Richmond visit?

I did that. Easy as pie. Walk from tube station to dinner at Cinnamon Bazaar, if you like Indian food.

Richmond is both a tube (last stop on the District Line) and a train station (last stop on the Mildmay Overground and a stop on the Southwestern Railway main line from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside, Reading and other points).

A lovely part of the world - take care crossing the road around Richmond station, it is busy and there are lots of buses and trucks...

Richmond Green is an easy walk. Very scenic, plenty to eat and drink and some really nice independent local shops.

If you have spare time you can walk into the Royal Park and spot deer.

I really enjoyed my day in London back in 2024 and had a really nice lunch at the Prince's Head Pub and enjoyed walking through the town which is quite charming. You could also go for a walk along the Thames. I think that was one of my favorite things about visiting Richmond. The Thames Walk is really lovely and takes you past a number of beautiful sights, including Ham House, which is worth a visit. Here's a link to more info. https://thamespath.co.uk/

I was in Richmond on Tuesday. Will the Christmas Lights at Kew Gardens still be on while you're there? They are spectacular. There is a Ted Lasso tour, I don't have details but we walked by a group tour taking it. Aside from the lights at Kew my take on Richmond is that iit s a nice trip outside of central London just to get away from the crowds for a day.

Depending on when in the winter you’re going, you could visit Kew Gardens for their amazing annual orchid show, which normally runs February to March.

Thank you all! We are going in February. After I asked my question, I started googling. There was an article and Ham House was mentioned, along with a couple other manors. I’ve decided I’d like to tour Ham house as it looks so close. Someone unthread you can walk to it, but I think it’s several miles and will probably taxi. As a matter of fact, I think I’d like to do that First, then head over the the quaint shops and have lunch at Ted’s pub.

I’ll need to see how to get there, or if it’s easier to tune to Richmond, then just taxi from there.

The Ted Lasso tour is great fun if you have time. It takes about two hours.

I’ve read the TL Tour is great fun, actually. But I think I’ll just stick with the pub, the alley his apartment is on with the bench next to that. I’d like to visit all the shops and anything else of interest close by. If we leave at 9:00 am, I’d like to leave to come back no later than 4:00.

Can't tell just when you will be visiting, but do be aware of the restricted hours. Ham House is one of my favs, and I visit often.

They are getting ready for Christmas and will have Christmas hours from tomorrow, close for the holidays, close for th season on 5 January and won't reopen until Valentine's Day.

EDIT - now I see February - note short hours the second half of Feb; closed until Valentine's Day.

There is a resale shop right on the green near the two phone boxes. They had nice things at great prices.
The next alley to the west (?) of Ted's alley has a pub with fold-down benches outside it. I thought this was very clever for a tight space.

I’ve stayed in Richmond often. At a colleague’s rental and at the Premier Inn.

Loved walking in and about Richmond park. Saw the deer more than once, and loved Isabella Plantation. It’s in the flight path of Heathrow so if expecting a quiet walk … meh….still it’s a gorgeous park.

A few non touristy stops are the Mitre pub on St Mary’s Axe, ( best pub dog, Rudi and best owner, Chris) the Kruk Grill and Bar in North Sheen and the Dragon Inn on Sheen Road.

If you have young children of your own or grandkids or nieces and nephews, The Alligators Mouth on Church Ct next to Ollie and Bean is stellar.

Lastly as a former film and TV Location Manager
it is soooooooo much easier recreating an interior set for filming than filming on location. When I scouted homes I always cautioned homeowners
“ crews are never small so before you commit to filming just imagine 80 people milling around your living room or kitchen or back yard, etc.”

To be honest I dispised writers who wrote interior house scenes. You had to rent and insure houses and get neighbors to sign off on filming, figure out where to park the 10 tons, 40 foot semis for camera, grip and electric, the caterer and the porta potties. Not to mention cast trailers and parking for crew and cast.

Sets preferred for variety of reasons including sound. No lawnmowers, traffic, sirens, sprinklers, tide charts, barking dogs etc. to deal with.

I did the TV series BOSCH about LA detective Harry Bosch. It’s on Amazon Prime. On a few occasions we’d film police station exteriors in the lobby and parking lot of the actual Hollywood LAPD station. Otherwise it was on the duplicated interior police station set which was at Red Studios in Hollywood.

We did film 98% of the show on location.

Exhausting job but throughly enjoyed providing
the canvas for the other crew members to create
the visuals.

Was the best job I had in a 30 year career. Great show to retire on.

I love Ham House! It’s easy to get to from Richmond Station- you can get a taxi (10 mins) or bus (more like 25 mins) and then walk back along the Thames (about half an hour). If you like historic homes there’s also Marble Hill House on the other side of the river- home of the mistress of George II. My favourite place to eat in Richmond is Stein’s but unfortunately it’s not open in the winter.

Claudia, thanks for sharing the insights on filming on location… fascinating!

CatVH happy to share.

Most people have no clue of what the job entails. Not even other crew members.

I won’t ever watch the film La La Land. Why? Because the director pubically thanked the 1st AD for closing the LA Freeway. Again, haven’t seen the film so not sure what the scene entailed. However can tell you that the 1st AD had nothing to do with the closure. It was the Location Manager and his/her department who secured the film permit, paid for the closure and hired all the police/highway patrol.

Trust me. I did the first Fast and Furious. I know something about filming on freeways.

Claudia, what a fun behind the scenes description to read! On your last post, what is an “AD” stand for? Assistant Director? Why won’t you watch Lala Land?

Yes AD means Assistant Director, whose responsibility is to create the daily shooting schedule.

Won’t watch La La Land because the Director publicly thanked his 1st AD for closing the freeway for the director’s shots(s). The 1st AD had NOTHING to do with the closure.

The Location department did. They paid for the film permit. They paid for the Location and Security. Security being Highway Patrol and LAPD.

To have a director ignore the effort of the Location Department is disrespectful.

Spielberg, Scorsese, or Thomas Anderson wouldn’t do that. They know and appreciate that the Location Department finds and secures the sites for the other departments to create their magic.

Great directors knew that. Watch Lawrence of Arabia and see the front end credit for the Location Manager.

Sadly film studios ( the worst being The Mouse House) drug their collective feet recognizing Location Managers when they unionized via the Teamsters! The first Teamsters Union/Producer meeting was nearly a blood bath. Ah memories!