Richmond End of the Line

Another very overcast, misty, very windy day greeted us, and we decided to take another adventure. We did not hurry out and late morning we hoped on the District tube line and headed out to Richmond. It is so amazing how many people on the tube are talking on the weekend. All week long almost no one talks, but on the weekend, there is chattering everywhere. I guess it is due to the fact that during the week everyone is going by themselves to work and on the weekend, people are out with friends and family.

Again, we had no plans other than to stop there. When we first got out of the tube, we noticed there were crowds of people along the sidewalks and mostly men. Their energy level was high spirted, much like at a tailgating for an SEC game. We soon learned that there was to be a big Rugby game in Twickenham, the next town over, but Richmond is the end of the tube line. We also learned from some of the locals that it would benefit us to be gone out of town before that game ended as the tube would be full of some very alcoholic spirted men. This would not be a problem and gave us several hours to check out this town. We grabbed a coffee/tea in Paul’s coffee shop to warm up a bit.

We knew there was an open green space that the Richmond Palace once was connected to and there was an old theatre next to the green. We found the theatre and it was gorgeous. Of course, this is the one weekend that they are between shows so no seeing anything there, but the outside of the building. The green was just an open space, and nothing is left of the palace except the space and some very old buildings that were built much later. The palace has a very old and long history. The houses on the area the castle used to be on are gorgeous and managed by a Royal trust.

The town is along the River Thames, but you really feel more like you are out in the country even though it is considered part of London. There is much more open space and not as much traffic. We saw the deer park, but no deer. The area also has some locks and dams. Many house boats and many very large house boats, even some that people had grown grass on the part of the deck. We don’t think some of the very large ones ever go anywhere but are most likely permanently parked in their spot.

The part of town along the river is so wonderful and would be even more amazing in the summer, but even on this day was so nice. There is a pub along the river called the White Cross that supposedly has an outdoor garden that will flood during high tide and the pub will give you wellies/rainboots to wear when it happens. It was low tide when we were there, but the place was packed with rugby fans. We just walked by and saw it.

We did some grab a late lunch after walking around areas on both sides of the Thames. We ate at Pasta Evangelist, and it was very good. It was great to get out of the weather and eat a nice hot meal. We then worked our way back to the train and headed back to the DH. Everyone was gone as one group had gone to Brussels for the weekend and one had gone to Canterberry for the day. Though cold and windy, it was another great day.