Blogs Along the Thames: From Putney Bridge to Barnes Bridge

I'm continuing my series about my walks along the Thames with the next segment of the westward journey. You'll remember that I stopped after a good long wander at the Putney Bridge Underground Station. I returned to that spot a few days later to look at the next leg of my Thames trek, and here's what I found:

Mosaic near Putney Bridge
about the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race

Putney Bridge is, among other things, the starting point of the famed and long-lived boat race on the Thames, 4 miles or 6.8 kilometers in length, pitting teams from Oxford and Cambridge against each other. 

The route of the race

That race is coming up in 6 days (on 7 April), so perhaps it's fitting to say a few words about it here. The first challenge and race took place in 1829, after Charles (nephew of poet William) Wordsworth, an Oxford man, met Charles Merrivale, his friend from who attended Cambridge, on vacation and decided to set it up. Oxford won the first race easily, then for several years the challenge was sent sporadically. The first challenge stated:


‘that the University of Cambridge hereby challenge the University of Oxford to row a match at or near London, each in an eight-oared boat during the ensuing Easter vacation.’


In 1836 the race moved to London and the rest, as they say, is history. The 2012 race is the 158th encounter, and the quiet area I walked along a few weeks back will be packed with people who will have waited two hours and more in an attempt to get a quick glimpse of the boats as they race past. The more sensible folk watch the entire race on gigantic screens set up in locations such as Bishop's Park.

A cafe in Bishop's Park

Bishop's Park is so named because since 700 A.D. bishops of London have used it as a country residence, one of several such places near London. Since Tudor times a manor house was the place they resided, mostly in the summers, that was named Fulham Palace because bishops were thought of as "princes of the church" and therefore deserving of so-named a place in which to relax. It was in use by bishops until 1975, and the palace is now open for exhibitions. Its gardens have also just re-opened for tours, after a closure of 18 months.

The promenade near Bishop's Park

This portion of the Thames Path is for the most part very pleasant indeed. While there are some sections where one cannot walk just next to the water, for instance where the Fulham Football Club Stadium impedes the way, 

The Fulham Football Club

most of it is situated along increasingly SUB-urban areas with upscale housing 

and a fair number of pubs, particularly when you reach Hammersmith Bridge, and head beyond it. 

The Hammersmith Bridge

Hammersmith is a very urban area, a center for transport and for commercial projects, so it's interesting to see that along its riverfront it feels, as I noted above, suburban, upscale and sophisticated, all in all a great place to live. 
I mentioned riverside pubs above. There are several

The Blue Anchor

The Rutland Arms

The Old Ship W6

You could have yourself a pretty good pub crawl along this section of the Thames!

The Dove

The pub of most interest to me is the Dove, which dates back to the seventeenth century. Why? Because of its theatrical background! It is said that King Charles II and his mistress, the famed actress Nell Gwynn, met here for secret trysts! It is also said that "Rule Brittania" was penned in a room upstairs by poet James Thomson, and that the Dove is featured in the novel The Water Gipsies, re-named The Pigeons for the book. Other celebrity writers/drinkers who imbibed at the Dove include Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene. It's even listed in the Guinness Book of Records, as it has the smallest bar in all of Britain: four feet two inches by seven feet ten inches. And last but certainly not least, the Dove is a prime location from which to view the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, though I'm betting that while it's a PUBlic house,the general PUBlic is not allowed near it on race day. If they are they must have to queue for hours before the event.


But Dottore Gianni digresses! Continuing on the walk, as you approach the Chiswick area after Hammersmith it gets slightly more rural and even more pretty along the Thames. In 2005 I visited Chiswick House as a possible location for the home of The Scarlet Pimpernel, but I didn't venture towards the river. I'm glad i did this time around!

A look back towards Hammersmith
on the Chiswick Mall

Elegant Housing on Chiswick Mall

I could find it in my heart to live here!

After the classy dwellings you reach another park, this one very large, 

called Dukes Meadows, so named because the land was acquired from the Duke of Devonshire. In spite of threats to build a "model community" upon it in 1902 and a gasworks in 1914, it has been zealously protected by residents as one of those large green areas that serve as the "lungs" of London. A really lovely area. When I walked through it, runners were enjoying a respite from the busy city, rowers were out on the river practicing, and others like me were simply strolling and taking in the healthy atmosphere. It was a really good way to conclude this part of the Thames Walk. 

Barnes Bridge

Sure enough, just beyond Dukes Meadows is a rail river crossing called Barnes Bridge. I crossed it, took a look back at the river, and caught a South West train back to busy Waterloo Station, only ten minutes, and yet a world away from this haven along the River Thames. 

The river just before I climbed up to Barnes Bridge