Bouches-du-Môle

Following the visit to the Mole at Leatherhead reported in the previous post (also 14th June), we thought it time to visit the Bouches-du-Môle at Hampton Court, mysteriously renamed by that point for a small chain of eating pubs, the Ember Inns, itself now broken up and renamed. One of them was our very own Cricketers Inn on Stamford Green Pond, where, according to http://www.stonegatepubs.com/, you will find 'you’ll find friendly people and a fun atmosphere'. As it happens, not a place I have ever used much. But the renaming was rather an odd thing to do as the area, East Molesey, remains named for the Mole.

Started off at the station car park, deemed to be cheaper for a day than the car park at the Palace itself. From there to inspect the landing with its attendant geese, young and old, at the south eastern end of the bridge. From there to inspect the landing with its attendant rowing boats at the south western end of the bridge, starting with a lounging young lady who rapidly stopped rolling her fag to explain the renting régime for rowing boats to us, which turned out to be rather like that for punts in another place: substantial deposit followed by so much per hour, one hour payable in advance. We wondered whether, on another quiet weekday, she would have given us a better rate for the day - picnic and all that sort of thing - but on this occasion we settled for an hour.

Proper skiff shaped boat, if made of fibre glass rather than wood, with provision for up to four oars and including a rudder at the back. We opted to have one lady pulling the port steering rope and another the starboard, an arrangement which worked quite well once we had got over the initial confusion. And so for a gentle row down to the nearby island and back, passing said Bouches-du-Môle on the way. Back at the bridge, we wondered how the Cigarette Island Park came to be so named: there would have been plenty of day-tripping smokers around on summer Sunday afternoons in the olden days, but in the olden days they would have been able to smoke in one of the various pubs serving the area. So why the large smoking outdoor smoking den? Excellent echo to be had under Hampton Court Bridge, rather like that to be had under the rather lower and narrower Silver Street Bridge at said other place (see gref 52.201910, 0.115395).

And so onto the rose garden which was looking well, if a touch battered by the recent rain, with some truly excellent floribunda roses under the walls. Them, by then feeling hungry, we moved onto the Tilt Yard Café where, it being warm but overcast, eating outside was an option. I opted for a Greek style sheep sausage which looked well enough but which turned out to be rather dry, as was the flat bread on which it came. And the lumpy green goo was a little warmer than it should have been. Teaching point: do not buy this sort of thing at the end of the lunch period as they knock it all up at the beginning of the lunch period. But quite eatable, and otherwise well suited to the warm weather.

And so onto to the paying gardens where we learned from one of the (no less than 40) gardeners that they grew most of their own plants in their acre or so of glass houses, only buying in the more common items as plugs. And I had thought that, these days, they would have bought most of their stuff in, ready to be planted out. But whatever the source, the beds and the long border were looking good. As was the privy garden, quite different in tone in the bright summer light than the spring light in which we had last seen it. A garden which works well, without all that much flower and being more a symphony of green, all year round (see March 12th 2012, in the other place). A rather pretentious sounding phrase but one which, for me, captures what the designer was trying to do.

We wound up with the two sunken gardens, one mainly floral and one mainly green, with the former being the subject of Jigsaw 16, Series 1, noticed on July 7th 2012.