Today I was determined to reach Vauxhall as this would then leave Vauxhall to the end of the Thames Path at Woolwich as stage 11.
The weather forecasters promised sunny intervals all day and I had a really good feeling that today was going to be a good day. I got to the start of my walk at Teddington Lock by getting the train (3 actually) to Richmond and then getting the R68 bus. I couldn’t believe my luck that the bus was waiting at the bus stop right outside Richmond station.
When I reached the lock at the end of stage 9 there was more cloud than blue sky but today it was the other way round; just what I wanted for a few drone photos.
Teddington sees the start of the tidal Thames and this would become apparent throughout the day with the low tide. Teddington Lock is also the last lock maintained by the Environment Agency and is the only EA lock staffed 24 hours a day. The Port of London Authority is responsible for everything downstream of Teddington.
There are 3 locks at Teddington – barge, launch and skiff locks. The barge lock is the longest lock on the Thames at 650 feet. It’s so long that there is an extra set of gates half way along it to make it more efficient for smaller craft to use it. The skiff lock on the other hand is so narrow that it has been nicknamed ‘the coffin’!
Today was very much going to be a day of bridges, kicking off with the two Teddington Lock footbridges, both Grade II listed.
Having got the photos I wanted I set off towards Richmond. It wasn’t too long before the imposing former Royal Star and Garter Home at the top of Richmond Hill came into view. A little further on and set back slightly from the river was Ham House & Gardens, a 17th century house full of paintings, furniture and textiles now maintained by the National Trust - Ham House
On the other side of the river and almost opposite Ham House is Marble Hill House. Marble Hill House was built in the 1720s for Henrietta Howard, mistress of King George II when he was Prince of Wales. It is now maintained by English Heritage - Marble Hill House
Hammerton’s Ferry operates a service across the river here, so you can easily visit Ham House and Marble Hill House without having to go into Richmond to cross the river at Richmond Bridge.
Just a few hundred yards further on and Richmond Bridge became visible. Definitely drone time again to capture the bridge on such a lovely day. The path continued through Buccleuch Gardens, a council owned and very well maintained park right by the side of the river. Absolutely gorgeous on a sunny day!
Richmond Bridge was the first of a group of 4 bridges that came up in quick succession. There doesn’t appear to be a collective noun for bridges but I feel there ought to be one! Any suggestions? Richmond Railway Bridge is number 2 and Twickenham Bridge, a road bridge carrying the A316, is number 3.
Much more interesting is Richmond Footbridge. This bridge has 5 arches. The first incorporates Richmond Lock. The middle 3 arches incorporate sluice gates that are raised and lowered to control water flow. The furthest arch incorporates gently sloping slipways that allow users of smaller boats to pull their boats over on a set of rollers. The lock is the furthest downstream on the Thames and is managed by the PLA. There are so many more nerdy facts about this bridge but I’d better stop here for fear of losing readers! Suffice to say, it’s a handsome bridge with a lot going on.
For the next couple of miles, the footpath followed the river but was sandwiched for much of this distance between trees and bushes with the sunlight shining through the branches. This was rather pleasant as it served to keep me out of direct sunlight for a bit. On the other hand it was a bit of a shame because out of sight on the right was Old Deer Park and then Kew Gardens. However, the path opened up on reaching Syon House to the left and the Kew Gardens “overlooking the Thames” benches to the right.
From here onwards, it was easy to tell that I was now well and truly in London. 2½ miles since the last of the Richmond bridges I reached Kew Bridge, closely followed by Kew Railway Bridge. Another mile and Chiswick Bridge came into view.
The Oxford & Cambridge boat races finish just before Chiswick Bridge at Mortlake. The official finish is at a stone with the imaginative inscription “UBR”. The stone is very close to The Ship pub. It will come as no surprise to learn that a similar stone is at the start of the course close to Putney Bridge.
As tempted as I was to stop at The Ship, I still had a long way to go so pressed on. Barnes Bridge is iconic and thankfully Grade II listed so nobody can mess about with it. It’s a footbridge as well as a railway bridge. A newcomer at Barnes on the other side of the river is the Dukes Meadows Footbridge, opened in January 2023. I won’t include it in the tally of bridges today as it doesn’t actually cross the river as you’ll see from the photo. As bridges go, I think it’s a bit of a looker, so well done to the London Borough of Hounslow. Its purpose is to get rid of an inconvenient detour to get from one side of Barnes Bridge to the other. Users now walk under Barnes Bridge itself – brilliant! As a self-confessed Thames nerd, I naturally gave the new bridge a test drive a couple of weeks after it opened and gave it my seal of approval.
The next 3½ miles to Putney Bridge were more of the same - the footpath following the river but sandwiched for much of this distance between trees and bushes but still plenty of sunlight shining through. I was so enjoying this.
Shortly before Putney Bridge on the opposite side of the river is the striking Fulham Riverside Stand development. It’s impossible to miss it. I first walked past it in January 2020 when the old stand had been demolished. From what I could see, there is still work being carried out and from what I’ve since read, having been beset with so many issues, the development won’t now be complete until the start of the 2024/25 season.
After admiring the Boat Race stone by Putney Bridge, I continued along the Thames Path which briefly took to the streets of Putney before entering Wandsworth Park with its magnificent avenue of lime and plane trees.
After exiting the park, the “ugly duckling” of Thames bridges came into plain view – Wandsworth Bridge. Well, to me it merits this tag. To reach the bridge and get beyond it you need to have your wits about you and make sure you keep a look out for Thames Path signs, since there is a lot of construction work going on.
Once clear of Wandsworth Bridge I was on the home run with 4 miles to go to reach Vauxhall Bridge. Much of this section is characterised by modern apartment blocks – lots and lots of them. This isn’t all bad as the path is sandwiched between the river and the apartments and is wide and paved. These last 4 miles provided me with a lot of interest including bridges (naturally), house boats a plenty, Battersea Park and the Battersea Power Station development.
It's time for a few more bridges but we're almost there. First we have Battersea Bridge.
Albert Bridge is to my mind the prettiest of the Thames bridges and is even better after sunset when it’s illuminated by 4000 individual lamps.
Next we have Chelsea Bridge, another good looker, followed by the less glamorous Grosvenor Bridge. Grosvenor Bridge is also known as the Victoria Railway bridge. It carries 8 railway tracks in & out of Victoria Station
Battersea Power Station has become a bit of hit since its public opening in October 2022. It recently won “Developer of the Year - Commercial Property” at the 2023 Property Awards. All 4 of its iconic chimneys have been rebuilt and one of them has a lift that you can go up in. Its glass roof pokes out from the top of the chimney to give you 360 degree views of London - Lift 109 The power station also has some excellent public toilets so I availed myself.
By the time I reached the end of my walk at Vauxhall Bridge it was almost 7pm and I was in urgent need of refreshment. Fortunately, just before the bridge was The Riverside pub. Perfect!
As I was downing my pint I worked out I’d completed another 17 miles today and best of all, I was still on target to reach Grain in just 4 more stages. My next walk would be Vauxhall to Woolwich Foot Tunnel.
As I got up to head for Vauxhall Underground Station my left achilles was throbbing and my heel was hurting. I hobbled to the station but from past experience I knew that tomorrow I’d feel better again. On balance, this had been a very good day.
If anyone has survived up to this point it is time for a bridge count. Treating the 2 Teddington Lock footbridges as 1, today's walk passed 19 bridges that cross the Thames, be they foot, road or railway bridges; that's more than 1 bridge per mile!