Train to Richmond, walk to Ham House 11 July 2016

Jeantine's suggestion for the day, was to take the train to Richmond, where she works and then we could take the river path to Ham House. First port of call in Richmond was the Butter Beans Cafe - very Kiwi with excellent flat whites and Kiwiana, with cans of Lemon & Paeroa soft drinks on the counter and Vegemite toasties on the menu.
We were there Monday 11 July and on 15 July, on their Facebook page they had an Ad for Customer Service position/ Barista WANTED which described their ethos and operation as follows ...
Butter Beans Café is an Antipodean owned, funky, rustic, chilled café in the heart of Richmond. We serve tasty home made Breakfast and lunch and use Union and Hasbean beans. We also make all our cakes/ slices and kiwi treats on site and are definitely proud of this. We are a busy café that strive for perfection with a load of regular customers.
By the number of customers, it looked to be a great place if you could find a table. A Google search brought up a series of photos including this 360 degree look around
A coffee and a snack out of the way, Jeantine guided up the street to find a lane the leads down to the Thames

We could see this area was a place for exercising - with a jogger going by, taking time out -with a lady on the bench and a heron on the edge of the water.

Having established which way to head, we started walking ....

The we met a distraction

This distraction was a pass under the road by the river and lead to the Terrace Gardens

1926 - 2016, say the planted characters but birds had scratched at the ground to interfere with man's intentions. Initially with those dates we thought it related to Queen Elizabeth II but seems not. The sign explains a different scenario but not having noted what - will need a Google search. A Google maps search (working back from the map of Ham House) told me this was Terrace Gardens and it is the Hollyhock Cafe in the background. We did try to have a break with a drink and snack at the Cafe but it was taking so long for the previous customer to get what they wanted, we walked out.

John Bacon's sculpture of Father Thames in Coade stone, is an identical copy of the one in the grounds of Ham House - with details of the sculptor in Wikipedia

There is no escaping the constant stream of aircraft on approach to Heathrow
Heading back along the Thames Path, we noticed passing rowers, whether they were paying tourists or rowing club members I couldn't tell but we could hear various coxswain calling out instructions.

Looking back toward Richmond.
Somewhere along the way we came across a concrete ramp down to the Thames and there was woman in a wheel chair and her adult daughter out for a walk with their dog. I'm trying to recall but I think this was an opportunity for the dog to have little paddle. Anyway we stopped for a chat and spent some time sharing stories about children overseas and the length and discomfort of flights. This woman's son lived in Australia so she knew what it was like to travel 'down under'. After leaving them we came across this meadow and took the advice of the signage but I'm not sure we gained much by diverting through the open grassland to end back out on the Thames River Path. I guess that meant I was able to contemplate this Raven that had settled on a corner fence post

The sign tells us this is Petersham Meadow. It was good to see they hadn't sent any men out to mow.

Google maps informs me that the path leads to Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts HQ

And there, through the trees, was the place we came to see.