Steins & Sausages by the Thames

Not a good start. Glorious weather apart from the one day we are going for a walk along the Thames, the route being Hampton Court to Richmond, when it decided to rain. Then the Central Line is on strike – as is South Western Railways. We struggle to Vauxhall and board a train to Kingston, having decided to change our plans and walk from Kingston to Kew Gardens.

Arriving at Kingston we popped into John Lewis for a coffee and grabbed a table with views over the Thames. Then off for our walk. This was when the rain started to really come down. Never mind, we are walking along a nice part of the Thames and the local rowing club had racing sculls, fours and the occasional eight smoothly cutting through the water. Incidentally, we may have had a drought but the Thames was very high above Teddington Lock. Where has all the water come from, surely not the current rain? Nice houses and good trees that are just changing colour made for a generally pleasing appearance as we plodded into a brisk wind blowing the rain into our faces. See the photo. There were plenty of other groups walking along the path, all making the best of it as we were. Eventually, with much whining from Brian on the theme of “are we there yet” we reached the riverside eating place which was the destination on the original route but was now the lunch break. German themed, we sat outside under plastic canopies with overhead heaters and gently steamed while we consumed our sausage and mash and drank lager. Very pleasant and while we looked out at the unrelenting rain, sipping our beer, it was mutely agreed that this was the end and we would make our way home rather than flog on to Kew.

A quick walk to Richmond station and we jump on a Overground train home.

Brian U., 6th October 2018