Updated: May 20, In this article, Nigel and Sophy guide you upstream to Teddington Lock. We pick up the story at the flats that are built on the site of Richmond Ice Rink , sadly demolished in The ice rink was originally a roller skating rink, but in was requisitioned for the war effort and converted into an explosive factory by Charles Pelabon, who had escaped from occupied Belgium in He employed 2, Belgians, and in total around 6, Belgians lived in the area. Richmond Road, which runs from Richmond Bridge became known as The Belgian Village, with Belgian shops, cafes and restaurants running all along it.
The redbrick buildings on our left house Richmond Canoe Club. Shortly after that we come to Buccleuch Gardens , the expanse of grass so popular with sunbathers and picnickers in summer.
This is the only part of the river on this stretch where the towpath does not follow the river bank. When the City of London Corporation started to extend the towpath from Richmond to Ham in , the Duke of Montagu, who owned this piece of land, pulled rank, and no towpath was built here. The bargemen had to float their barges upstream on the incoming flood tide, and run around the garden on the road to catch the tow rope on the other side by Petersham Meadows.
The London Plane trees in Buccleuch Gardens date from , some of the oldest in the country. They can grow to 40m tall. They were responsible for building many of the thousands of rowing boats that were available for hire along this stretch of the river, and also ran a ferry service from here.
Petersham Meadows , which is protected from development by Act of Parliament, is part of Petersham, which appears in the Domesday Book as Patricesham in Its church dates back to the 13th Century, when Petersham was owned by Chertsey Abbey. The meadow was part of the Ham House estate from the 17th Century. The draw dock at the bottom of River Lane here was where agricultural produce destined by barge for the City was loaded β it is now a popular spot for wild swimming.
