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WIMBLEDON COMMON & RICHMOND PARK(28/10/17).

The walk starts at Wimbledon station and ends at St. Margarets station.

Leave the station and turn right up the main road, the High Street. Follow this past the main shopping area (and the Rose and Crown, old coaching inn) then climb upwards (who knew Wimbledon was built on the side of a hill?).

Just beyond the point where the High St. bears left take a small alley to the left (labelled as a public footpath). At the end cross over the road and keep to the right of the small Rushmere Pond, crossing over Cannizaro Road as you cross the grassy common, which is in essence the top of the plateau up which our path climbed. Aim for a cross roads just to the right of a group of rather imposing houses behind a wall.

At the cross roads cross over to take Camp Rd. past another small pub the Fox and Grapes then passing Wimbledon Alms Houses, unusually dating from the 1960’s apparently. The road bears left past an interesting octagonal building (now a prep school) before arriving at the entrance to the Wimbledon Golf Club. Take the middle of three roads leading ahead from here, Sunset Road (heading WNW) along a quiet road although occasional cars do pass along it.

After another 300m take a small path to the left of this road, heading towards trees. As you enter the small wood you become aware of undulations in the ground (do not confuse the golf club bunkers). This is all that remains of ‘Caesar’s Camp’ an Iron Age Hill Fort of Oppidum dating from around 600BC. There is some evidence that it was attacked by the invading Roman legions during the Claudian invasion around 44BC.

Follow the path through pleasant open broad-leaf woodland, punctuated by small dark clusters of holly trees. The path seems to come to an end at the gate to a group of houses, Warren Farm but here you go right through the wood. The sound of traffic on the busy A3 road begins to intrude above the usual background hum and fainter noise of the unending queue of planes taking up their landing approach to Heathrow.

At the next significant crossroads of paths turn left towards the noise of the road, along Robin Hood Ride. You reach a footbridge over a fast flowing and seemingly clear stream, the Beverley Brook. Turn right just before the bridge to continue alongside it. To the right you can now see the open area of a sports ground and you come to a large pavilion (with public toilets). Turn left here to go across the brook and a short stretch of open ground to the Robin Hood roundabout on the A3. There is a controlled crossing for pedestrians and alongside it a special one for horses crossing, with enough space for a whole herd. This reflects the needs of a stables situated just across the road next to the entrance gate to Richmond Park. The Stag Stables claims to have been here since 1790.

Having safely crossed the dual carriageway enter the park (more toilets just to the left) . Keep ahead, veering gently to the right away from the metalled road and aiming towards the left hand side of Spanker’s Hill Wood on a low rise ahead of you. Like all of Richmond Park the edge of this wood (and indeed its interior) is decorated with masses of fallen and cut timber ranging from boughs to whole trees, left for the benefit of the environment, particularly mini-beasts. Some of this timber has the smooth curved shapes of a Henry Moore sculpture while others, more jagged, suggest the corpses of dinosaurs. Continue past the Pen Ponds car park (with small café kiosk) between the ponds, the left hand one at a much higher level than the right. The ponds originated as an excavated way of draining a boggy section of the park (in the 1750’s) but have been enlarged by gravel extraction. Looking right across the water the shard (the tallest building in London as of 2017) is visible through depressions in the distant treeline.

200m beyond the end of the ponds veer left off the main Capital Ring path to go left between woods (one enclosed behind a deer proof fence). The path goes downhill gently to a road, cross over and in 50 m there is an iron gate on the right taking you in to the enclosure with Pembroke Lodge. This elegant house has a beautiful view of the river below you and, beyond, to much of the Thames valley, out as far as Windsor (the square-shaped outline of the castle tower is visible on clear days, beyond the mushroom shape of the Heathrow control tower). Pembroke Lodge has a café and a terrace where you can sit to enjoy the view.

From Pembroke Lodge you can continue on to the view point called the Mound from the top of which St. Paul’s cathedral can be glimpsed through a conveniently cut gap in the trees. Fro here you can take a path left down the scarp slope of Richmond Hill (an ancient Thames river terrace) to the Petersham Gate of the park. Cross over the Petersham Rd and go left for about 100m before taking a narrow path to the right. This passes a small churchand then goes left past a garden centre with a good, if expensive, café.

Continue past the entrance to the garden centre along a narrow lane between walls to emerge on a street where you turn right. This brings you to the river in about 200m. Turn left along the tow path towards Ham House grounds. Just as you reach a path going left towards the house there is a small landing stage where Hammerton’s ferry will collect you for a trip across to Marble Hill Park on the Twickenham side of the river. Check that the ferry is running before you start the walk: http://www.hammertonsferry.com/ From here you can follow alongside Marble Hill park the narrow but picturesque cottage- lined Orleans Road to reach a larger road, go right then immediately left at a mini-roundabout into Crown Road. Ahead in around 300m is St. Margarets train station.

Total distance 12.2km, time 3.25hours, ascent 141m

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