Saturday, 23 January 2016

Thames Path

Richmond → Waterloo

battersea-power-station.jpg Distance: 17.16 miles
Ascent: 61 metres
Duration: 4 hours 43 minutes

Birds and cats
« Not walked | Not walked »

We walked with the crowds today. The usual joggers were out, being encouraged on by the Ring-Necked Parakeets that have made the west-London riverside their home. But as we approached Chiswick Bridge, they were joined by cyclists shouting in the direction of the river (and not necessarily looking where they were going).

quintin-head.jpgWe'd stumbled across the Quitin Head race, with 250 rowing eights jostling for position on the water. The starting line was at Hammersmith Bridge, and once past there we had the riverside to ourselves again.

It's been a fascinating walk, partly because it connects so many places I've known over the years. It's also been revealing: I'd forgotten just how many power stations used to operate from the river banks.

What'll stick in our memory most though, are the cats.

cats-and-dogs.jpgA lengthy detour away from the water's edge in Battersea takes the Thames Path past the the Dogs and Cats Home. There was no way Emma would resist a sign directing This Way to the Cats. Inside a well-equipped cattery, waifs and strays mewed plaintively from behind the glass doors of their cells. It's a cheap jibe to compare the place to a prison, but the "inmates" certainly seemed just as keen to escape.

london-eye.jpgTempting as it was to adopt one, we left empty-handed and continued until we reached to the final crowd of the day: camera-laden tourists thronging on the Albert Embankment.

Posted by pab at 18:09 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!