IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Sayers Walk, RICHMOND, TW10 6JL

Looking north-northeast.

Looking north-northwest.

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.

On the perimeter of Richmond Park.

Exclusive hotel by the gate into Richmond Park. It sits opposite the Star and Garter Home. Note the ornate floral fountain in the foreground.

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.

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

Deer are normally seen in herds but this one, on this occasion, was on its own, quietly munching away, seemingly oblivious to the many onlookers taking photos of it.

What intrigues me about herons is the way they can change shape - 'shape-shift' - though much of the time they spend in this rather hunched position, with the neck retracted in an elaborate curve. I have been asked whether my heron pictures are taken from a hide. The answer is no, though at times I stand behind a small tree - which helps to steady a miniature camera. Range for this shot - taken not long before sunset - was perhaps 25 feet, possibly less. Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve.