Richmond town
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2006
1
8
232
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Richmond (London),
United Kingdom
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
We set off on another town walk via the northern route...Sheen Road via Worple Way. We checked out the prices in a couple of small restaurants because we might have a meal out on my birthday tomorrow. Also popped in to the Sony shop and looked at those digital note takers. After all I am owed a birthday present. Walked around to the coffee shop and sent emails to our son and S who is looking after our house.
We found the library opposite the Little Green in a building designed specifically as a library in 1881 on the west side of town and joined up. Too late we discovered that the DVDs cost £2 and CDs, £1 a week to borrow. So much for a lending library. Mind you I don't blame them. In Australia we are very lucky on that score to be able to borrow for three weeks any of the above plus CD ROMs in some libraries. There are no video rentals in town so they probably do a good business.
There are also no fresh bread shops, no greengrocers and no fish 'n' chip shops. We did find a butcher. The Richmonders are serviced by three major supermarkets which provide all of the above but it's not quite the same. We found this trend in the other suburbs too. The most common retail outlet around SW London is the pizzeria be it a small takeaway outlet or a major chain of restaurants. There must be big profits in throwing ham, tomato and cheese onto a pastry base and then burning it...especially at Domino's prices.
We walked around the Big Green to see the site of the old Royal palace, none of which remains but from pictures it was a very impressive building. Very exclusive properties around here which is reflected in the ownership of cars. The street outside the new apartments here looks like a motor show with all the latest European cars...especially the sports models.
We continued around the front of the palace site along the river towards the Richmond Bridge where we had been the day before. Checked out the restaurants on the Hill and Bridge area ...of which there were many. Up the Hill Rise and along Friars Style Road. There was supposedly a video library in this road but it was closed down. Where do people in Richmond rent their videos? They must spend a lot of time watching regular TV...soccer and soaps I suppose.
Back to the apartment and it's only lunchtime.
Our afternoon drive took us across Richmond Bridge down to the shops at Twickenham. Parking is damn near impossible. One has no choice but to find a park 'n' pay car park and then wait for an empty spot. All the side streets are lined with parked cars, supposedly residents only, but I think there must be some scams going on. Too many cars for too few people, most of whom should be at work. I don't know how the Twickenham shops get their customers. Yes, I do. They travel by bus. Every other vehicle on the road is a bus and they have 24hour bus lanes with cameras to catch any car that dare stray into that purple zone. Twickenham high street was lined with small shops and small shopkeepers. Nothing much bigger than your old corner shoppe. At one end it was naught but restaurants and cafes with a predominance of pizza.
The busiest place in town and elsewhere was always the post office and they do not even have a shop...apart from a few envelopes. There were always long queues. Someone is doing a good job marketing the Royal Mail. We found a Marks and Spencer food store and The Rugby shop...which was empty.
Supermarkets in SW London were very clean and tidy compared to the last time I shopped here. In the one called Waitrose it is immaculate. Reminded me of David Jones food hall but it is a chain across south London. Spotless aisles, clearly marked products and fancy packaging. [I was fearful to remove anything from a shelf in case the supermarket police slapped a ticket on my trolley for spoiling the arrangement.] Packaging on the whole had gone overboard. There is just too much information on the outside. Even the fresh fish in the window of a fishmonger(?) had labels describing its species, the waters in which it was caught (such as North Sea), the name of the boat and names of all the crew members who would be who would be held responsible if the fish proved unpalatable. [The latter is not true but maybe one day...]
We were desperate to find a wool shop to buy some stuffing for Anne. A special polyester filling that is shoved up the arse of her dolls to pad them out. In a nation of knitters there is no wool let alone stuffing. We were directed to a couple of places but no luck.
Back to the apartment in rush hour. As Anne cooked our evening meal I watched the squirrels running up and down the trees outside our window.
