The Borough of Richmond is not short of green spaces and being a dog-walker I am familiar with most of them; but there is a less known area alongside the Thames which is a little world of its own.

Me and Eddie the dog cross the river via the Teddington Lock footbridge, which offers beautiful sights of the Thames dotted with colourful houseboats. On the Ham side you can either follow the towpath towards Richmond or Kingston, or you can venture into Ham Lands stretching in front of you. This wonderful nature reserve boasts remarkable biodiversity with grasslands and small pockets of woodland crossed by a network of paths.

Walking here is like taking a little ‘holiday’ in the countryside every day. It’s an opportunity to watch every season slowly change and merge into the next one: the spring is a succession of blooms, first the yellows and the blues of the bluebells, then the pinks of the dog roses and some patches of wild sweet peas. In the summer the place is alive with birds – thrushes, blackbirds, magpies, crows, jays, herons nearer the river and the ubiquitous rose-ringed parakeets.

Towards the end of August the brambles are laden with big juicy blackberries (I have made so much jam with them) and the dog rose bushes are dotted with rosehips. In September and October you can pick as many apples and pears as you can cope with from the many trees scattered about. And while the winter is a more ‘meditative’ season, the place retains its wild beauty and you can still get lost in this little green world… and in your thoughts.

Photo courtesy of Tomopteris on FLickr