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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; £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.
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