Richmond Park

Thursday 26 July - 39C

[Final of 4 London posts.]

This was our final day in London and 3pm would see us making our way to Heathrow Airport for the long journey back to Australia. This was a morning not to be wasted, eventhough the temperature was again set to soar to 39C.

Richmond Park, 3.69 sq miles, 2,458 acres, three times the size of Central Park, New York, sits on the doorstep of London. Created by Charles 1st in the 17th century as a deer park, it is now of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. Its ancient trees support a range of rare species, including fungi, birds, beetles, bats, grasses and wildflowers.

8.30 am saw us entering the park via The Richmond Gate. Immediately suburbia was left behind and treescapes and open grasslands greeted us.

Our 14 kilometre circuit.

Once out of the car, our hike was delayed for a short while, as Freda fell in love with this beautiful, and everso friendly dog.

The temperature was already rising rapidly and, like the deer, we kept to shady paths as much as possible.

A distant St Paul's Cathedral.

These are the gardens of Pembroke Lodge, the 1847 home of Prime Minister Lord John Russell. It is now a beautiful setting for weddings, with a cafe for frequenters to the park.

Yes, we walked through this delightful cafe entrance.

On exiting the gardens of Pembrooke Lodge, we delayed for some 20 minutes or more, to watch these beautiful fallow deer. They just couldn't make up their mind as to whether or not they wanted to cross the road to their friends. They kept traffic at a standstill.

Mid morning and these deer were really affected by the heat.

We followed a path to Isabella Plantation through this thick bracken. We were later told that bambi's may well have been hidden, beneath the fronds.

Isabella Plantation - 40 acres of woodland garden.

Continuing on, we were able to spy Wembley Stadium in the distance.

White Lodge, formerly a royal residence, it is now home to the Royal Ballet.

The Penn Ponds date from 1746 and were created to drain boggy land. Later they were used to farm carp.

Freda chatting with some very informative and friendly volunteers.

White Lodge.

Very hot and sweaty, we completed our circuit.

Just outside the gates, we had a hazy panorama of The Thames Valley.

A long, cold, soaking bath helped me to recover from the heat. At 3pm we walked 100 metres to the local tube station and were immediately a lather of sweat. We travelled to Heathrow in casual clothes and once through customs and security, we changed clothes and freshened up with wipes. Not the best way to start a long journey.

Boarding was delayed and once aboard, we sat for another 2 hours on the tarmac. The long awaited cool change was being preceded by very stormy conditions, directly in our flight path.

We definitely prefer to be safe than sorry so were not complaining. Everything else on our wonderful holiday had gone smoothly. We came home with so many special memories and 100's of photographs to help recall these moments.

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