Episode 38 looks at the south west London district of ‘Richmond’. Watch #LondonDistricts episodes on TV with bonus content @ Sky 117, Freeview 8, Virgin Media 159 and YouView 8 via London Live. Subtitles available under video via CC button.
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Richmond is the principal district inside the massive London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames along with the areas of Kew, Twickenham and Hampton to name a few.

The view we are looking at are the meadows and riverbanks of Petersham, a village on the eastern end of the district and Ham Lands, a nature reserve in the Ham area which crosses over into Richmond.

This district is as large as most inner London boroughs and more than 75% of it is Richmond Park wrapped inside an 8 mile, Grade II listed wall. It’s 7 times bigger than Hyde Park, 32 times bigger than Greenwich Park and Green Park can fit inside it 60 times. At 2,300 acres, it is by far the largest of all the Royal parks. About 650 red and fallow deer roam around in there freely with the public and they shape the way the park looks.

Richmond upon Thames is the only borough in Greater London stretching across both sides of our meandering river situated 8 miles away from Charing Cross in transport zone 4.

Until 1501, Richmond was known as Shene. The last two letters were later swapped around to read s-h-e-e-n. Henry VIII’s dad, the last English king to win his throne on the field of battle, renamed the place Richmond. The word is adapted from old French Richmont which is simply rich or splendid together with mont which means hill.

“So, we’re here in Richmond to enjoy this gorgeous day, by the river, fantastic foodie market. We’re drinking Rose by Conte Leopardi; our wines are naturally made, just gorgeous drinking. No sugars added on a sunny day out in Richmond close by the Thames.”

Richmond is a place that pays homage to its becoming. It includes a free museum which showcases its history and produces the remembrance poppies sold each November for Remembrance Day.

The atmosphere in Richmond is perfectly suited to its infrastructural make-up. On a nice day, the riverside quickly becomes full of people partaking in the beautiful setting by the river. If you plan to see all Richmond has to offer, I would advise renting a bike, a row boat or taking a cruise up and down it.

This place has a reputation for being well looked after and visually pretty. It is also officially the London district with the lowest amount of poverty and has very low-crimes rates. It’s no secret that Richmond is the district of choice for several of our most renowned international actors, musicians and athletes. The list is long but you may find the likes of Angelina Jolie, Tom Hardy, Jane Horrocks, Brad Pitt, Mick Jagger and ahem Rick Astley walking past you.

This is the church of St Mary Magdalene, the sinner who Jesus reformed by casting 7 demons out of her. After she told her mates what he did, they also became his followers.

Richmond Theatre opened in 1899 beside Little Green with a performance of ‘As You Like It’.

At the heart of the town sits Richmond Green which is almost square open grassland. The locals tell me this is the real treasure of Richmond. They go there to chill out on summer weekends and public holidays. It was traditionally used for archery since the 16th century but is now much better known as one of the places cricket matches began in England. The 92-year-old celebrated broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough actively lives in a house circling this green and describes Richmond as his ”favourite place by a long way”.

Gelateria Danieli was birthed in Richmond making authentic gelato more readily available in the UK. Richmond Bridge is 243 years old, the oldest surviving bridge over the River Thames. Ham house here is the most completely in tact one across Europe from 1610.

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Filmed and edited by #DewyneLindsay
Music by Dewyne Lindsay – soundcloud.com/yeth-thar
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