Thames path walk from Richmond to Hamptoncourt

It was a bright sunny day and crowd was starting to pull slowly to watch the boat race which was about to start in few mins. After a long walk I decided to rest a while watching a wonderful painter who was busy painting the Richmond bridge.  The painting stood as though he does not need any more advertising for his skills. This rest time also included my lunch with a beautiful view of family who had come to watch the boat race.

The younger kid in the family which was having some chips fell down and started crying. soon her mom came and picked him up and started consoling the kid, you guessed it right I went for a flashback of my own childhood which was ended by the reality of 8 more miles to finish by End of day.
Richmond is a small town with few large houses and leisurely people. I was shocked to see so many people who had come for the boat race. Continuing after my lunch, I was soon approached by a group of kids who were watching puppet show reminding me of my own childhood lesson on puppet show( ತೊಗಲುಗೊಂಬೆ ಆಟ). Spent a few minutes watching English puppet show and then started walking again. Within few mins I had to come to end of the city view and was fast approaching a path in the bushes. This path soon gives a good view of marble house on the other side of the river.

Thames is pretty quiet in this region making it the best place for residence across the river bank and how nice it would be to have a school with a view of thames. Thats exactly what is there, St. James independent school for boys across the river. There were hardly anybody else on the path and it was partly cloudy too, to add to the pain my legs started saying enough for the day, had to rest for a few mins just before the teddington lock. Beyond the lock, thames becomes even more peaceful leading way to kensington town. Just before I approached the kensington bridge, there was a beautiful tree lined park which is part of Canbury Gardens.

Kensignton is a big town with a bit of history too, especially the market place,  I had a sneek preview of the famous market house and then continued on my path. Kensignton marks the end of two sided path for thames from thames barrier. I had to change the course and start walking on the other side of the river. From then on, it was really a boring walk neither were people around nor was the thames making any sound. Continuing on my path for more than hour on this stretch I came to Hampton court palace gardens, just before the start was a beautiful house called " The pavillion". After few mins of walk I was at the entrance of Hampton court, though I wanted to explore the palace completely, my legs gave up after 16 miles of walk on the same day. I rested for a few mins in front of the hampton court and then crossing the Hampton court bridge I went to the Hampton court station. While waiting for the train, I had my favourite orange candy from a nearby stall.

Needless to say, I slept all the way back home in the train and legs were complaining all through the next whole week, but the pain was worth the beauty of the walk.

source of map and inspiration for my walk : http://www.thames-path.org.uk/