Leaving our hotel in Clapham Junction we walked the few steps across to the railway station in order to board a service to Putney in south west London, just 10 minutes away. We then enjoyed a hearty breakfast on the high street before wandering round the shops and making our way towards the river.
Strolling along the Thames in the direction of Hammersmith we past several sailing clubs and boat slipways. The annual university varsity boat race between Oxford and Cambridge starts from here and continues four and a half miles down river passing through Hammersmith and ending in Mortlake. There were several rowing crews practising on the river as we passed the Wetlands Centre in Barnes and the former Harrods department store depository which has now been redeveloped into luxury riverside apartments.
Our original plan had been to walk as far as Chiswick but as it started raining heavily, we curtailed our walk in Hammersmith where we crossed the ornate iron bridge and travelled by Underground to Turnham Green. This small district has a village feel with its green, tree lined avenue and high quality independent shops. After browsing the high street we continued onto Chiswick High Road, a broad avenue again with high class stores and a district that I’m certain you would enjoy visiting as it’s off the tourist trail but certainly worthy of a look round.
Leaving here, we took the Underground to Bank as we had pre arranged tickets to visit the Sky Garden just as the sun was setting at 4.15 pm. No one can predict the weather and as it was still raining heavily there was to be no beautiful sunset to admire this evening but we still enjoyed our second visit to the Sky Garden, viewing the twinkling lights of the Thames from on high. If you would also like to visit the Sky Garden you can follow my link for details of directions and how to book a visit. The Sky Garden closes at 6.00 pm daily so if you wish to experience the sun setting there, I’m afraid it will only be possible during the winter months.
From here we wandered along the Thames Embankment onto Tower Bridge. This iconic landmark is currently closed to vehicular traffic whilst bridge repairs take place, providing us with opportunities to take photographs from the middle of the road without any danger of being run over.
It was then time for dinner which we ate nearby at The Pommelers Rest, enjoying large plates of fish and chips with glass of Merlot – perfect comfort food for a dreary November evening. Later we returned to the hotel feeling content after another enjoyable day in the capital.
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