Walk 22: Richmond to Putney – 8th May 2026

Despite the fact that this was the 22nd walk along the same body of water, once again, this was a different experience. Firstly because this was the first time I got the train down to London instead of driving. Which gave me an additional 30 minutes lie in as I didn’t need to leave home until 6am rather than 5:30am.

And the other reason is because other than walk 5, which was coincidentally the same day last year when it was just myself and Ruth on the walk, this was the first time I was leading the group without either Jonathan or Ann as my “rocks” in the background. It was all me - and my amazing volunteers in David and Lydia of course.

The evening prior to this walk, Jonathan had called me at 8pm to say that there were overhead line outages affecting trains into and out of London Euston and on further investigation, a freight train had derailed impacting the route I would be taking the following morning. As it happened, my 06:55 train from Crewe left on time and was only delayed by reduced speed into London meaning my arrival into the city was delayed by about 40 minutes. While I was en-route though, Jonathan called to say no trains from his station were running into London so I was flying solo on this trip. A few text messages later though, David and Lydia were up to date and more than happy to help out - which was lucky because my later arrival into Euston, plus my poor navigation skills trying to find the left luggage kiosk at the station (how I haven’t got us lost more often on this series of walks I will never know!), then a 50 minute underground journey to Richmond, meant I arrived about 10 minutes later than the planned meeting time.

This was such a great group of people - I could feel there was an energy from the group as soon as I arrived, everyone was already chatting and getting to know each other. It felt like a 50/50 split of familiar faces and new joiners on this walk - 15 of us in total.

During the usual orientation I noticed as I was explaining that we only had 3 walks left that my voice started to wobble and I could feel a prickle behind my eyes that the experience was near its end. Goodness knows how I will cope on the 5th June walk!

I couldn’t not centre our check-in prompt around the fact that that day was also Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday! And I later found out that he grew up in Richmond so it was very fitting. The check-in invitation was this:

“Today marks Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday - a man who has done so much to promote and bring attention to nature. So on this walk, what do you want to bring more attention to?”

My answer was the river. The river and I have been the constants on this whole journey, just the two of us are the only ones who have experienced every step of the way together and for the majority of the walks I have felt really drawn to it, missing its presence on sections where we have had to divert away. However on the last few I have been more distracted by the busyness around us - people, buildings, noise and also making sure we keep the group together and safe when we have been in more built-up spaces and it’s not always easy to keep an eye on everyone. So on this walk, I wanted to reconnect with the river again.

This stretch was 8.5 miles long and David and I had plotted out some clear pause points for the 1:1 conversations and lunch. I have to say this was one of my favourite walks so far. Possibly because I hadn’t expected it to be. Despite being so close to the city, it was fairly quiet (although during my orientation at the start my voice was drowned out by passing sirens). There were a few bikes and other pedestrians but the path was almost enclosed by trees and greenery creating an archway for us to walk through.

I noticed so much nature on this walk too. There were some stunning trees, clearly incredibly ancient and wise, in particular a stunning Camouflage tree that stopped us in our tracks. The plants along the riverbanks like cow parsley and yellow rocket cress, the beautiful summer snow effect of the Poplar Seed Fluff creating a soft carpet on many sections of the path as we walked closer to Putney, the chirp of the birds - some parakeets and wrens along with others creating their chorus’, and there were also lots of Egyptian Geese with their cygnets, swans and I was drawn to the number of herons that were dotted along the water - solitary obviously, one of which glided along the water beside us as I was coaching someone.

I was very drawn to the river this time, partially because of the intention I set at the start but also because it was very low and so very calm. I did a bit of research afterwards to find out why this was and apparently despite this section of the river being tidal, there is a half tide barrier at Richmond which slows and holds the river upstream, creating a calmer, steadier feel which I really noticed. The low river level gave a really different view and experience of the river I have come to be so familiar with and it surprised me - in a good way. There were sections of what looked like stoney beaches and at one point I commented to David that I felt like I was at the seaside! Absolutely not what I expected. The low water level exposed roots and muddy edges to the river too, all of which played a part in me connecting more with the river - perhaps I have come to take it for granted and it was intentionally drawing me in with its difference to keep my attention - rather like my children would when they were younger, although perhaps in less of an attention-seeking way and more of a gentle reminder that it was still there.

There felt like less intentional coaching on this walk, but there was absolutely connection. It felt natural and flowed much like the river. Our walk took us past Kew where we got to see one of the Henry Moore sculptures in the garden overlooking the river (I later discovered it was Large Two Forms), past a balcony with a life size Storm Trooper overseeing us and under some stunning bridges - Hammersmith Bridge being the most grand and also so low that even me at 5 feet tall had to duck to walk under it.

We stopped for lunch in a raised garden and enjoyed some more conversation and connection. We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather, the odd tiny spot of rain but generally a lovely spring day where the sun came out towards the end of the walk.

I was talking about my coaching cards during the lunch break as I had been developing them for almost a year now in their current format and they went to print that morning so they can be created for others to purchase. I shared how many of the subjects of nature for each card have been inspired by the Source to Sea walks - the Red Kite following an observation by David on walk 13, the Willow following a conversation with Ruth on walk 5, the conkers at the start of walk 13 as we stood under a horse chestnut tree and they were underfoot, the blossoms from walk 4….I could go on. And then there’s the insights and impact the cards have had on people who have joined the walks, how they often give them permission to open up about challenges, thoughts or feelings they hadn’t aired previously but were bubbling under the surface.

Some other things I noticed on this walk - the helicopters flying overhead, planes in the sky that were not necessarily noisy but drew my attention upwards more. On one part there was a drone hovering overhead which I found curious as to what it was observing. Also, after the lunch break, one of the participants had wanted to speak with Jonathan and as he wasn’t there in person, he spent time remotely walking and talking with her, him near his home and our walker with us along the Thames. Offering another dimension to the connection.

Our closing check-out invited everyone to share what they had noticed during the walk. There was a theme of connection coming through, as well as gratitude and thanks for the experience. I reflected that I had, as intended, connected with the river much more and that actually I had co-regulated with the river too. In contrast to walk 19 in February where the speed and flow of the river impacted us to the point where we finished the walk in record time, the calmness of the river on this stretch impacted me and I too felt calm and grounded. We parted ways and I was aware many of us would be back there again next Friday for the penultimate walk before we reach the barrier.

I made my way back to Euston via the underground and suddenly felt very tired. When I got to the station 90 minutes before my train was due to depart, I was informed that it had in fact been cancelled. On the bright side, I was able to rebook and get an earlier train and be home 90 minutes earlier than originally planned. It was quite a contrast from the feel of the rest of the day though as the platform was announced and there was a mass rush to get to the train. People bumping into me, running over my feet and banging into me with their wheely suitcases, someone pushing ahead of me to squeeze onto the train, who then sat down in a seat I had been allocated and refused to move, so I sat somewhere else and was then moved by the occupants who had reserved those seats. I ended up squashed into a seat by the window with bags on my knee and giving way to exhaustion.

Crewe greeted me with rain when I arrived but it was nice to be just a 30 minute drive from getting home for a shower, some food and an early night. And then looking ahead to next week’s walk.

I notice as I am writing this the following day, I have never done so much research after a walk, wanting to know what I had seen and noticed, wanting to know more and being really present, wondering if I would have connected in the same way had this been a winter walk, what the flow of the river would have been and how that might change my experience of the same stretch of land and water? A testament to just how much our environment can shape our experiences.

We only have 2 walks left until we reach the barrier, so if you'd like to join us on our Source to Sea journey, you can find the latest schedule and link to book here.