I had ventured all the way to Richmond a couple of times, but had never actually gone to Richmond Park and so it was a grey, drizzly day that I picked to go and have a wander around the park. I almost talked myself out of it - well, it wasn't a particularly nice day and it was SO far away - but I decided that the drizzly rain would keep people away and so it might actually be a bit quieter on a weekend day! It was solid thinking and I wasn't too wrong about it, there didn't seem to be too many people wandering around, just those hardy souls with dogs to walk.
Richmond is one of those places that I always swear I should go to more often, it's a really lovely town with a village vibe, a bit like Hampstead. It has lots of old buildings and pubs, pretty little corners and is very English looking and feeling. I walked through the town then towards the park, but I couldn't help ducking up some (or most...) of the side streets off the main road because it was so pretty. Honestly, its a miracle I made it to the park at all!
I eventually made it to the park, and did about a 13km loop around. I walked past the lovely "The Way" gates, built to commemorate 300 years of St Paul's Cathedral. The area beyond the gates is a wildlife sanctuary, but there wasn't any information about why St Paul's gates were sitting randomly in Richmond Park. I made it to the Isabella Plantation, with its camellias and azaleas and rhododendrons, and daffodils popping up. I love the first signs of spring, its so exciting to see the earth and plants waking up and getting excited about growing again. I also saw the deer that roam around the park; the first time near a road I saw a couple milling around, then I saw a herd of them as I was leaving the park (when it had started raining in earnest).
It is a really lovely place to walk around. I'm glad I went and I do mean to go and walk around it again, maybe on a slightly sunnier day!
