I took today's permitted outdoor exercise with 1 person from another household walking the route of the Hogsmill again. The other person being my old pal Lincolnshire Tom, fellow exiled Grimsby Town supporter and resident of this postcode area. We rendez-voused at the confluence of the Hogsmill and the Thames at Kingston Riverside and started the walk upstream. Whilst waiting for Lincs Tom I strolled up to the bridge and back, past the houseboats (there are probably about 20 on this section.).
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| Kingston Bridge from the upstream side |
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| Casting on a houseboat. The elf was probably about 4 feet high. |
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| Houseboats on the Middlesex side of the river |
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| Looking up the Hogsmill from a bridge over the river mouth |
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| In the development of the Thames riverside around the year 2000 the mouth of the Hogsmill was made into a sort of mini-delta with a section for water fowl to nest |
For much of the walk the ground was very boggy and in parts it was difficult to keep our feet dry, as we've had a lot of rain in January. A lot. Fortunately we found a couple of sturdy sticks to help us keep our footing. The word of the day was 'rasputitsa.
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| Bit of history about the gunpowder mills. The packhorse bridge is pictured in last Summer's post about the Hogsmill. |
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| Not sure if this is an overflow channel.... |
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....or a mill chase
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| Lincs Tom spotted this near the springs outside what looked like a Scout hut but was in fact the HQ of the Epsom branch of the Surrey Beekeepers Association. |
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| Wonder how this has been affected by Lockdown |
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| This was intriguing. Neither in alphabetical order, nor rank or regimental order. Date of death? |
The initials for some of the regiments had us stumped. We got Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, the Rifle Brigade, East Surrey, City of London, East Yorks Regiment, Royal Fusileers, Surrey or Somerset Yeomanry and Somerset Light Infantry. Others had us stumped. LRB? KRR? RMLI: Royal Marines Light Infantry?
When we got to the area of the springs, where my previous walk up this river ended, we decided to continue on to Nonsuch Park, site of one of Henry VIII's palaces, then on to Cheam* to catch a bus back to our 'endz', thus making the trip circular. My health app tells me I walked 23,000 steps or 15km by the time I got home.
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| For some reason this church tower was left standing when the rest of the church was demolished in the 1450s. |
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Nonsuch Palace was towards the bottom left of this map. No trace of it remains
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An interesting walk, if a little bogey underfoot. The memorial board is interesting..RMLI Ithink you got right...KRR might be Kings Royal Rifle (Corps). I have always thought it is a great shame that Nonsuch Palace disappeared without trace.....
ReplyDeleteCorrect on KRRC.
DeleteIt’s amazing that such a big building could disappear.
Really enjoyed your post today. I haven’t been out much due to the ice underfoot. I feel I have no right to add to the NHS burden by breaking a leg. Where I grew up in Edinburgh was near the Union Canal and you could walk along the tow path into the city centre. I recall walking home from nights out along there with only the odd splash of some creature entering the water for company. The goblin is a splendid fellow. I think the maker was based in Oxford. I looked at a catalogue once but they were so expensive. Reminds me of the illustrator Froud’s work.
ReplyDeleteAh, it’s a goblin! I think you’re right. Walking along the canal towpath after a night out sounds precarious!
DeleteInteresting walk , KRR = Kings Royal Rifles ?, LRB = London Rifle Brigade ?
ReplyDeleteGood call. The KRRC was the Royal American Regiment, i.e. 60th Foot of Peninsula fame.
DeleteAs a student at the Knight's Park campus, the Hogsmill river used to run right past our studios, which was nice, except in high Summer when it smelt a bit! Each year a duck would lead her newly hatched ducklings through the corridors and out into the river, which was pretty cool. Also Millais' background painting of Ophelia was done near the Ewell stretch of the river.
ReplyDeleteI bet that was funny seeing the ducks march past! I like the Knight's Park part of the river Steve. There's a good mix of architecture, oldish and modern. Signs of former industry and current commerce and education of course.
DeleteRight by the Knights Park School of Art at the river end of Mill St (old industry) the university have taken over what I think was an old pub and it's now called the Centre for Useless Splendour. No idea what goes on in there but it's a great (ironic) name for something art related.
There's an information board by the spot where Millais supposedly painted the background for the Ophelia painting. And another further up near Ewell where Holman Hunt painted another famous painting (name escapes me). So the Hogsmill has a long and continuing association with art.
Yes KRR was the kings Royal rifles, my granddads unit on the Somme, until he got gassed for the third time and transferred to the royal engineers, nice walk!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Cheers Iain.
DeleteI enjoyed looking over your shoulder during your walk. Thank you!
ReplyDelete