I do this walk once or twice a week when I go to Ham House to volunteer and I love it. Once I’ve got out of town, I hit the river and this is the best part of the walk….
Through Buccleuch Gardens….
Out the other side and along the edge of Petersham Meadows…
Petersham Meadows on my left and the Thames on my right…
Cows in Petersham Meadows…
Ducks on the path…
The Thames, behind a ton of forage-able dock leaves….
Horses came here recently!
Marble Hill House on the opposite side of the river so I know Ham House is soon….
When I see an open space in the trees ahead on the left, I know Ham House is only another minute away…
Sure enough…
The little bridge….
The trees are hiding the house…
Horses from the riding school next door….
Almost….
There it is!
To the right of the front door, the windows you can see at the bottom here, those are the kitchen windows! I spend all day looking out at feet!
I take the side gate around the building (that’s my kitchen window again, bottom left)…
… Which brings me to the door the volunteers use to get in, the black one on the left….
I then go down a few steps to the bathroom area….
… Into the eerily quiet and empty downstairs, which contains the bathroom, the beer cellar, the kitchen and the mess rooms…
Turning left, I get into the scullery, which then opens out into my favourite room in Ham House….
The kitchen! This is where I spend all my time baking, the room I know most about and the place where I feel most comfortable, whilst working at the…
Beautiful and huge old table, built in the kitchen in 1610 using elm wood from an elm tree on the estate. This table is my favourite thing in the house. And probably my favourite table of all the tables I have known.
Readers, if you do not yet have a favourite table, I suggest you get onto it.
And that is my journey, once or twice a week. It’s quite nice, as it happens.
lazylauramaisey 
Posted by rambler5319 on June 14, 2013 at 13:00
What a brilliant commute. I bet loads of people would swap theirs with yours (especially in the summer time!). In the pic with the signpost there is an arrow to “Twickenham Ferry”. How much does it cost to go, how long does it take and where does it land? How come people don’t just go over the bridges? Could you get a pic next time you’re walking to Ham House or is it too far off your track? Just curious really.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 14, 2013 at 13:43
The bridges are pretty far apart in this bit of the river. Between Richmond bridge and the next one down it’s about an hour and a half walk. The ferry takes you from Ham House to Marble Hill House. It’s only really really small and not very expensive.
Posted by Maggie O'C on June 14, 2013 at 19:05
Magnificent post! Don’t you live in London? There is such bucolic countryside that close to London? This is Fabulous, Absolutely Fabulous! Can I come live with you? I will be a detective at Ham House while you bake. LLM, one of my most fave of your posts and I have a lot of them.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 15, 2013 at 05:35
Yes, this is, in fact, London! And not a block of concrete in sight. London’s actually quite a green place. There are lots of protected parks etc. This walk, though, is unusual in how it looks like you’re in the actual countryside. You’re welcome to join me to detect things at Ham House. There are loads of ghosts there for you to detect. I’ll go on one of the ghost tours and report back. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Posted by Maggie O'C on June 16, 2013 at 04:13
I loved it. xo
Posted by rambler5319 on June 15, 2013 at 16:06
You didn’t mention picking up the horse pooh to use as manure in your garden, very recyclable. (Don’t tell me you didn’t!) When I was small people used to come out in the street with a bucket and shovel to pick it up after horses had gone through.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 19, 2013 at 11:44
O man. I didn’t even think of it!
Posted by rambler5319 on June 21, 2013 at 10:59
Man-you’re not thinking! (See what I did there?)
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 21, 2013 at 20:29
Good one!
Posted by traditionis on June 18, 2013 at 11:20
Ohhhhhhhhhh Fantastic! I love,I love everything! I want a table like this.I’m looking to buy!! wood stove is my dream!
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 19, 2013 at 11:45
The table is fantastic, isn’t it?
Posted by Alex Jones on June 20, 2013 at 19:31
Thanks for the scenic tour. I like the table too.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on June 21, 2013 at 20:25
The table awesome. If it could talk it would have some interesting stories to tell. I’m glad you liked the tour.
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Posted by daniellajoe on July 23, 2013 at 13:25
Thanks for the tour!!! It is a lovely walk 🙂 ps that table is vintage fine…
Posted by lazylauramaisey on July 26, 2013 at 06:20
Yes, it’s lovely, isn’t it? If that table could talk, I’m sure there’d be tons of good stories it could tell. PS some of Downton Abbey was filmed in Ham House so it is very exciting to work there!
Posted by daniellajoe on July 26, 2013 at 10:14
good for you enjoy! 🙂
Posted by Maggie O'C on July 24, 2013 at 22:04
It won’t let me like this twice. But in my heart, I know I do.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on July 26, 2013 at 06:33
I do too.
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