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Richmond
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Tube: Richmond.
On emerging from the station at Richmond , you'd be forgiven for wondering why you're here, but the procession of chain stores spread out along the one-way system is only half the story. To see the area's more interesting side, take one of the narrow pedestrianized alleyways off busy George Street, which bring you to the wide open space of Richmond Green , one of the finest village greens in London, and no doubt one of the most peaceful before it found itself on the main flight path into Heathrow. Handsome seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses line the south side of the Green, where the medieval royal palace of Richmond once stood, though only the unspectacular Tudor Gateway survives today. The other place to head for in Richmond is the Riverside , pedestrianized, terraced and redeveloped in ersatz classical style in the 1980s. The real joy of the waterfront, however, is Richmond Bridge , London's oldest extant bridge, an elegant span of five arches made from Purbeck stone in 1777. The old town hall, set back from the new development, houses the tourist office (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; Easter-Sept also Sun 10.15am-1.30pm; tel 020/8940 9125), and, on the second floor, the Richmond Museum (Tues-Sat 11am-5pm; May-Oct also Sun 1-4pm; A?2), but most folk prefer to ensconce themselves in the riverside pubs, or head for the numerous boat- and bike-hire outlets.
Richmond's greatest attraction, though, is the enormous
Richmond Park
(daily March-Sept 7am-dusk; Oct-Feb 7.30am-dusk; free;
www.royalparks.co.uk),
at the top of Richmond Hill - 2500 acres of undulating grassland and bracken, dotted with coppiced woodland and as wild as anything in London. Eight miles across at its widest point, this is Europe's largest city park, famed for its red and fallow deer, which roam freely, and for its ancient oaks. For the most part untamed, the park does have a couple of deliberately landscaped plantations which feature splendid springtime azaleas and rhododendrons, in particular the
Isabella Plantation
. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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