Kew Gardens social distanced 10k was the highlight of the weekend,
I was running and Linda was volunteering as a marshal and as a bonus you got a free entry to look round the gardens (in case you missed the tree) once the race had ended. The would save you £35 on the entry fee, but then I personally wouldn’t have spent that to go in, I feel in the need of seeing a tree I can go to Belfairs or Gusted Hall.
Linda wanted a weekend away, so we had decided to combine the two. The dogs went off on their holiday and we drove up to London and Kew. We had a hotel booked just over the road from Kew Gardens, which was fortunate as you had to be at the race to check in for just after 7am.
We were staying at the Coach and Horses in Kew and they had free car parking, so in this new covid-19 world we decided it was better to drive and leave the car there, then take a long train ride across London.
On Friday It took just under two hours to get there, pretty straightforward, A127, M25, M4 and then you were virtually there. We arrived just after two, plenty of parking spaces left and we checked in. It’s quite strange as you have to wear a mask when moving around the building.
We have a nice ensuite room, with a view of the back car park! We decided to go for a walk and find out where we have to be on Saturday morning. It was a 10 minute walk to the Brentford Gate and we saw people getting the tents and toilets ready for the following morning. It is right on the Thames Path and you have beautiful views along the Thames.
We walked along the path in Kew, did some shopping and then stopped for a Costa. Quite a few shops are shut which is a shame. Kew Green is by our hotel and it has a cricket pitch, so we were able to sit in the sun and watch the cricket. Kew Cricket Club play here and were having a match, I did some commentary for Linda, they were either bowling from the Cricketers Pub end or the Graveyard end.
The Alarm went just after 6am on Saturday, and we had to get up. Linda had ordered her breakfast for 6.30am and was expecting it to be delivered to her room, but it was downstairs. This was soon sorted out and we we left.
It was slightly chilly and so we had a brisk walk to Kew Gardens, everyone was social distancing, sanitising their hands and being sensible. We were early but Linda had to go off to her Marshall post. I was left hanging around as my start time wasn’t till 8.15am. It was strange with no stalls to look around, no-one to talk to and everyone keeping their distance. We had to join a social distanced queue to the start line and then we were off.
I ran at a steady space, with a finishing time of 54.29 and came 785 out of over 1900 people. Not my best time, but not my worst either! I was so focused that I didn’t actually see Linda when I was running round, even though she had waved at me, I ran straight past her.
I was finished by about 9.20am so went back to the hotel as breakfast was being served till 10am. I had a quick change and was back downstairs by 9.40. They were very busy and didn’t have enough staff. It took 15 minutes to take my order and then put it this way, I had run the 10k quicker than they delivered my breakfast!
Fortunately I wasn’t in a hurry and Linda joined me for a cup of tea.
As we had free tickets for Kew Gardens we went back in, it is just a load of trees, very boring, but Linda seemed to enjoy it. We did go to the Royal Garden and Her Majesty has obviously been neglecting it. The plants were overgrown and the beds needed weeding, she needs to get back from Balmoral and get on with the weeding!
After this, we decided to go for a walk and walked along the Thames Path towards Putney, had a look at the National Archives (you can’t go in unless you have an appointment) and then found the local shopping area. I had a coffee in Costa while Linda wandered around the shops. We then walked back to the hotel area. They were playing cricket again and I later found out Jack Russell had been there to paint the scene.
In the evening we went for a walk to Kew Village where the tube station is, its about 10 minutes away. There is a Starbucks there and several restaurants where you could eat on the pavement. We stopped at one and I had a butternut curry and Linda a chicken burger. It was very nice.
Sunday morning we were up early for breakfast. They had more staff on duty today but weren’t much faster! As all the churches were closed or had services by appointment only we took the bus to Richmond Park to have a look around. It is a Royal Park and has been since the 17th century. Ian Drury used to walk there, and there is a bench with words from one of his hits ‘reasons to be cheerful.’ The views were great from the park and you could see St Pauls Cathedral in the distance - about 12 miles away.
King Henry’s mound is located in Pembroke Lodge Gardens, was traditionally the spot thought to be where King Henry VIII stood on 19 May 1536 to watch a rocket fired from the Tower of London.
This was the signal that his wife Anne Boleyn had been executed for treason and he would be able to marry Lady Jane Seymour. The story is unlikely to be true because Henry spent that evening in Wiltshire and its more likely it was a prehistoric burial chamber from the Bronze Age and later used as a viewpoint for hunting and falconry. It now offers fabulous panoramic views of the Thames Valley to the west and distant view of St. Paul's Cathedral to the east. The St. Paul's view has been faithfully preserved by generations of landscapers who have created a tree-framed sightline from the mound to the dome. The view is now protected and no new building is allowed to impede it.
There are deer in the park and you have to social distance from them at 50m - we didn’t see any, so they were obviously being careful.
We then walked back up the hill to Richmond, had a look round and followed the Thames Path back to Kew. This was about 3-4 miles, we did see a Paddle Steamer go through Richmond Lock.
On arrival back at Kew, there was another game of cricket going on, so we got a coffee and sat in the sun watching the cricket, batsman number 3 got to 99 and would have got a century but he ran out of overs.
In the evening we had a meal at the hotel, the food is really nice here and then watched England on TV beat Australia and Tottenham lose - as Ian Drury said ‘reasons to be cheerful!’
Monday, the sun was shining and after a big breakfast it was a walk to the tube station. Kew is on the district line so it was about a half hour ride to Embankment. The trains were virtually empty and everyone had their mask on.
We walked from Embankment to Trafalgar Square and was surprised how empty it was, very few people around, probably not even six! We had a wander down Whitehall, stopped outside the gates to number 10, but didn’t get invited in for tea - rather rude I think as if Boris had stopped outside my house, I would have offered him coffee. We also had no luck at Buck House, but then as the flag wasn’t flying HM was probably out.
Parliament Square was very quiet, not much traffic. We did think about going in Westminster Abbey but for £18, decided we would just stay outside for free. We then had a wander along St James Park and Linda was in her element with all the birds. Seen one bird seen them all…. It was really quiet outside Buckingham Palace, we saw a downsized changing of the guard, just two guards.
The we had a walk to the Girl Guiding Shop just round the corner but it was shut. We went in the HM Queens shop at Buckingham Palace, but it was very tacky, I had hoped to get some discounted Harry and Meghan goods - but there weren’t any. We went into another Royal shop and there was nothing worth buying so I was in and out very quickly. Linda did have a look and the sales lady said they had never had anyone come in and out as quick as me - so I now hold the record!
We stopped for coffee and sat looking at Buck House. After this we went for a walk to Sloane Square and Linda had a look around Peter Jones. It was then a slow amble along the Kings Road, looking in a couple of shops (well Linda did) and then we walked up the Fulham Road and popped into Stamford Bridge. It was empty so I treated Linda to a lunch in the cafe there, so she has sat and eaten where Super Frank has - what a claim to fame!
After lunch we wandered down to the Chelsea Harbour and there were some nice flats for sale overlooking The Thames and the Harbour - well if you have a £7 million spare.
We caught the train to Westfields, White City as Linda wanted to go to M & S and she managed to find something in there to buy she didn’t need! I just sat in the cafe and waited, and waited and waited…..
The BBC Television Centre, now apartments was on our way back to the tube station and our transport back to Kew.
An interesting day, it was surprising how empty London was and it meant we could enjoy the attractions without the crowds, get some good photos and perhaps go in shops that normally had queues.
Reasons to be cheerful - Chelsea’s victory over Brighton.