Another weekend, another hike in the London area… (my 26th consecutive weekend of hiking!). Although the weather is beautiful today, my time was limited. So I took the Tube toward Wimbledon – nearly to the end of the line – and hopped off in Wimbledon Park. This pleasant (and I imagine quite affluent) suburb is the starting point for Segment 6 of the Capital Ring Walk, a 78-mile continuous walking route encircling the city of London. Today’s walk started, perhaps not surprisingly, in Wimbledon Park… filled with tennis courts.
Nearly all of today’s route was in parks, including vast meadows, grassy fields, forests, lakes and ponds. Indeed, the route spends more time in nature than on many of my other London walks. After crossing Wimbledon Park and through some upscale Wimbledon neighborhoods, I crossed the rough forestland of Wimbledon Common and emerged at the historic Wimbledon Windmill, now a museum. Very cool, but I didn’t have time to go inside. Soon I reached a busy road crossing, and looked for the pedestrian-crossing button common at most London street crossings. I found one, unusually high. Why? This button is for equestrians! (I found the pedestrian button nearby.) There was even a small horse corral on the traffic island in the middle of the four-lane road, where horses could gather after crossing halfway.
I crossed Richmond Park, which is one of the largest of the London-area Royal Parks. (I really enjoyed my previous visit there back in December.) Wild deer are common here, as are wild parakeets. This fellow was snacking on fresh shoots from a lakeside tree.
After a quick stroll through the gardens around hilltop Pembroke Lodge, I descended out of the park and followed the south bank of the Thames River into the cute town of Richmond.
A truly pleasant walk on a beautiful day! Check out the photo gallery.
Hike stats:
Distance: 7.54 miles (12.1km)
Time: 2h34m
Gain: 388 feet (118m)
GaiaGPS track
David Kotz 
What a lovely way to welcome spring!