Day in Richmond
Saturday, September 19th, 2009I woke up to an overcast sky but fortunately the day turned out to be very sunny and hot. The summer is back for a day I think.
We decided to go to Richmond Park on our bikes. It is my favorite royal park, it dates back to the 13th century and was loved by the Tudors, Henry VIII frequently went hunting in the park and Elizabeth I lived and died in Richmond Palace.
We entered through the Roehampton Gate and the first thing we saw was deer, a lot of them. No surprise really as the park is home to about 600 red and fallow deer. They are such nice creatures, so graceful and pretty.
We headed toward Ham Gate and saw more deer…
I wasn’t fast enough to snap them surrounded by ferns, it looked magical.
Feeling very hungry we decided to grab some lunch at Petersham Nurseries.
Good bread, chicken salad, cheddar tomato sandwich and lovely almond, polenta and lemon cake.
I really want Skye Gyngell’s cook books!
There is a restaurant within the nursery ground, it is amazing.
Being a nursery you can buy plants and seeds, and really good quality gardening tools, accessories, wellies, rain coats and interior bits.
We purchased some seeds, these will be given away as we don’t have a garden. I would love to have one.
On the way back we went down The Thames Path. It’s so nice, like a holiday resort but instead of the sea there is river. It took us ages to get back but it was worth it, we cycled through Richmond, Kew and Barnes and eventually got to Putney were we had to go back on the road.
Twickenham Bridge – a fantastic Art Deco creation.
There are a whole bunch of things to do in this area: Ham House in Ham on …..Ham Street, Hampton Court, Kingstone, Kew Gardens, Petersham, Barnes with its Georgian houses and the London Wetland Centre not to mention hundreds of good restaurants, cafes and delis.
A great place for a day out of town.
