Wimbledon to Richmond

On Saturday 20 April ten of us gathered at Wimbledon station on a rather nippy morning, but overall the weather was on our side with patches of blue sky and some sunshine along the way.

We started uphill and through Wimbledon Old Village to Wimbledon Common. Luckily the mud and water-logged paths I had encountered on my recce a week earlier had improved somewhat and we managed to come out of the Common without much ado.  

We entered Richmond Park at the Robin Hood Gate. I’ve always led this walk during the winter months and my usual route to Pembroke Lodge doesn’t go anywhere near the Isabella Plantation. But on this bright spring day that’s exactly what we did and diverting away from my original route it didn’t take very long before we came to the enclosure.

Within a few steps of weaving our way through the paths we experienced the full impact of the vivid colours from the Azaleas, Rhododendrons and other shrubs and trees in full bloom and the pictures below tell the story much better than I could ever do it justice with a few words.

Isabella Plantation in Bloom

Mandarin duck with friend

Having left the plantation, we were ready to get to Pembroke Lodge for our lunch, but not before tip-toeing across a couple of boggy patches. Once fortified we dropped down towards Petersham, where, not on the actual walk but on my recce, I came across this rather lonely deer.

A footpath led us past St. Peter’s churchyard, where I pointed out that Captain George Vancouver is buried here.

Crossing Petersham Fields we soon joined the river Thames where we mingled with plenty of other Saturday strollers enjoying the nice weather.

Cottages in Swan Lane

I prefer to take the route back to Richmond Common and to the station via Swan Lane and through the Old Palace courtyard, past The Trumpeter’s Lodge. When crossing the Common there was a cricket match in play and one of the players frantically ushered us away from the main path to the other side of the lawn – after all, who would want to be hit by a cricket ball?

My thanks to my convivial walks companions and also to Mary-Jane for additional photos.

Keep walking! Sigrid