Thames Path - Battersea to Richmond

This route follows on from a stretch of the Thames Path previously walked, running from Kings Cross (heading down to the Thames to join the path), and along to Battersea (finishing at Clapham Junction train station).

As before this walk was done on a trip down through London heading south to see family (although on this occasion I do not really benefit at all since the train from Richmond has to head back to Clapham before it can take me south again). 

The walk starts by walking out of Clapham Junction train station, and then taking a fairly direct route to the river, joining up with it near Plantation Wharf Pier.

Joining up with the river

From here I head along the river - in the opposite direction to central London - passing under Wandsworth Bridge, and then navigating around the Refuse Tip (yay!), before returning to the river at Wandsworth Park.

The view across the river while walking through Wandsworth Park

Next the path heads past Putney Bridge, and then as it starts to bend round to the north, Craven Cottage football stadium comes into view, with its modern stand facing the river.

This marks a point where the river starts to take on more of a rural feel, firstly with a busy stretch past the boathouses, and then on to the right of London Wetland Centre. This seems to be a bit of a theme park for birds, and although I don't pay it a visit, it does seem to be busy which is usually a good sign - and it does feel like it would be worth returning to for a visit. 

Mostly it seems to have a lot of birds, but it does also seem to have otters if that might tempt you in - but as I dig deeper, it is also pretty expensive (as seems to be the way with all these sights that look like they would kill a bit of time around London). You can look up the price for yourself, as I don't really want to be the one to break it to you.

London Wetland Centre

Having passed the wetlands, the path continues on a tree-lined path, with the trees opening out to give views of the rowing boats heading past, and the houses across in Hammersmith.

New Developments at Hammersmith

Passing underneath Hammersmith Bridge, the path starts to bend to the east, to round a loop in the river.

Hammersmith Bridge

This marks a continuation of the tree-lined section, that almost feels forested - although in reality with it only being a small tree lined path - with the muddy river passing to the right. 

Passing a small reservoir on the left - which while very visible on the map is not much to see in real life - the same tree lined path continues on.

After a while there is a change, however, as the path joins up with the road, as it starts to head past Barnes Bridge - and while the road section is not amazing and quickly forgotten - once under the bridge there is more of a historic market town vibe to the area. This sits in contrast to the more modern areas passed so far.

This more market town vibe continues on round to Chiswick Bridge and then there is a return to tree lined section round to the railway bridge. While the trees continue there is a change in the next section as the area once again has a similar feel to Hammersmith as the path heads past Kew Bridge, with more modern apartment reappearing on the scene.

Just the other side of key bridge

Heading on round the bend of the river, you do get a glimpse of Kew Palace as you head past, and then on the left sits Kew Gardens - but it feels fairly well fortified behind a bit of a barrier, and there is very little to see of Kew Gardens on the way past to tempt you in.

If you are a ticket holder for Kew, you unfortunately cannot really divert off through the gardens and then come back on the other side - since while you could enter at Elizabeth Gate, there is no real way out on the far side that neatly connects up with the Thames Path route.

Indeed the only real glimpse you get walking past of Kew Gardens, is when Kew lowers the barricades and relies on a bordering stream alone to keep out the hoi-polloiout (i.e. you). Kew Gardens costs £22 for a visit - although if you are feeling cheap just pop along after 4pm and you'll have less than 3 hours before you are ejected from the site, but you will only pay £11. For those between 16 and 29, it is actually only £10. Annual membership is pretty expensive.

If you time your visit so that you arrive at Kew at about 4:05pm, you could have a look around without paying a fortune, but I myself cannot be tempted and head on by. By this point on the Thames path, I would have easily spent hundreds of pounds popping into all these sites.

Heading past the far end of Kew Gardens, you pass Syon House on the far side of the river, and here you have the good folk of Kew to your left, sat on benches looking at the same site. Be sure to walk through all their photos, and make sure to look particularly smug about the marginally better view of Syon House at this point.

From here, the path continues on round the edge of Old Deer Park - and you do start to notice that there are a lot of low flying planes overhead through this section. Heathrow's southern runway is only five miles away from here, and to be honest it is pretty noisy - and I do start to understand why people complain so much about living near airports (neeeyow, neeeyow, neeeyow).

But trying to put these planes to the back of my mind, I head on, and shortly after passing Richmond Lock, I find myself coming into Richmond.

The final stretch coming into Richmond

A building in Richmond

From here I turn off, and head up the hill into a very busy Richmond town centre - where I go and find the station and my onward train.

UPDATE - Click to see the next section of the Thames Path with a walk from Hampton Court to Richmond.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 176 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Thames Path guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.