Last Monday I returned to a place I had not visited for more than 60 years. To get to the location, I walked from a car park in Bushey Park through Hampton Court Palace grounds to the Thames, along the embankment as far as Surbiton to return to a location I had not been to since I was a young boy. In the 50s, we would walk across Claremont Gardens in Surbiton, down Grove Road, cross Portsmouth Road to Harts Boatyard to board a small ferry (one man rowing) across to the Middlesex bank of the Thames. There we would go through a gate to a path between two fences leading into Home Park to float our sailing boats on a lake before venturing a few further yards to the end of The Long Water, which extends to Hampton Court Palace – such nostalgic memories.
