I read a lot about King Athelstan, both before and after our trip to Malmesbury, and during the course of this, was surprised to discover that he had been crowned in Kingston Upon Thames – a town on the border between Wessex and Mercia, and by choosing it, it thereby symbolised his unification of England. Furthermore, it turned out that this year was the 1100th anniversary of his coronation, and there was going to be a special celebration in Kingston to mark the occasion. We laughingly talked about attending, but what started as a bit of a joke became a reality when we headed off to Surrey at the end of July.

We arrived in time for the Saxon Warrior Parade over the main bridge, and as we took our places amongst the gathered crowds, it was actually quite stirring to hear the Saxon soldiers shouting “Vivat Athelstan, Rex Anglorum” as they marched along.

We then followed the procession to the nearby riverside gardens, where a Saxon living history encampment had been set up showing how the Saxons were living in 10th century Britain. In theory I love this kind of thing, but in practice they make me nervous because I can never think of intelligent questions to ask, and so I either hover behind other people and listen to the answers to their questions, or else steer clear.

This was a day when we walked round and surveyed at a distance before heading to the central roped off area where there was to be a reconstruction of the coronation service. We could vaguely hear that it was in Latin, but unfortunately it wasn’t loud enough to be heard properly – they could have done with borrowing the mayor’s microphone, but were maybe trying to keep it authentic!

The deciding factor in our heading to Kingston, had been the discovery that we could follow the charmingly named Barge Walk along the River Thames to Hampton Court, and so as it was lunchtime, we were keen to be getting on our way. Thus, we headed back to the big bridge, crossed to the other side and turned left along the river path.

The path was well maintained and easy to follow, with one for walkers closer to the river, and a parallel one for cyclists further back. There were also lots of benches, which was good as we had brought a picnic with us and were hungry, although the earlier ones were already occupied, and what wasn’t so good was that despite a dry weather forecast, it started raining. We increased our pace and took possession of the first available one we could find (which had a small amount of tree protection but also a very ugly view of some industrial buildings on the other side of the river), aware that if we waited, future benches would be getting increasingly wet.

The rain continued steadily for the whole time that we were eating, which was a bit of a low point, and then stopped as soon as we stood up to continue our walk. At least it stopped, so I shouldn’t complain, but it was mildly frustrating that every subsequent bench had a much more scenic outlook.

The walk was lovely and we enjoyed watching both the little electric boats that could be hired in Kingston, as well as the bigger pleasure cruisers, plying their way up and down the river. There were also some very beautiful riverfront houses to be admired on the opposite bank.

The Barge Walk ended at Hampton Court, which we peered at through some wonderfully ornate railings.

I have always been quite interested in the idea of walking the Thames path and had already formulated the idea of keeping on going when I finally make it round the Kent Coast, so that I neatly segue into it. My daughter on the other hand, has always been of the opinion that there are better long distance paths to tackle and that she wouldn’t want to waste her time on it. Until today! It was such a great walk that she is now very keen on the idea, although she has suggested that as it is going to take me a very long time to get around the Kent Coast, and therefore even longer to reach the more picturesque sections of the Thames Path, that the two walks are done concurrently. The plan is that we would also start at the source, which I have to confess does actually appeal much more to my sense of order! So, that’s another one to add to the ever increasing list.

We had originally planned to catch the bus back into Kingston so that I didn’t over do it, but after a coffee stop at the Lion Gate Cafe (highly recommended, with lovely big windows upstairs offering great views across Bushy Park), I decided that I had enough energy to carry on.

I did have the details of a more interesting route that we could have done to get us back, but we decided that if I was going to walk, then I did need to be sensible and take the most direct path across the aforementioned Bushy Park, which was nice enough but nothing special.

Back in Kingston, we made a quick diversion to see the coronation stone, associated with the consecration of seven Anglo Saxon Kings, including Athelstan, whose names are inscribed around the bottom of the plinth. I read somewhere that it is the oldest coronation stone in the world, and although it seems incredible that such an important piece of history is just sitting outside the Guildhall, protected by some low railings, it is perhaps even more incredible that during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was used as a public mounting block for getting on and off horses.

It was a day that combined history and pageantry, with a relaxing riverside stroll, and one that I am really glad that we experienced. Kingston was surprisingly nice (I’m ashamed to say that I had always thought that it was just suburbia and not worth a visit), with a very picturesque centre, a good range of shops, and an appealing array of riverside cafes and restaurants, and although we hadn’t left ourselves enough time to fully explore it, I’m pretty certain that we will be back.