Link to the Show / Show Notes
The Thames riverside is London's undervalued playground, and walks alongside
the river do not get much better than this. We start at Barnes Bridge, and
before you say that it is hard to get to this part of London, think again. There
is a railway station right beside the bridge, and you can reach it in only 23
minutes from London Waterloo. There are 7 trains per hour. The station is in
Zone 3, so if you travel after 9.30am a Zones 1 - 4 One Day Travelcard is a
very affordable choice indeed, and you have the freedom of travel by bus, train,
Tube and Tram in these zones for the rest of the day.
Even better, why not take a Tube to Hammersmith. From there frequent buses
209 or 419 will take you to Barnes Bridge in 10 - 20 minutes. Just wait until
you see the river after the last stop in Barnes, and press the bell to alight at
Barnes Bridge. Buses run every 3 minutes, and the bus station is above the
Underground up the escalators. The buses depart from bus stop C and you can wait
in the warm and dry, or visit the shopping mall and have a coffee before you
leave. Simple.
The walk from Barnes is easy and flat. You can download my instructions and
photographs with GPS tracking from our sponsor
Walking World (small charge payable)
or just follow along using the audio on your iPod or MP3 player as usual.
The Boat Race course is actually 4.5 miles, so we do not follow the entire
loop of the river, but walk up Barnes High Street past the pond to
St Mary's Church. From there we pass
the famed Wetland Centre
and return to the river bank via Queen Elizabeth Walk. If you have time, why not
include a visit to the Wetland Centre? Here are the details from their web site:
Opening times
Open 7 days a week, except 25 December 9.30am to 6.00pm (last admission 5pm)
Summer.
9.30am to 5.00pm (last admission 4pm) Winter.
Late night opening every Thursday from 25 May until 21 September. Half price
admission from 6pm, last entry 8pm. WWT members can bring two guests for free.
Christmas opening times
Early Closing on 24th December (last admissions 2pm). Closed 25th Dec only,
otherwise centre open as normal throughout the Christmas and New Year period
including 1st January.
Admission Prices from April 1st 2006
Adult Â7.25
Concessions (Senior Citizens, students, unemployed, people with disabilities)
Â6.00, Child Â4.50,
Family Ticket Â18.50.
Group Admission Prices available upon request.
Facilities The London Wetland Centre is a beautiful wildlife
reserve visitor attraction just minutes from central London. More than
43hectares of wetland habitats have been created attracting thousands of wild
birds from around the globe.
In addition to the diverse and beautiful wildlife there are many other
interesting areas to explore, including World Wetlands with wetland habitats and
wildfowl from around the world. You can also discover why wetlands are essential
for life in our thatched Wetland Living, Lodge and Pond Zone exhibits.
The London Wetland Centre features accessible paths throughout the visitor
centre and reserve (see Accessibility below), a wonderful lakeside cafà and
restaurant, a heated glass viewing observatory (for those who don't fancy
sitting in our more traditional bird hides), a children's interactive discovery
centre, gift shop and specialist in focus binocular shop.
Wildlife The London Wetland Centre is the best urban location in
Europe to watch wildlife - designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
due to its diverse range of breeding wetland birds and winter flocks of Shoveler
and Gadwall duck. In addition to attracting more than 180 wild bird species each
year (including regular rarities such as Bittern, Cetti's Warbler, Peregrine
Falcon and a breeding colony of Sand Martins), the reserve is a safe haven for 8
species of bat, 7 species of reptile and amphibian (including Slow-worm and
Common Lizard) and more than half of all the UK's dragonfly and damselfly
species.
After returning to the river, we pass Fulham Football Ground on the opposite
bank, then pass a number of school and college boat houses before reaching
St Mary's
Church by Putney Bridge. Here is 1647 the Putney Debates were held by the
New Model Army. The radical concept of 'one man one vote' was discussed, but the
fledgling democratic proposal was crushed two years later by Oliver Cromwell.
The final portion of this walk takes us through the newly refurbished Fulham
Palace. For hundreds of years, these palatial grounds were the summer residence
of the bishops of London, until in the 1970's the land was leased to the local
authority by the Church Commissioners. There is a botanic garden and a museum in
the Palace.
Finally, we pass through the old pottery making district (there is still an
old 'bottle kiln' belonging to Fulham Pottery beside the road) before we finish
the walk at Putney Bridge Underground. Putney Bridge (Zone 2) is on the District
Line from where there are frequent trains to Earls Court and the City of London,
or via Kensington and Paddington to Edgware Road.
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