Kew to Kingston

 

Blog No 5.  Kew Bridge to Kingston Bridge, 8 miles

This was a walk on a special day, the anniversary of Elizabeth’s passing. My neighbour Graham suggested that we walk together in the morning as he would be in the area, picking up his wife Jules from Heathrow. We left at 7am expecting to reach Kew by 9am and walk whilst it was still relatively cool.


 

 We started on the Thames Path but was soon diverted as the path was blocked which meant that we had to walk through Kew Gardens and then on through Richmond to pick up the river again just before Richmond Bridge.


It was a long detour but interesting as Graham had never visited Kew Gardens and so we have good pictures of the beautiful hot house and the Pagoda before we exited at Lion Gate. I remembered my visit to Kew with Elizabeth, one time in particular when Eve was still in a pushchair, it was hot and we all enjoyed very messy ice-creams near the Orangery Tea Rooms as they are now.

It was not so good retracing our steps on the bus route we had taken to reach Kew, but we finally ended up at the River with a slightly cool breeze which was appreciated by us both. We stopped near the bridge for drinks and a snack of nuts and the jelly babies given to me by Michael, Graham’s father. Graham took photos of the Chimpanzee statues cast in bronze along the walkway.



 The path was pretty crowded with walkers and bikers coming from all directions, but good views over the river, seeing the moored boats and rowers on the water. By this time it was getting pretty warm, and we had a deadline to reach Kingston where Graham had parked the car. I think we kept a steady pace passing Ham House, on to Teddington Lock, another stop for water, nuts and jelly babies.


 After Teddington Lock it was a short stretch to reach Canbury Gardens where we headed


 Back onto the main road to the car park. Kingston Bridge was in site which felt good enough to us as we had walked 8 miles in hot and crowded conditions.

A ‘pit stop’ in the local Sainsburys for a meal deal and then on to Heathrow. We picked up Jules in good time and headed for home. I think I slept in the back of the car.

Another important lesson for me was not to scoff fizzy drinks and heavy sandwiches so close to the finish of a walk. I felt very queasy on the drive to Heathrow but recovered in about half an hour.

This walk for me was made special in a way I had not expected. I was concerned walking on the first anniversary of losing Elizabeth.  The importance of walking with Graham was that we talked about our different experiences, foreign travel, making coleslaw, house renovations, our previous sporting interests. There were only a few uneventful memories of being with Elizabeth in Kew, but not on this stretch of the water which made the walk for me so much easier. I will forever be grateful to Graham for this.

Maureen Sears

31st May 2025

 


Comments

  1. Graham Druce4 June 2025 at 12:20

    It was a pleasure to accompany you on this leg of the walk and look forward to joining you an a future section.

    ReplyDelete

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