On entering Petersham Lodge Woods

It is easy to overlook Petersham Lodge Woods as River Lane and the towpath let you pass easily but it is worth making the effort to step inside and this is the serene view you get on entering from River Lane,

Wet woods

It's bit of a detour but it is always worth walking through Petersham Lodge Woods, mostly because so few other people do. It is not a large wood and there is only one path through it but it is worth it for the solitude and the wet are along the south edge.

This area has always been damp and is often flooded and on this day I caught it somewhere in the middle, wet and still walkable.

Light Snow Day - Monday 12 December 2022

The last Snow Day in Ham was 24 January 2020 so there is no surprise that this one caused great excitement despite the distinct lack of deep snow.

This section of Ham Common Woods was typical with the white sheen frequently punctured by green grass.

Petersham Lodge Woods also revelled in the snowfall and tried to catch it in its branches.

Tree down

Petersham Lodge Woods is looking very autumnal (in August) with a thick carpet of brown leaves. This is the main path up from the river and the lighter green area towards the top-left corner is the gate into Petersham Lodge. Blighting the view is a large fallen tree.

The management of the Woods is something of a mystery to me, work does get done occasionally but it is not clear what it is trying to achieve, and I will be interested to see how long the tree is left to lie where it fell.

In to Petersham Lodge Woods

Petersham Lodge Woods is something of an oddity because of its size and location. It is too small to justify a visit and its location means that there is no real point in walking through it.

Therefore I find it odd that there are steps in to it from River Lane. These must be some of the least used steps in the area!

Climb those steps and you see that there are a few more steps down in to the Woods but the constructed part of the path ends there. A rough path continues a short distance before meeting the main path that is at right-angles to it.

It is a lot easier to go along the towpath, just off to the right of this picture.

Paths in Petersham Lodge Woods

There is only one route through Petersham Lodge Woods so I am surprised that other paths, that lead nowhere, are so worn, presumably through extensive use.

The path from River Lane goes along the back to Petersham Lodge and then turns to the river by the garden gates. However, the path also continues straight ahead towards the formidable boundary to Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts.

And this is a path parallel to the one above that leads off the middle of the section of the main path leading to the river.

Heavy flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods

There is often some flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods, and I have posted several pictures of it here before, but I do not recall ever seeing it as flooded as this before. That is hardly unsurprising given the amount of rain we have had this winter and how wet it is elsewhere.

This is the view from the towpath and the main path through the woods is on the left between the two avenues of trees, that bright green patch is the garden of Petersham Lodge.

And this is the view looking across the woods from the river end of River Lane.

And finally the view from the River Lane entrance next to Petersham Lodge.

Under water

It has rained a great deal in the last couple of months so it was no surprise to find Petersham Lodge Woods flooded.

This stretch of water is hiding the path through the woods and forced me to take another route.

Petersham Lodge Woods

Petersham Lodge Woods is in the north-east corner of the area that I cover in Ham Photos with River Lane forming part of my boundary. There is only one path through it and I always choose to use the path rather than use the road, which does not have much of a pavement anyway.

The woods continue to the right to Douglas Footpath and with no paths to disturb that large section of woods the wildlife has the area to itself with only the regular flooding to concern it. 

Clearing out more trees

There has been something of a plague of what looks like overzealous tree removal across Ham in recent years and the latest victim of this is Petersham Lodge Woods where several trees have been cut down for reasons that are not obvious.

Flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods

Petersham Lodge Woods often floods though I have not often seen it as flooded as this. Previous flooding had mostly been on the west side of the central path but this time the flooding was throughout the woods and the central path was impassable.

This is the view looking across the woods from River Lane. It was taken from the pavement and shows how far the waters had spread. It also shows how few trees there are in that quadrant of the woods.

Flooding in Petersham Lodge Woods

These will be my last pictures of the floods for a while, unless something else dramatic happens to the weather. This is one of the main ways in to Petersham Lodge Woods and the line of water follows the route from the towpath to the little gate in to the garden at Petersham Lodge, which you can just about see if you look at the picture at full size.

This is the view from River Lane next to the other main entrance and this is no good either as that entire corner is flooded.

Clearing the woods

I was walking along the towpath towards Richmond thinking to myself that Petersham Lodge Woods, like the other local nature reserves managed by Richmond Council, never shows any signs of being managed only to find that a large area of it has been cleared to make way for a short brick tower.

This is the corner of the woods bounded by Petersham Lodge and River Lane. It is the least woody part of the woods so the clearance has done no lasting damage. It's probably an improvement over the nettles and brambles that were there before.

The strip of mud suggests that most of the work has been underground and any construction below means no trees above. Even so, I am sure that there is space to plant a few more and I would like to see the Council do this. It is meant to be a wood after all.

Bare woods

Somebody has been busy in Petersham Lodge Woods getting it ready for Spring by cutting things back and clearing things out. Now it looks like a room in a Show Home, unlived-in and unloved, but soon the woods will grow back and it will, once again, look like a teenager's bedroom, messy but fun.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

I took this picture just because Petersham Lodge Wood looks good at this time of year and I was enjoying my short detour through it on my way to nowhere in particular. It was only when looking at the photograph later that I noticed the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly adding just a few flecks of subtle colour to a montage of Autumnal greens.

Winter woods

Petersham Lodge Woods is worth a rummage at any time of the year, even when it is cold and wet like it is now. It is part of the East boundary of Ham Lands that follows the river all the way from North Kingston and provides a wide natural barrier between the river and the buildings of Ham.

Green tent

This small green tent has failed in its purpose of providing shelter by being caught out by a high tide that claimed a large section of Petersham Lodge Woods and it now sits dolefully surrounded by water.

Tree life

This tree in Petersham Lodge Woods caught my eye because of the growths on the trunk, which I guess is a symbiotic plant, but what I really like is the tangle of thin branches against the winter blue sky.

Path in Petersham Lodge Woods

This inviting path through Petersham Lodge Woods is sadly not very long, it joins the tow path just after the slight rise in the middle of the picture, but for a brief moment you can forget all about buildings, cars and other people.

Steps

One of the hidden treasures in Ham Lands is Petersham Lodge Woods that occupies a small area next to River Lane. There are no paths through it so there is no reason to go in there unless, like me, you just like exploring places. And one of the ways out is via these steps.