A walk along the section of the Thames Path National Trail, heading upstream from Putney to Richmond, on 11 March 2018.

It turned out that the annual Head of The River Race rowing competition was underway, so there were lots of boats on the river, and hundreds of spectators on the path between Putney and Mortlake.

My only experince of rowing is watching the Boat Race, so it was quite strange to see so many people who were out on the banks of the River Thames for the actual sport rather than just for the beer…

Apparently the race was a dead heat.

This section of the Thames Path path follows the river bank all the way, with no diversions around blocks of flats, building sites or gravel handling facilities.

There is the option to follow either either bank of the river, but the general consensus in the guide books seemed to be that the south side is the better choice, so that is the one I went for. It is also not insignficantly shorter, thanks both to the curvature of the river and following the bank more closely.

There is little risk of geting lost on this section of the Thames Path, even without signposting.

Not far before Kew Bridge is a pair of sound mirrors. They are not quite as impressive as the listening ears at Dungeness in Kent.

Passing the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.

A view to Syon House on the opposite bank of the river.

Much of the route is lined with trees, although aircraft heading for Heathrow airport are rarely out of earshot.

A pink building on a grey day.

Richmond comes into view.

That’s a more stylish way to travel. Lilian is a motor yacht built 1916 by Pettersson in Stockholm.

Richmond is reached. I had planned to keep going on along the river to Kingston, but this seemed far enough for one day.