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I have lived in London most of my life and rarely venture to the west side of the city. Richmond Park was therfore somewhat of a surprise. It is one of the Royal Parks of which there are ten. As a person who loves nature, my daughter has been encouraging me to visit for a while now as she regularly visits and cycles around the park at weekends.

As soon as you enter the park you notice that there are a lot of visitors; many arrive by car , some by public transport, but one thing that stood out was the number of cyclists tearing around the park.

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Cyclists and cars compete for the road surface; pedestrians should not stray off the grass for fear of collision. I am sure you get used to it but it is a little strange where wild animals roam freely.

The deer are beautiful, both red and fallow, and you can get really quite close; the park recomends fifty metres but few people observe the distancing- a little like social distancing for Covid.

This is the rutting season but I failed to get a picture of the rut or of a bellowing stag (though I did see some youngsters rutting and a large stag bellowing). The numbers are strictly kept down to protect the ecosystem and a cull starts soon. Someone should cull the cyclists – a joke.

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The colours in the Isabella Gardens were fantastic but for some reason the pictures came out a little blurred. The bird life and sounds seemed to be dominated by paraqueets clearly attracted by the sweet chestnuts.

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If you looked carefully there were many types of funghi to be seen. Have some fun naming them.

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So much to see and we only got a brief glimpse of what it has to offer.The park has a lake, stream and brooks which I will look forward to visiting next time.The park has cafes and toilet facilities, for those planning a visit.

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