IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Chisholm Road, RICHMOND, TW10 6JH

When Richmond Park was first enclosed, by King Charles I, the Crown also commandeered a strip of land 16 feet 6 inches wide outside the Park wall. The primary purpose of this strip - the so-called freebord - seems to have been to allow passage along the wall for maintenance purposes. Over the course of centuries much of the freebord has been encroached upon, so that there are now few places where it is still constitutes a public passageway. One such place is here, off Chisholm Road, Richmond, where the freebord gives access to the Park via a pedestrian gate. The house on the right, built into the Park wall, is known as Bishop's Lodge - because once upon a time a gamekeeper called Bishop lived here.

I don't often submit photos of vehicles to Geograph, on the grounds that they're mobile. But this old Chevy 32 Apache hasn't moved for so long that it seems pretty much a landmark. The San José/California 'license plate' carries the date 1959. I get the impression that the vehicle is being restored, but it's a slow process.

Looking north-northeast.

Taken from just outside the Cambrian Gate, a pedestrian gate into Richmond Park.

This species, the Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea, is one which has done very well in the London area in recent decades. Within Richmond Park, there is a heronry in Pen Pond Plantation, and herons are an everyday sight - something which was not the case as recently as the early 1970's. What strikes me about this image is how the bird seems almost camouflaged in these watery surroundings. For another view, taken moments later, see: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2760145 Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve.

This species, the Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea, is one which has done very well in the London area in recent decades. Within Richmond Park, there is a heronry in Pen Pond Plantation, and herons are an everyday sight - something which was not the case as recently as the early 1970's. For another view of the same bird, see: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2755107 Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve

In early March this pond attracts spawning frogs - fairly easy prey for this heron. The water level in the pond is low - and rubbish which might otherwise go unnoticed is in full view. Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve.

I had been watching the heron for just a couple of minutes when it caught this frog - and scrambled out of the pond on to the bank. There were, no doubt, plenty of frogs in the pond in early March - spawning time. I'm left wondering how many frogs this heron catches in the course of 24 hours. Whether the frog was of our native species, the Common Frog, Rana temporaria, I can't say. In previous years I have heard and seen an introduced species, Pelophylax ridibundus - the Marsh Frog - at the Pen Ponds. Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve.

Most likely the same bird as I photographed here earlier in the year http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2845634. Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve.

Looking north-northeast.