Heading for history

It is hot n sunny now and the Thames is wide and calm. We passed through Stains & Sheperton to stop for water at Chertsey lock.

Then we moved on to Weybridge for the night where we found super moorings where the river Wey joins the Thames. Our plan is to go up the Wey later and spend a few weeks travelling its length of 18 miles. 

But first we head for Hampton Court 6 miles further down the Thames. We picked up diesel at Shepperton Marina for 97 pence a litre and saw a Princess boat there for sale. “No, before you wonder, our son works for Princess Boats in Southampton and wanted to know if we see any.”

Good moorings were found outside Hampton Court gardens. The day had got hot again so we all went for a walk in the cool evening. Much of the land east of the Court is open to the public with its ‘Long Water’. The land was forest when King Henry the eighth hunted deer. There are still some deer left but most of the trees have gone.

George n Carol kindly looked after our Molly while we went to visit the Court and gardens. Much has changed over the years since I was taken there as a child. The Maze here for me is the real one so we did that first. The gardens that surround the Palace are spectacular and colourful, their layout and design amazing to see from inside and out. The Palace has been restored to display several apartments in historical time for Henry VIII, William III, Mary II and the Georgian period.