Old Palace Lane - # 115

On the other side of the lane, opposite the wall of the Old Palace we have a line of tiny old workman's cottages, dazzling white, with nicely kept gardens to enjoy as we walk down from The Green to the river at the bottom end. Behind them is the railway embankment which takes the 1840s technology monster across the Thames towards Windsor and Reading. Queen Victoria is said to have loved railway trains and I imagine her looking out from this line as the royal train took her to Windsor.

Even the Normans loved Richmond - # 114

The Normans conquered England in 1066, and very quickly built a royal summer palace in Richmond (a nice "out of town" riverside retreat in those days). The palace stood there from the early 1100s until it burnt down more than 500 years later in the early 1600s! The house was greatly enjoyed by Henry V111 and Elizabeth 1 who died there. Here is part of the old wall alongside Old Palace Lane.