Barnfield Avenue, Kingston upon Thames

Kingston upon Thames

2000-2002

In February of 2000 my wife and I moved to Kingston upon Thames. We rented an end-terraced, mock-tudor house in this peaceful suburban area of West London. Our north Kingston neighborhood bordered upon the gorgeous wooded village of Ham. This was quite simply one of the finest locations I have lived. We had immediate access to one of the most beautiful stretches of the River Thames, as well as a quick trip by bus or by foot to the shopping and dining available in Kingston to the south, and Richmond to the north. In addition, we had easy walking access up into the hills of Richmond Park through the Ham Gate.

Map of Metro London . . . . . . . . .

I had traded my rental car in for a company leased Vauxhall Omega at this point. It was a spare, not meant to be my permanent car, but it sufficed for now. We followed the estate agent heading south through the crowded, winding, narrow roads which closed in on the sides of the Omega far too much for my liking. Cars were just too big for these damn streets. Past the Richmond Bridge the road splits, to the left heading up Richmond Hill and to the right down Petersham Road along the river. Here begins one of my favorite routes in all of England, the short but beautiful drive from Richmond to Ham. As the hill rises to the left, the road drops and the buildings wane until the wooded riverside of the Thames reveals itself in full along the right. Road and river run in tandem for a few hundred yards before disengaging around the green expanse of the Petersham Meadow, exposed today in glorious winter sunlight. The road enters into the twilight of a thick English wood before emerging into the village of Petersham with its pedestrian gate into Richmond Park and its line of hundred year old brick walls tightly lining the village lane. The walls show signs of frequent repair from their interaction with the more recent addition of modern motor cars. Hopefully the modern motor car drivers were as easily repaired.

The road continues through the residential section of Petersham before opening up again into Ham Common, its expanse of cut lawn and oaks ringed by fine houses to the right, and a deeply wooded and wild counterpart extending up toward the hilly Richmond Park to the left. Ham Parade follows thereafter, with two blocks of grocers, hairdressers, and local shops. From here we made a left onto Tudor Drive, and then another onto Barnfield Avenue within the boundaries of Kingston Upon Thames, but right on the edge of the village of Ham. Map of Kingston Upon Thames

The neighbor’s small cars crowded the cul-de-sac, but we luckily found parking right behind the estate agent directly in front of an end-terraced mock tudor house with a tree and a driveway surrounded by a small front garden. Off-street parking was a highly desirable commodity, and so the driveway immediately caught our attention. The property was still currently lived in, and the lady of the house, Jocelyn, opened the front door to greet us as we walked up the drive. We hadn’t so much as walked into the house when Lisa threw me a glance which indicated a growing excitement that her decision was already about 80% made. Mine was not far behind.

Inside, we were met with the smell of cooking food. The house was warm, well lit, fully furnished, tidy but obviously lived in, rather than gloomily abandoned like other properties we had seen. What a relief. The décor was far more tasteful than previously experienced, although the obsessive overabundance of patterned wallpaper, this time decorated with vines and flowers of sweet pea framing each wall reminded us that we were still within the English suburban design scheme. It was a relatively typical floor plan for a British terraced house, downstairs connected living room and family room, hall, narrow side kitchen and stairway, upstairs landing, two bedrooms, bathroom, and small storage room. However as this house sat on the corner end of the cul-de-sac, and thus enjoyed a plot splayed out from the usual long rectangle, room had existed not only for a larger than normal garden, but for an extension to the house itself. It thus hosted two extra downstairs rooms, and a second bathroom on the ground floor.

Jocelyn was a house-proud and skillful hostess, and informed us that the property was owned by an English family currently living in Zimbabwe, and that she and her small family would be moving out in early February, having found the opportunity to purchase a house of their own just down the street. We would be forced to wait nearly a month for availability, but as we were in fact the first viewers, we had a rather nice opportunity to grab a hold of the place before it became inundated with bidders.

Lisa and decided to talk it over amongst ourselves before making any decisions. We drove back up the Petersham Road in quiet contemplation but trading giddy stares back and forth. Across the road from the Petersham Gate into Richmond Park we had passed a restaurant and pub known as the Dysart Arms on our earlier drive in. We retired there, got ourselves a couple of pints, and sat down. There was really no discussion needed. We wanted this place.

Then we thought, why did we leave without grabbing the place? What the hell? What if somebody jumps in and gets in there before us now?

A crash course in utilizing the antique British pay phone in the back of the pub ensued. Luckily we got a hold of the estate agent and informed her that we wanted to secure the place promptly. She informed us that she could do so, but we would have to put a substantial amount of money down with her by tomorrow for it to stick. Having established our banking early, we were able to do so with no problem. The house on Barnfield Avenue was ours.

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This stretch of suburban London is all about the river. The western bank is largely populated with fine homes and boat houses, separated by not a small number of large multi-residence developments. The eastern bank from Kingston to Richmond, including Ham proper is vastly less developed with a few parks and a great deal of natural woodland stretching out to the river's edge itself. The Thames Path National Trail winds along this eastern bank and is an excellent walk on warm summer days. It's not too bad on a crisp autumn day either. Bridging the river from Ham is the Teddington Locks and Weir. This is the highest reach of the Noth Sea tide up the Thames. A full 147 miles from the sea, the twice daily tides are dramatic. The lock features a footbridge and cycling ramp for easy access, and the eastern reach of this bridge terminates at the Angler's Pub, the site for many of my mid-summer afternoons. The pub sits directly alongside Teddington Studios, which was hit by a V1 Flying Bomb from Germany during World War II, and was home of the Benny Hill Show during the 1960s and '70s. The locks are further immortalized as a location for one of the greatest Monty Python sketches.

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Yet another emerging trend from my time here was a weekend tradition of walking through the village of Ham, down to the River Thames and the Teddington Lock. The locks and their related weir mark the final point of tidal influence from the North Sea approximately 65 miles away. And these tides can be significant, somewhere on average of 7 meters up and down twice a day. Depending on the severity of the tide and the upstream rainfall effect on the river level, the river from Teddington on down through London will occasionally flood the banks, on many occasions inundating cars parked alongside by unwary and soon to be unhappy drivers.

The century-and-a half old locks themselves, along with the brick lock keepers houses and the frequent passage of traditional English long barges give a feeling of leisure and stir a sense of an easier, nostalgic time gone by. The deep green forest of sycamore and oak surrounding the locks, especially when combined with a warm sunny day, bring the perfect idyll for enjoyment and relaxation.

It is wise planning on the part of the English to ensure that most locks are accompanied by a pub. Boaters wishing for a rest before proceeding through the next set of locks thus have a handy place to put in. And walkers, such as myself, always have a riverside pub handy. Teddington was extraordinarily well served in this respect by The Anglers. If the ratio of pub garden to the pub itself is a sign of quality, then the Anglers at nearly 2:1 was near the head of the pack. This is not to suggest that the interior wasn’t nice, in fact it was wonderful. But the owners were wise to develop its riverside frontage to the fullest extent. From spring to late summer the garden would be overflowing with punters downing pints, and gulping down the riverside barbecue sausages and burgers. A large children’s play area helped to ease the family load and increased the crowds. I would wager that greater than a quarter of my summer weekends included a stop at the The Anglers riverside those first two years.

Kingston Upon Thames is about a mile upstream from the Teddington Locks, with a riverside path along the Surrey bank allowing for an extremely pleasant walk. Heading downstream on the same path we would stroll through the edges of the Ham forest which occupies an extreme bend in the winding path of the River Thames. The village of Ham is in fact named after this great bend, appropriately based upon the Saxon Hamme, meaning village on the bend in a river. These lowland stretches of Ham forest were long a depository for much of London’s rubble after the damage of World War II, the thus land remains undeveloped and wild.

As the river curves eastward, the heavily wooded point of Eel Pie Island rises mid-stream. I saw a red fox running though the underbrush there one day. An eccentric collection of large and small residences rise amongst the still overgrown island, which is accessible only from the Middlesex (now north) bank, and only by pedestrian bridge. I had heard the name of this island before, without knowing where it was exactly or what it was famous for. I guess I knew it had something to do with the 60s, but with a little research I learned that the former Eel Pie Island Hotel, now burned down, had been one of the great venues in the history of rock and roll, hosting early gigs by Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, and Black Sabbath. I can only imagine what the scene would have been like on this little overgrown pedestrian-only island surrounding an early Pink Floyd concert.

Still further downstream, the river is bracketed by two of England’s grand houses, 18th Century Marble Hill House on the north bank and 17th Century Ham House on the south. Marble Hill House is owned and operated by English Heritage while Ham House is run by the National Trust. As Ham House was on the local bank, I made several visits, but strangely never made it over to Marble Hill House on the other side at all. Ham House itself was interesting from a historical and interior design standpoint. But the gardens outdoors were my favorite aspect, particularly nice to walk through on weekend mornings. The house belonged in 1626 to William Murray, friend and “whipping-boy” to King Charles I. Murray was later bestowed the title Earl of Dysart. I mention this specifically out of fond appreciation for the nearby Dysart Arms pub and restaurant. The house is reputed to be haunted by his daughter and her dog, although through several tours, I have never met them.

Heading still further down the river, we come to the peaceful Petersham Meadow. This broad expanse of green riverside holds two of my favorite oak trees (from a photographic standpoint), is frequently home to a herd of cows, and provides the foreground for the famous view looking down towards us from Richmond Hill which dominates the (again) eastern bank . The stately 1924 Star and Garter Veteran’s Home caps the skyline of the celebrated hill. The current building replaces the former Star and Garter hotel which was once the regular haunt of London’s vacationing elite. This includes a long term association with periodic Richmond resident Charles Dickens who held here, in 1850, a party to celebrate the publication of his new novel David Copperfield. Its current function, caring for and honoring Britain’s war veterans, while overlooking one of the most celebrated views in all of England, seems a grand and appropriate tribute.

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Walking back to the central green of Ham Common, I would often cap this walk with a visit to perhaps my favorite village pub, The Hand and Flower, although for variety’s sake, the New Inn on the opposite side of the green certainly was no poor second choice.

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