Bushy Park

 My friend Arty L has spent most of her adult life in London and prior to Covid she was a nature lover, but preferred living in the city with all it has to offer. As for many of us the lockdowns forced her to find new ways of coping. Until that point she'd only visited Bushy Park if she'd been taken there, but in a bid to escape the crowds she worked out one day that she could walk there from her home. She's never looked back since and this has become a special sanctuary for her with all the wildlife to see. Often she's amazed to find that she's been out for six hours enjoying all its delights and I've loved all the photos and videos she's shared with me of what she's seen. On this trip I was lucky enough to be able to accompany her and I now completely understand why she's fallen in love with it.

Bushy Park is the second largest of the Royal Parks and was "given" [I use that word in its loosest sense] to Henry VIII by Cardinal Wolsey in 1529 [probably because he rightly feared for his life] and it has at various times been farmed [Medieval], been a Tudor deer park, a 17th century water garden and a WWII American airbase called Camp Griffiss. Nowadays it's a welcome refuge from the hubbub of the streets around Hampton Court and you really can get away from it all.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I shall be taking a short blog break and then returning on a 2-3 times a week posting. It will keep me off the pc and free up more time for my beloved reading. 

Arilx