A big turn-out on a day which, weather-wise, started brightly but the threatened rain materialised in the afternoon, albeit perhaps not quite in the quantity forecast. With the planned elevenses venue Mole Hall closed, 17 of us gathered at the Molesey Boat Club.
Leaving Eight at the Bridge:
~ photo by Anne Connaughton
After some discussion, we headed to the Green Man on Putney Heath for lunch. Our route took in Bushy Park, Teddington (guided by John Bellamy along the scenic side roads), across the river via the footbridge and on to Ham Common. We opted for the quieter Church Road towards Richmond Park where a sign alerted us to toad patrollers; a little online research revealed this to be an attempt to protect the amphibians as they crossed the road for their annual springtime migration to their ancestral ponds (it caused the road to be closed for nearly a month in 2022). No sign of the little creatures but, apparently, they favour wet conditions and nighttime.
Police patrol cars seemed more in evidence than normal at various points. Of course, there was no reason for thinking they were interested in any of us.
Most of us enjoyed a good lunch and we set off for home via Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common in the hope of beating the rain.
~ Frank
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