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hg137
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Hello, Mrs Hg137 here.
Our walking project for 2025 is Shakespeare’s Way, a 146-mile long-distance path ‘twixt Stratford-upon-Avon and the Globe Theatre in London, and the section we were walking today started at Brentford, then along the Thames to Putney.
To begin, we walked from the station to Brentford Lock, and thence to Thames Lock where the Grand Union canal joins the Thames. There’s much more to Brentford than I’d realised. There are tree-lined streets between the station and canal, and smart modern apartments overlook Brentford canal basin. Brentford was the site of a Civil war battle in 1642, which is commemorated with an impressive monument detailing this and older conflicts. And today’s football battles take place at Brentford FC.
Unusually for our walk along Shakespeare’s Way, there are lots of geocaches along this section of the walk – previously, we’d done sections of the route with just one or two caches all day – there would be over 20 today. We looked for six caches in Brentford alone, finding three of them; two of the remainder were blocked off by assorted building work.
We followed the River Brent to Thames Lock, where the Grand Union canal joins the Thames, then followed a convoluted path along riverbank / street / building site / alleyway to Reach Kew Bridge.
Crossing the river, we joined the Thames Path on the south bank, and were now on familiar ground (we walked the Thames Path in 2015). It was late morning by now – maybe we’d lingered too long at the start of the walk – and we spotted some benches at the side of the path and decided to stop for an early lunch. An excellent spot, as it had a quote from Shakespeare on it! “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin”; it’s from Troilus & Cressida.
Afterwards, we continued along a wide, well-kept path. Just past Chiswick Bridge, we passed the finishing post for the University boat race (they row upstream), and watched the rowers out on the river in the sunshine. Just about then , the path got a bit .. puddly … and when we reached Mortlake Brewery it vanished underwater. Oops, high tide! We moved inland and walked along Mortlake High Street for a bit, then rejoined the river path.
High tide at Mortlake
Harrods Furniture Depository
Beyond Barnes Railway Bridge, the path was along the pavement between a noisy road and the river, and we were glad when the river and road separated again. It’s odd how parts of the path, even well into a very large city, are still quite ‘rural’. After Hammersmith Bridge (now shut to traffic), we reached another landmark on the Boat Race course, Harrods Furniture Depository, now posh flats. We were walking around a big loop on the Thames, much of which is occupied by the London Wetland Centre (once Barn Elms reservoirs). FYI you can’t see the wetland from the river, or vice versa, but it’s a good day out if you’re even slightly interested in birdwatching (we’ve visited, once).
Hammersmith Bridge
The river twists and turns all along this stretch, so we’d walked, north, south, and east at various times through the day. There had also been a steady stream of geocaches, most of which we’d found, and a few that we hadn’t. Each of those had taken a few minutes, especially those we couldn’t find (there’s always the temptation to keep on looking, just in case); the light was beginning to fade as we came into view of Craven Cottage, Fulham FC’s ground. It had grown a whole, new, bigger stand since we last saw it in 2015.
Fulham FC in 2015
Fulham FC in 2025
The area just upstream of Putney Bridge is a centre for rowing, with many boathouses and a wide area of bank concreted as a huge boat ramp. The river had been high here, too, and there was lots of water on the road. Many people park on the boat ramps or close to the river, to avoid parking charges elsewhere; then the tide comes in … the Putney High Tide Club documents the unfortunate fates of some of those vehicles.
We turned away from the river and walked up Putney High Street in near darkness to reach the station and start our journey home. What a great walk on a sparkling November day!
Here are a few of the geocaches we found:
Our walking project for 2025 is Shakespeare’s Way, a 146-mile long-distance path ‘twixt Stratford-upon-Avon and the Globe Theatre in London, and the section we were walking today started at Brentford, then along the Thames to Putney.
To begin, we walked from the station to Brentford Lock, and thence to Thames Lock where the Grand Union canal joins the Thames. There’s much more to Brentford than I’d realised. There are tree-lined streets between the station and canal, and smart modern apartments overlook Brentford canal basin. Brentford was the site of a Civil war battle in 1642, which is commemorated with an impressive monument detailing this and older conflicts. And today’s football battles take place at Brentford FC.
Unusually for our walk along Shakespeare’s Way, there are lots of geocaches along this section of the walk – previously, we’d done sections of the route with just one or two caches all day – there would be over 20 today. We looked for six caches in Brentford alone, finding three of them; two of the remainder were blocked off by assorted building work.
We followed the River Brent to Thames Lock, where the Grand Union canal joins the Thames, then followed a convoluted path along riverbank / street / building site / alleyway to Reach Kew Bridge.
Crossing the river, we joined the Thames Path on the south bank, and were now on familiar ground (we walked the Thames Path in 2015). It was late morning by now – maybe we’d lingered too long at the start of the walk – and we spotted some benches at the side of the path and decided to stop for an early lunch. An excellent spot, as it had a quote from Shakespeare on it! “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin”; it’s from Troilus & Cressida.
Afterwards, we continued along a wide, well-kept path. Just past Chiswick Bridge, we passed the finishing post for the University boat race (they row upstream), and watched the rowers out on the river in the sunshine. Just about then , the path got a bit .. puddly … and when we reached Mortlake Brewery it vanished underwater. Oops, high tide! We moved inland and walked along Mortlake High Street for a bit, then rejoined the river path.
High tide at Mortlake
Harrods Furniture Depository
Beyond Barnes Railway Bridge, the path was along the pavement between a noisy road and the river, and we were glad when the river and road separated again. It’s odd how parts of the path, even well into a very large city, are still quite ‘rural’. After Hammersmith Bridge (now shut to traffic), we reached another landmark on the Boat Race course, Harrods Furniture Depository, now posh flats. We were walking around a big loop on the Thames, much of which is occupied by the London Wetland Centre (once Barn Elms reservoirs). FYI you can’t see the wetland from the river, or vice versa, but it’s a good day out if you’re even slightly interested in birdwatching (we’ve visited, once).
Hammersmith Bridge
The river twists and turns all along this stretch, so we’d walked, north, south, and east at various times through the day. There had also been a steady stream of geocaches, most of which we’d found, and a few that we hadn’t. Each of those had taken a few minutes, especially those we couldn’t find (there’s always the temptation to keep on looking, just in case); the light was beginning to fade as we came into view of Craven Cottage, Fulham FC’s ground. It had grown a whole, new, bigger stand since we last saw it in 2015.
Fulham FC in 2015
Fulham FC in 2025
The area just upstream of Putney Bridge is a centre for rowing, with many boathouses and a wide area of bank concreted as a huge boat ramp. The river had been high here, too, and there was lots of water on the road. Many people park on the boat ramps or close to the river, to avoid parking charges elsewhere; then the tide comes in … the Putney High Tide Club documents the unfortunate fates of some of those vehicles.
We turned away from the river and walked up Putney High Street in near darkness to reach the station and start our journey home. What a great walk on a sparkling November day!
Here are a few of the geocaches we found:
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