Hampton Court Circular Walk

Two royal parks and Britain's finest surviving Tudor building.

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date	Post	#	Weather
Sun, 08-Oct-23	Hampton Court & Bushy Park	14	sunny hot
Sat, 14-Mar-20	– Hampton Court and two Royal Parks	6	fine and bright
Sun, 04-Mar-18	– Royal Parks (Hampton Court Circular)	9	some rain at first then dull and dry
Sun, 16-Oct-16	2 – Two Royal Parks	4	sunny
Sun, 08-Mar-15	Hampton Court Circular Walk	7

Sunday 08-Oct-23

Hampton Court & Bushy Park 14

Sean

Extra Walk 240′ – Hampton Court to Hampton Wick

Length: 13¼ km (8.2 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:57 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 11:01, Clapham Jct 11:06, etc), arriving at 11:34.

Trains back are half-hourly: at xx:02 & xx:31 from Hampton Wick, or xx:05 & xx:35 if you return to Hampton Court. Both stations are in TfL Zone 6.

A few weeks ago the evening walkers ventured out to the Royal Parks in south-west London to encounter wild beasts bellowing at each other, and gave the autumn rut spectacle an “absolutely fab” rating. The deer in Home Park and Bushy Park should still be in fine voice, but do keep your distance from them.

The Pheasantry café in Bushy Park's Woodland Gardens is the suggested place to stop for refreshments; you'll go past it twice so could stop for lunch, tea or both as you wish. The main route takes you back to Hampton Court station, but on this ending you now have to endure a busy main road since you're no longer able to cut through the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. I suggest taking the slightly longer ending to Hampton Wick, where the Foresters Arms is a nice spot for a drink if you're not in a hurry to get back.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.240 page.

Mr M Tiger

Mon, 09-Oct-23

14 The weather sunny hot A pleasant picturesque walk through two Royal Parks. Bushy Park,in particular, was full of resplendent stags bellowing away. The deer were noisy too. Also seen or heard were: parakeets, herons, a jackdaw, some BIG fish and dragonflies.
The lunch stop was the Pheasant Cafe where, because of the heat, some opted for the hugely expensive, and, to Mr Tiger’s palate, deeply unpleasant pale ale. Only halfs though. We’re not THAT rich.
After the lunch it was back round the park again. This gave Mr Tiger an opportunity to exercise his whinge muscles. The heat and the previous day’s walk had got to him.
One of our number had acquired some free passes to Hampton Court and some finished back there to avail themselves thereof. 5 went for the Hampton Wick ending, being more interested in the nearby Foresters Arms. Here, they plied Mr Tiger with cider and crisps till he could take no more.

Saturday 14-Mar-20

– Hampton Court and two Royal Parks 6

Sean

Extra Walk 240 – Hampton Court Circular
Length: 12½ km (7.8 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:36 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:40, Clapham Jct 10:45, etc), arriving at 11:12. If you just miss this at Waterloo, the 10:42 to Basingstoke overtakes it on its non-stop journey to Surbiton (arr 10:59, dep 11:05). Hampton Court is in TfL Zone 6.

Trains back from Hampton Court are half-hourly at xx:24 & xx:54.

As February has been officially declared as the wettest month since the dinosaurs died out, here's a short walk in a couple of Royal Parks to escape from the sodden countryside. Although the walk author will no doubt have done his best to devise a muddy route, there'll be more chance of diverting onto paved paths and other firm surfaces if the conditions warrant it.

The suggested lunch stop is the Pheasantry café in Bushy Park's Woodland Gardens, which you'll reach at around 12:30pm (and again an hour or so later if you'd prefer to press on). There are plenty of tea places towards the end of the walk, eg. the Tiltyard café in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. You'll need a king's ransom if you want to visit the palace and formal gardens, but the café and refreshment kiosks are in the (free) ‘informal gardens’: these usually have a good display of early spring flowers and blossom.

You'll need to bring the directions from the Hampton Court Circular walk page. For those willing to go off-piste the written directions include some suggested detours off the (fairly straightforward) GPS route, eg. in the Woodland Gardens. T=swc.240

Sean

Sat, 14-Mar-20

I've just read that all suburban services out of Waterloo via Wimbledon are cancelled this morning because of a major signalling problem. So no trains to Hampton Court. I doubt if anyone will show up for this walk...
Daisy Roots

Sat, 14-Mar-20

I'm heading to Dorking to do Dorking Circular, sort walk #274. Trains are running to Dorking via Victoria. Maybe see some of you en route.
Anonymous

Sat, 14-Mar-20

6
fine and bright
Great walk in most enjoyable company.
Thank you to Sean for posting it.

Sunday 04-Mar-18

– Royal Parks (Hampton Court Circular) 9

Sean

Extra Walk 240 – Hampton Court Figure-of-8
Length: 13 km (8.1 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:59 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 11:03, Clapham Jct 11:10, etc), arriving at 11:37. Hampton Court is in TfL Zone 6.

Trains back from Hampton Court are half-hourly at xx:05 (direct) & xx:35 (change at Surbiton).

This Sunday's short walk is a meander around the royal parks at Hampton Court, hopefully with some early spring flowers and blossom. Because the direct trains are only hourly this Sunday I've started the walk half an hour later than usual, which gives you the option of an early pub lunch in Hampton Wick. Alternatively, I've always been satisfied with the food at the Pheasantry café in Bushy Park's Woodland Gardens, which you'll reach at around 1pm. You could even stop there again for tea on the way back but there are plenty of other places towards the end of the walk, eg. the Tiltyard café in the ‘informal gardens’ (free entry) of Hampton Court Palace.

You'll need to print the maps and directions from the Hampton Court Circular Walk page. T=swc.240

Anonymous

Sat, 03-Mar-18

Sounds good and light on mud post-melt. See you all there.
PeteB

Sun, 04-Mar-18

Eight off the train at Hampton Court and we picked up 1 other SWC stalwart in Hampton Court Park who was doing part of the walk and then going to see relatives in SW London so 9 in all. I know Hampton Court park fairly well as I was a student at Kingston Poly in the early 70s and spent many happy, and lets be frank, fairly drunken summer hours with friend there, and we quickly made our way to the pub at the Kingston entrance to the park which has now sadly closed so we decided to continue on to the Pheasantry cafe but with a couple of head-scratching moments over the directions en route.
After a decent lunch things got a bit weird! There is no gpx file for the walk so those with the written directions (not me) took over following the route and they became a bit confused with where we were and needed to get to regarding our position in relation to various cottages, plantations and other parkland features so after one bout of faffing around I and one other just decided to use gps to take a direct southerly route back to Hampton Court station -by-passing the Pheasantry cafe as a possible tea stop - where we bought tea and cake from the station cafe for the 3.30pm train back to London.
Perhaps those following the walk directions were having an off day but they certainly became somewhat confused by them. Perhaps inattention was to blame and the park has a myriad of tracks and paths you can take and writing directions for these can be difficult. I'm sure the others found a good route back to the Pheasantry for drinks and then back to the station. A gentle and pleasant day out but a gpx/kml download would make things a lot easier! Oh the weather: some rain at first then dull and dry .
(Some comments from the other walkers about the directions would be helpful.)

Sunday 16-Oct-16

2 – Two Royal Parks 4

Sean

Extra Walk 240 – Hampton Court Figure-of-8
Length: 13 km (8.1 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:27 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:31, Clapham Jct 10:36, etc), arriving at 11:03. Hampton Court is in TfL Zone 6.

Trains back from Hampton Court are at 05 & 35 minutes past the hour.

If you missed last Sunday's encounter with Richmond Park's deer in the rutting season, here's another chance to see these magnificent animals in the parkland and gardens around a famous royal palace, with the added attraction of some early autumn colour on the trees. The pubs in Hampton Wick come a bit too soon for lunch so I suggest stopping at the Pheasantry café in Bushy Park's Woodland Gardens; you'll be going past it at around 12:30 and then again an hour or so later, allowing you to opt for an early or a late lunch stop. The suggested tea stop is the Tiltyard café in the palace grounds, but there are plenty of other refreshment places just across the main road from Hampton Court station.

Earlier this year Historic Royal Palaces controversially ended a longstanding tradition of free entry to the Formal Gardens outside the main summer season, but you can still wander freely around the Wilderness and other ‘informal gardens’.

You'll need to print the maps and directions from the Extra Walk 240 page. T=swc.240

Anonymous

Tue, 18-Oct-16

4 on this lovely walk. Sunny and warm all day. Lots of deer in both parks.
Thank you Sean.
Anonymous

Tue, 18-Oct-16

4 sunny