16th JAN. RICHMOND to CHERTSEY/OLD SHEPPERTON (2650 Miles)

The evening before was I suppose the closest we came to a Christmas. Not only did we feel welcome but we felt completely spoilt. We sat down with the family for a fabtastic meal and to top it xmas pud and bread pud....bliss! We sat down  tired and enjoyed watching Africa on BBC.
We slept comfortably on the coach,  me waking at 5.30ish. We got up and as this was a normal day of the week  said our goodbyes to first Richard, Mon and being walked to the tow path and to the National archives where Ela works. It was a crisp morning,puddles frozen,  mud hard.
We said our goodbyes to Ela,  certainly a rare person,  we felt mothered,  fed and sent on our way with pasty and cake.

We made our way along the tow path to Richmond. Here we made our way up Richmond Hill, passed very expensive houses,  up to the park.We could not see any deer and made our way to King Henry's mound. From that point ,on a clearer day to ours ,you can use the telescope and to the east, ten miles away, see St Pauls. We could not make it out in the morning haze. There was also a reasonable view to the west.We sat for a while eating pasty ,still warm ,and cake until we walked down and rejoined the tow path.
A few miles on we stopped at a YMCA gym/cafe but due to expense only had a can of coke and water.
We felt as if we had had a few days off,  with a few days in London and the stay at Ela's.
In the hazy sun we continued on to Kingston where we saw briefly Mon and Christoff , Ela and Richards son and younger daughter ,who drove be briefly saying hello before traffic behind pushed them on. Mon goes to school nearby.
Following the meandering river we reached the spot we were on having come from the North Downs. We stopped at Hampton Court Bridge and had a few bics before walking to Sunbury and passed the stop / pitch near the water works onthe 12th.
By the time we reached the new Walton bridge construction site .Here we collected water and walked in dimming light to skirt Shepperton. This was the latest we had walked for some time. It was almost 5.15 when we pitched the near Rye Peck moorings,  near some sort of boat club.We were not to happy but had no choice due to light going rapidly but to pitch. A 100 metres along a sign saying 'beware of dog'. They are our curse.
We were both tired and only ate biscuits and had a couple of cups of tea. Falling asleep around 8. It was fairly cold outside , freezing, but warm in our bags.