don't approach any wildlife! It will start getting dark towards the end.... Also, so you are aware, the route goes through a small section of woods in Bushy Park that is usually locked at dusk. In the past, we have just skirted around this on the path the runs parallel on the south side of these woods and then picked up the route when it exits the woods. I doubt we will catch you up -- but maybe see you at the pub!
Six, including 1 first timer, gathered in the fading light at Hampton Wick Station and set off promptly after a brief round of formalities. As usual there was a large herd of fallow deer in Hampton Court Park (aka Home Park) grazing, running and jumping -- they all seemed quite happy. We encountered 2 late starters near the entrance to Bushy Park who had missed the train due to issues with the Jubilee Line and had wisely taken a bus to Hampton Court to intercept us. We were almost immediately greeted in Bushy Park by some magnificent beasts strutting about and bellowing in the gloaming. After this initial group, we encountered fewer deer than in year's past -- but still had a number of good sightings and could hear plenty of bellowing around us. It was w=mostly-cloudy-with-a-few-spots-of-rain. With the slightly earlier start and the cloud cover reflecting the ambient lights of the area, we actually had quite good visibility for the walk and could make out the route easily. Upon exiting Bushy Park, we encountered one young fallow deer who seemed to have gotten through the gate..... hopefully it found its way back in..... and headed to the pub where we met 2 early starters, so n=10 in total for an always enjoyable night out!
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