Walton 13-24 Apr 22

 Two games of Rugby at the Stoop, Easter Mother visits made sense to stay near London so we booked into the Walton on Thames Camping and Caravanning Club Site for 11 nights. As we neared our destination on the journey down on Weds 14th we had our first taste of the awful, abysmal and boring traffic around this area. Some complete moron had decided that it was a good idea to reduce the speed limits to 20mph in most of London so, as well as looking out for the regular potholes, temporary traffic lights, bus lanes, cycle lanes, pedestrians, road works, white van men and various other impediments you have to constantly watch the speedo. It makes for exhausting travel.

Walton hasn't changed much over the years apart from looking a bit tatty. Wardens don't appear to be very keen on keeping the grass trimmed here, maybe for good reason, but it is not what we expect from one of the major clubs. We soon pitched up and then relaxed. The trouble with Walton is, despite it's proximity to London, it's miles from anywhere. 

The following day was Maundy Thursday and we travelled across London to Bromley in the Toad to visit mother in Law. Another absolutely horrendous journey - it would be quicker to go from home. We came back via the M25, a lot longer route, but at least we managed to move most of the time.

Good Friday and we took to the Toad again to visit the other Mother in Chiswick. About 8.7 miles as the crow flies but nearly an hour in the car. London hates drivers.

Saturday was the 1st of two matches at the Stoop so we thought we would take the local bus (461 - Falcon buses) to Kingston then a train for two stops to Twickenham. The bus cost over £4 each for a short journey! A taxi would have been cheaper. It was a glorious sunny day and we won the match, but lost the two-matches on aggregate by 1 point. Disappointing, but a great day out. As it was so warm and sunny we walked back, arriving knackered in the evening after witnessing some of London's finest residents  using the full range of their very  limited vocabulary to the fullest in an altercation between 2 families outside the funfair in Bushy Park. 

Exhausted after a long walk back

On Easter Sunday, and after 4 very hectic and stressful days, we decided that we were going to do naff all and just sit around the van all day - and that's just what we did!

Monday we felt we really ought to do something so we took a little stroll into Esher, weren't very impressed, but we did find a really nice microbrewery to sit outside on the way back. 

On Tuesday, since all the workers had gone back to work, we took the Toad into Kingston for a mooch about and a rather nice lunch in the Giggling Squid.

Once again the following day we braved the heavy traffic, rip-off parking charges and long queues to visit Kew Gardens. After the long wait to get in due to the inefficiency of their system (and only one cashier), it took some time to view Kew in a positive light. Once inside the marvellous glass houses things improved, only to decline again once we discovered the eye-watering charges for refreshments. I remember Kew being a bit of a bargain day out - it certainly ain't that now! Still, we were impressed with the scale of the place and we did really enjoy the tree top walk.

On Thursday it was the train to central London - Debs to meet up for lunch with old work friends and me to wander along the South Bank until we met up later in the day to go up the Shard. It was a superb day for stunning views over London, plus I managed to catch the 62 gun salute from the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London to celebrate the Queen's 96th birthday.

Loo with a view

On Friday it was a short hop (well, short in distance, but long in time - it is London after all) to Richmond Park to visit the Isabella Plantation to admire the stunning floral displays. Following that long walk we headed back to Costco in Sunbury to invest in a new lawnmower. Trying to get a lawnmower in a Smart Car was interesting.

Saturday it was off to the Stoop again to watch Harlequins beat Leicester. This time we caught the cheaper bus and changed at Kingston for a smooth journey to the pub, but the return journey in the evening was pretty awful, with a very long wait for the bus from Twickenham to Kingston. London may boast about it's wonderful public transport system but, in our eyes, it remains crap.

Sunday we were up early, packed and home before lunch with even the M25 being nice to us for a change.