Thames Landscape Strategy - Hampton to Kew -

Arcadian Diary April 2006

Luckily for me my partner loves the Thames just as much as I do so she is more than happy messing about in boats or striding out along the towpath. Over Easter we walked long stretches of the Thames Path up in Oxfordshire and the recent glorious sunny weather has been perfect for walks nearer to home. Recently we spent time down by the river at Teddington Lock before having lunch at a riverside pub in Kingston. It really was lovely and everything looked so fresh and beautiful. We sat for ages by the river watching a pair of swans play just downstream of Teddington Lock. All around us was the most splendid row of willow trees – the canopy spreading down to the waters edge. The trees were just coming out into leaf and looked magical – what a vibrant green they are at this time of year.

Just beyond the Lock we could see Teddington Studios. The Arcadian Thames has a wonderful and varied past and the film studios, for me are a really fascinating part of this history. The studios occupy the site of Weir House – one of the grand villas that once stretched from Richmond to Hampton along the banks of the Thames. In 1880, the house was bought by Mr Henry Chinnery who became interested in a new invention ‘film’. To foster this interest, Mr Chinnery invited a group of local filmmakers to shoot in his garden but as it was raining they had to occupy his large greenhouse. It quickly became obvious that this dry, light and spacious area was a perfect place in which to make films so Weir House became a focus for early movie making.

In these early days a succession of companies used the site which by now housed a series of purpose built ‘glasshouse’ studios mainly making silent black and white films. Following a fire in 1929 the studio was rebuilt by Warner Bros and filled with the most up to date technology including a huge sound stage facing onto Broom Road who set about making some of the box office hits of the day.

In 1944, the studios were hit by a V1 Flying Bomb causing much damage and loss of life including the studio manager and many of his staff. The studios were quickly rebuilt and film making continued through the 1950s. Sadly the site became redundant and was used to house aircraft of all things. It was TV that changed Teddington’s fortunes and in 1958 ABC purchased the site and set about transforming the studios with the latest video technology. Later, many great ‘Thames TV’ series were shot at Teddington including ‘The Avengers’, ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’, ‘Minder’ and ‘This is Your Life’. The site become synonymous with the production of classic comedies such as ‘Monty Python’, ‘Bless this House’ and ‘Benny Hill’. Although now owned by a private production company, the studios still make TV shows that are familiar to us all and still provide one of the more colourful aspects of river life in our area.

Weather permitting, the April / May period is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for visiting the riverside. In my opinion, May is also the month of the year when the Thames is at its most beautiful so I always try to get out as much as I can. After the long winter the riverside suddenly springs into life just as the wonderful weeping willows at Teddington Lock reminded me last weekend. The wakening trees, carpets of bluebells, meadows full of wild flowers and the return of the cows on Petersham Meadows all add to the scene. The walker along Ham Avenues or up Richmond Hill is rewarded with one of nature’s most special displays – the cow parsley. Great swathes of white flowers line the paths heralding the onset of summer. I know I say it every year but if I am to recommend one thing to do over the Bank Holiday it would be to walk down by the Thames or along the magnificent avenues at Ham and enjoy this show – it is just beginning now.

One of the best places to enjoy the cow parsley is in the woodland garden at Orleans House Gardens in Twickenham. The house is now home to the London Borough of Richmond art collection and is well worth a visit but the main interest to the Thames Landscape Strategy is the riverside garden, which is currently being restored with the help of local volunteers and the council.

The House dates back to the early C18th when the grounds were laid out as a formal garden with orchards. As gardening tastes changed however, the original terraces were removed in favour of a more natural setting for the house. The garden reached its heyday in the Regency period when Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orleans lived there (the French monarch in exile following the revolution) and the house became known as Orleans House and was regularly visited by a young Queen Victoria.

Gravel digging in the 1920’s regrettably destroyed these gardens but the general woodland effect we see today, although somewhat milder than intended is very much in keeping with the classic Regency garden. For this reason, it was decided to restore the garden in the ‘spirit of a Regency Garden’ rather than as an exact replica of the original. Each restoration needs to look at each site differently. In some places a straight garden restoration is needed whereas in others wildlife may have taken over so what is needed is a very light touch accepting that the open space now has a different function. At Orleans, a restoration plan was put in place by the Thames Landscape Strategy based on historic and ecological research carried out by the Garden History Society and a dedicated group of local horticultural experts.

The restoration plan will re-establish the woodland walks, shrubberies and glades of the period without the need to disturb the C20th tree growth. In fact most of the tree work has already been carried out to create lovely sunny glades that are now full of a magnificent mix of wild flowers including at this time of year – cow parsley. In the more formal areas of the garden to the front of the house, lawns and flower beds have been laid out in the picturesque manner and the connection between the Grade I listed Octagon Room and the Thames was of course re-opened.

The delightful woodland garden between Orleans and Marble Hill House serves to remind us that this stretch of the Thames was once occupied by a succession of villas set in large grounds which blended harmoniously into the river landscape. Although these now have a variety of different uses from film studios to art galleries without them much of the landscape we cherish today would be very different.

Jason Debney is Co-ordinator of the Thames Landscape Strategy Hampton to Kew.

River Fact

Richmond Biodiversity Partnership hopes to record butterfly populations in the area and are asking for your help. Local naturalists are asked to record sightings and the following information – name of the butterfly, numbers, where seen and the date of the sighting. For more information or to send your results please contact robin.daniels@btinternet.com

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