Walking the Capital Ring Section 6, Kingston Vale to Richmond.

13th June 2026

For some reason I wake at 05:30 and can’t get back to sleep. I get up and check the weather, it’s going to be a fine day. I book a train journey, make a picnic lunch, and head out to complete Section 6 of the Capital Ring from where I left off last time in Kingston Vale to the finish in Richmond. At 10:05 after three trains and a bus I’m standing by a Capital Ring signpost looking across the busy A3 road.

The lights at the pedestrian crossing change and I cross the A3 and enter Richmond Park via Robin Hood Gate. Fifty yards into the park my ears are assaulted by the cacophony of dozens of bicycle freewheel hubs click-click-clicking from all directions as they sweep around the roundabout at the bottom of Broomfield Hill, the 10 mph speed limit apparently not applying to cyclists.

I manage to get across the road and onto a sandy track heading north west across the park and the sound of bicycles is replaced by that of Parakeets. The sandy track turns into a path across the grass as it climbs the flank of the wonderfully named “Spankers Hill” before dropping down again towards Pen Ponds car park. The fine weather has brought out many walkers and the family picnics have already begun.

A herd of deer lie in the sunshine some 500m off to the right which is good because there are signs everywhere warning people not to get within 50m of the deer. I’m not sure anyone has told the deer mind you.

That would explain why as I head across the open ground towards Pen Ponds I briefly spot a pair of ears twitching above the top of the bracken, just revealing the presence of a fawn hidden about half the requisite distance from the busy main path.

Pen Ponds come into view and I cross the causeway between the upper and lower ponds, pausing to take a few photos.

Past the ponds I begin climbing again on the main track but about half way up the hill I turn left to follow the Capital Ring on a much smaller path between Queen Elizabeth’s Plantation and Sidmouth Wood. After a while I notice that there is no one else around and the only voices I can hear are those of the Parakeets and Chiffchaffs. Both are mostly unseen, occasionally flitting about the ancient oak trees that edge the plantation.

I see people again as the route curves around Oak Lodge and I follow the tarmac drive to Queens Road. The road is busy with both cars and head-down-not-stopping-for-anyone lycra-clad men on bicycles. I wait for a small gap in traffic and cross the road. You can stick that bell where the sun don’t shine mate 😛 

I can’t help thinking there should be a pedestrian crossing at this point, not just for the Capital Ring but because of the busy Pembroke Lodge car park nearby. To which I divert for the “conveniences” before retracing my steps to rejoin the Capital Ring as it heads west down some steps and swings right. Here is the western flank of Richmond Park and I can see across to the Surrey Hills. I fail to identify Ham House despite having been there twice but I do spot Twickenham Rugby Stadium despite never having been there at all.

Where the Ring turns left downhill towards Petersham I take the worthwhile diversion right up the hill to King Henry’s Mound, from the top of which Henry VIII is said to have waited for sight of a flare that would confirm that Anne Boleyn’s body and Anne Boleyn’s head were no longer contiguous. Also from the top of the mound there is a protected view of St. Paul’s Cathedral 12 miles away in the City of London. Protected in that no tall buildings are allowed to be built that would get in the way. The trees are a different matter. I’ve put a red circle round it in the following photo. Only if you can get to the telescope on the mound and point it in just the right direction might you just about be able to see the dome of St. Paul’s.

The telescope was busy and I’ve seen through it before so I retrace my steps back off the mound onto the Capital Ring and head down the steep slope towards Petersham. A runner passes me four times as I walk down the hill, twice going up and twice going down. He’s obviously healthier than he looks.

At the bottom of the hill I leave Richmond Park through Petersham Gate, cross the road and the Pelican Crossing and duck under the low hanging tree into a shaded alleyway which runs around the back of St. Peter’s Church graveyard to a lane which leads to Petersham Meadows. As I walk along the path across the meadows I have to avoid several groups of walkers. One of those groups is brown, four-legged, and have bells around their necks. 🐮 That group is the only one that has mastered the art of walking in single file. Tarquin, Jemima and their friends (I don’t know if that’s actually their names but this is Richmond) should take lessons.

On the far side of Petersham Meadows I reach the River Thames at Buccleuch Gardens. Since it is almost midday and I don’t have much further to go and there’s a bench in the shade I stop to eat my picnic lunch. It seems that I was a bit liberal with the mustard in my ham sandwich earlier this morning and now everything is yellow. Fortunately none of the dogs gambolling in the gardens notices. After lunch I continue along the riverside into Richmond and my word it’s busy on the waterfront! I see there’s some waterborne event on with lots of Cornish Pilot Gigs being rowed back and forth. Well it’s a nice day for messing about in boats.

I weave my way through the crowds to the end of Section 6 at Friars Lane by the Capital Ring signpost.

Capital Ring Section 6 ✅ Since I’ve now completed Sections 1 to 11 further adventures will be in wildest Norf’ London.

The riverside pubs of Richmond are absolutely rammed so I make my way to The Tap Tavern in the town centre and sit outside in the sunshine with a refreshing celebratory pint. The bins behind the shops aren’t as scenic as the boats on the river but it’s not so far to walk to the station and get the train home.

My Flickr Album for Capital Ring Section 6 has been updated and nowcontains 64 photos, many of them from a gloriously sunny Richmond Park. (opens in a new page or as a slide show below if your viewer supports it).

 

 

 

Richmond Park, yes deer.

18th November 2018

On a sunny autumn Sunday afternoon got the train from Camberley to Richmond (just making the connection at Ascot) and a 65 bus to The Dysart, close to the gate into Richmond Park near the playground. Inside the gate turned left and headed uphill to King Henry's Mound a viewpoint with a telescope which has a (protected by planning laws) view of St. Pauls Cathedral, 10 miles distant in the City of London.  At least it does if you can get anywhere near it, which on a busy Sunday afternoon with lots of families queuing up little Tarquin and Amelia for a go I couldn't. Fortunately this highest point in Richmond Park also has panoramic views over the Thames Valley to the west. 

Having taken in the views I headed northwest from the mound, crossing Queen's Road where there are good distant views of London, many walkers, quite a few MAMILs, kite fliers, even a couple of picnickers well wrapped up as despite the sunshine it wasn't particularly warm.

Continuing across the open space towards Sawyer's Hill I also got my first sight of Richmond Park's deer. Fallow Deer in this case. Though wild they are so used to people that unlike most other places in the UK where a deer sighting is usually of its disappearing rump, or of half a ton of potential venison jumping out of a hedge in front of your car at night, these deer almost pose for photographs.

Carrying on northwest across Sawyer's Hill and heading downhill towards Sheen under clear skies and with no clear plan of where to walk to next I almost missed the next herd of deer, blending into their surroundings as well as they do it was the sound of antlers clashing that made me look across to a small stand of trees where a sizeable group of Red Deer were grazing in the late afternoon sun. 

Though the deer were some distance off and the other side of a fence fortunately I'd brought my camera with me rather than just a mobile phone so was able to get some half-decent shots using the long zoom lens and resting my elbow on a fencepost.

I spent a little while here taking photos and watching as the two stags tussled in a fairly leisurely fashion, the hinds grazed around them, and most of the other walkers carried on by without taking much notice. Either locals accustomed to the sight or too engrossed in their conversations to notice I suppose.

Time was pressing on and the light would soon start to fade so I put the camera away and walked on toward Sheen. Downhill and easy going on one of the many paths leading toward Sheen Gate where there is a car park and more importantly a public toilet which I was really hoping would still be open on a Sunday afternoon in November (It was thankfully, well done The Royal Parks)

And then I came across The Poseur. So I had to get the camera out again.

Just sitting in the long grass in the fading light next to a path busy with walkers, cyclists, and dogs a solitary large stag.

He didn't seem at all concerned about the people or the dogs, just lay there head erect watching us watching and photographing him - in some cases from quite close up though I made use of the zoom lens as seemed more prudent with a large wild animal with a big set of pointy antlers attached.

Onward down into Sheen and to Mortlake station to catch a train into town, the light fading now as four o'clock approached and everybody heading home from the park.

Richmond Park is a good place to visit. I'm glad I went by public transport (despite delayed trains) as a previous attempted visit at a weekend by car had failed because all the carparks were full to the point of queuing up outside which is no fun (I went to Ham House instead that time) and if you haven't got to retrace your steps to get back to the car you get to see more park and less car park.

As usual more photos in this Flickr Album.