I met up with Harry at the Starbucks at Hammersmith Station where we began our conversation about the state of Jo’s health. Her recovery proceeds slowly but steadily. She can now walk with a zimmer frame of sticks but she remains in Stoke Mandeville Hospital for the time being. She hopes to be home by the end of October.
We set off and headed to Hammersmith bridge where we joined the tow path in a westwardly direction.
The footpath, which can flood, and even rise up to threaten to enter the houses along the walk are mostly fitted with barriers to prevent water incursion. As you stroll along the route you realise the wealth that lies in London the cost of each house sits in the multi-million pound category.
Rowing seems to be much more popular than I ever thought. We found many rowing clubs on our walk. Above we see Linden House another club.
Just along from the magnificent Georgian Mansion we found St Nicholas Parish Church. There is reason to believe that people have worshiped on this site since the 7th Century. The first documentary evidence dates from 1181 and records a Visitation of the manors and churches. The record of this and further visits in 1252, 1297 and 1458, detailing the condition of the church and listing many treasures of plate and vestments reflecting the magnificence of worship in mediaeval times, can still be seen in the Guildhall Library.
The name of Chesewic is simply that of “wic” or village, but the derivation of ‘Chis’ is either the old English “cese” or “ciese” meaning cheese, or the village by the “ceosil” or “cesil” a stony beach or landing place which seems appropriate.
Beside the church stands a monumental gravestone to Hogarth, hence the name of the large roundabout on the nearby A4.
We entered the church to have a quick look around and found a stubby wide church built in the late 19th century apart from the much older tower. Under the tower stood a very impressive font.
We exited the church and walked through the very large cemetery behind deviating from the route we had followed from the book London’s Hidden Walks. This meant we returned to the Thames Path which ended up being a long extra uninteresting trip along a verdant but otherwise uninteresting route beside the curve of the Thames.
By this time my achilles had started to give me a pain in the heal. I struggled on until we eventually found The Bulls Head. The sun shone and we sat outside beside the water and had a couple of drinks and something to eat. The staff were friendly and the food acceptable so we probably spent an hour or so whiling away the time chatting and enjoying the weather.
From here we stayed on the river path and arrived at Kew Bridge. We waited at Kew Bridge Station for the train to take us to Waterloo where we parted in order to return to our respective homes.