A Wet Weekend

Welcome to Barnes, a pretty riverside suburb in the southwest of London, and the destination for Lizzie and I on a wonderful Saturday afternoon. Historically a part of Surrey, Barnes now falls under the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The village has an historic centre, with many fine examples of 19th Century architecture, and a lovely Norman chapel, dedicated to St. Mary. The shops are very pleasant, quirky and individual, and the locals are clearly very proud of where they live - shelves are adorned with mugs, cards and tea towels proclaiming "I'd Rather be in Barnes". Perhaps it's the thriving sports scene (Barnes played a pivotal role in the emergence of medieval 'mob' football, and was the home of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, a founding member of the Football Association), or maybe it's the music heritage (the former Olympic Studios has played host to many stars, including The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and the Beatles), but you can sense a pride in the village that makes an hour's wandering quite the pleasant experience. The picture above comes from a card I bought in one of the shops. Entitled Barnes Pond, it was painted by the artist Louise Braithwaite.

The south of Barnes is dominated by Barnes Common and the Barn Elm reservoirs, which were turned into a wetland habitat and bird sanctuary in 1995. This habitat, which was our reason for travelling to Barnes, is the WWT London Wetland Centre, a unique 100-acre home to nationally important birds such as gadwall and shoveler ducks, pintails, great crested grebes and, for some reason (we assume these are the descendants of escaped pets), ring-necked parakeets.

This site is simply wonderful - natural, tranquil, and perfect for a relaxed stroll around. I especially liked the world wetlands area, where we were treated to birds of the frozen north, African and South American birds, in addition to countless varieties of goose, ducks and coot, many with newly-hatched young. Lizzie, I can tell you, was so taken with a pile of ducklings, I expected to find one in her handbag when we got back home!

A lovely day all round, not just for the ornithologist, but for anyone with an interest in wildlife and conservation. I think it's great that, even in the centre of a global metropolis, you can have such wonderful life in abundance.