A longer walk than expected in Hampton Court & Bushy Parks

Restricted by Tier 2 rules, we planned an easy 6-mile walk around Hampton Court and Bushy Park (based on this short Walkers Club route), but Covid-19 intervened to make it a much longer walk than expected. 

It was raining as we left Hampton Wick station, so we retreated to a nearby café and started walking when the rain stopped at 11 o’clock.  The plan was to walk straight through Hampton Court Park and into the Palace Gardens, before crossing into Bushy Park.  

A stag jousting with a branch in Hampton Court Park

Having reached the gate into the gardens, we found it padlocked with no indication of where to go. The Thames Path was only a few hundred yards away as the crow flies, but the aptly described Long Water was in our way, meaning a 2-mile detour. 

The Long Water is 1 Km long

Having walked up and down this impressive lake we reached the other gate into Palace Gardens, which was also shut but had a notice directing us to the Jubilee Gate and we finally escaped from Hampton Court Park onto the banks of The Thames.

The Albany Pub across The Thames at Hampton Court

A short walk along the Thames path took us past the gilded river gates at the back of the palace and around to the side entrance. 

Hampton Court Palace from the river

Our hopes of entering the palace grounds here were also dashed, as it was pre-booked visitors only due to Covid-19 restrictions of course. So the only view we had was a glimpse of the Baroque extension through the railings of the palace, which was built during the reign of William of Orange, by demolishing part of the Tudor palace.

The Diana Fountain

We finally reached Bushy Park and could resume our planned walk.  The first sight was the Diana Fountain. Not the recent HRH, but a bronze 17^th century statue of the goddess Diana, surrounded by boys, water nymphs and shells in the centre of a large, round lake. It served as a useful perch for a cormorant drying its wings.

Our route then went NW through the beautiful Woodland Gardens to the Water Gardens. This impressive water feature was built around 1710 by the Earl of Halifax, ranger of Bushy Park, next to his residence at Upper Lodge. The Water Gardens originally extended for over 1 Km, but much has been lost. 

The cascade at the Water Gardens

The upper and lower pools and the ornamental cascade connecting them were restored in 2000.  Upper Lodge and its grounds have been used for many purposes including a home for soldiers’ families in World War I and then a hospital for returning Canadian soldiers. Later it was a convalescent home and swimming pools for boys from the East End with respiratory diseases and then barracks for US airmen from 1941. After the war it became a research establishment for the Admiralty.

Leaving the peaceful Water Gardens we passed a very large hand pump. The sun was out and we met crowds of people around the full car parks and the Pheasantry Café by the visitor centre. 

Autumn colours at Leg of Mutton Pond

But most people didn’t stray far and it was a pleasant walk back to Hampton Wick via Heron Pond and Leg of Mutton Pond, were the autumn colours of the trees were spectacular. 

Leaving the park we spotted a memorial to Timothy Bennet, who had a shoemakers shop in Hampton Wick, but found his trade suffered when Lord Halifax closed the path through the park in 1752. 

Bennet said he was prepared to spend the huge sum of £700 on a legal action against Halifax, who sent him packing. But fearing the ignominy of public defeat by a shoemaker, Halifax relented and the Cobbler’s Walk was established.  Our walk had been 9 miles instead of 6 and I wonder if Bennet would have succeeded if his path had been closed due to a pandemic.

Route taken - see https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34516233