Richmond to Eel Pie Island, 4 miles

We will meet outside the Richmond tube station and make our way via the scenic Thames path.

• We will walk towards the Richmond Bridge and cross the river. Then we will proceed via the Cambridge Gardens, Meadowbank and Marble Hill park to see the Marble Hill House, which is a Neo-Palladian villa, now Grade I listed. It was built between 1724 and 1729 as the home of Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk, who lived there until her death. The compact design soon became famous and furnished a standard model for the Georgian English villa and for plantation houses in the American colonies.
• We will then continue our walk via the Orleans Gardens and pass by the Orleans House gallery. Art lovers can always come back to visit the gallery, which is open Tue-Sun 10am – 5pm and it's a free entry.
• We will then make our way to see the formidable York House and Gardens. This former stately home currently serves as the Town Hall of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
• A short walk from there to see the Eel Pie Island. This was a famous Jazz venue in 1960s. The island has about 50 homes, 120 inhabitants and two or three boatyards, as well as some other small businesses and artists' studios. For brief periods each year, usually in June and December, 26 studios in and around a working boatyard, open to the public enabling them to enjoy and buy the artists' works.

This is where the walk ends. Twickenham station is 10mins away, buses back to Richmond are 5mins away.

Optional drinks/lunch at the local Weaterspoons after the walk.

What to bring:
Comfortable footwear
Water
Photo-taking gadgets and chargers
An umbrella just in case (it's London after all)

The walk is free for members who have subscribed for an annual membership. For other members the fee is £5 cash/card on arrival to contribute towards the organiser's meetup fees and costs.

The annual pass option is £15 payable by PayPal on the group's page, or cash/card on the day. This will provide access to at least 30 walks per year (members are welcome to bring a guest to each event).

All walks are free for the NHS staff (also welcome to bring a guest).

'No Show' Policy: If the member replied 'yes' but did not attend the event, did not update the RSVP and did not inform the organisers on 3 occasions – this triggers an automatic removal from the group. That's once for events with a waiting list.