Boats, boats, boats. A Thames walk - Richmond to Hampton Court

I was in Twickenham for the American Football. Travelling down beforehand gave us a chance for a great walk
We started at this bridge in Richmond, where our hotel was. This is the railway bridge and lock.

A glorious Autumn day.

There are plenty of house boats along the river: this was my favourite group.

Leaving Richmond Bridge behind, we started our walk upstream

 The river was busy

Most of the walk was along the river bank but for a short period, it was through quiet riverside woods

Teddington Lock: it is absolutely huge

Looking back at the lock

There were lots of boat stores along the river

...plus all kinds of boats (and boathouses)

  
Approaching Kingston upon Thames,

Kingston Bridge

By now, we were hungry - but there were lots of lovely cafes right by the water here. The first since Richmond itself. 

We crossed the Bridge here at Hampton Wick

Continuing on the north bank, we passed more boats

...including the Southern Belle

This was a strange island called Thames Ait - you can hire it for functions.

Another paddle boat, in action this time - and disturbing the fishermen.

There were boatyards and clubs every mile or so

We passed Hampton Court Palace, but there are too many railings to get a good view.

Paddle boat, rowing boat and cruiser

Hampton Court's chimneys. Walking had taken much of the day, so we didn't have time to visit the Palace itself

We had planned to get a bus back (there are 4 per hour) but we saw this boat: £10 for a boat ride back to Richmond. We jumped aboard

Better view of Hampton Court from the boat! 

Even though it was now late afternoon, there were plenty of dinghies on the river for our return trip

It looked great fun

We arrived back, to walk home through the Old Deer Park.

This walk was so lovely, we thought we might try to do the whole of the Thames Path, but in sections. Should be easy to do, with the good transport links, at least for the greater London bits.
Today's walk: about 8 miles along the Thames Path. There is a choice of routes at first- north or south bank, but we followed the south as it looked to be closer to the river. From Kingston/Hampton Wick, it's the north bank only. The walking was easy but full of interest. Large chunks were surprisingly isolated.  
The boats run every day in the season, but weekends only from October.