Thames Path 8 - Hampton Court & Walton-Upon-Thames to Chertsey

The Thames Spring Thames Path Sea to Source hike continues, now back to wild camping leaving from Surbiton and talking about the history of Cigarette Island and the River Mole and Ember, some BAD eyots, finding temples to Shakespeare by Richard Garrick, explore Victorian water works, Spelthorne Council hating on tents and bivvies, not working ferry diversion via Walton Upon Thames finest roads and stumble across filming in Shepperton....Shepperton Studios?
Also the first of many shipwrecks, a close call with a boggy meadow near Chertsey and end up wild camping at a place linked to Lord Lucan....mysterious!
Just avoid the midnight dogs and runners....
#stealthcampingalliance #stealthfamily #thamespath #wildcamping #riverwalk

[@CampingRulesOkay]

Awesome stuff again 👍 and yes, we're all jealous of Paul's camo nets! 🫡

[@harduphiker]

I just wish there was an ultralight version... Paul told me where he gets his, they are around 300g for 3m x 1m. Tempting but not exactly light.

[@sparker68]

Great video as always Tim - love the art from years gone by. I recon there were similar gated communities before the French revolution - the meek will inherit the earth (apparently) xD

[@harduphiker]

Hopefully....as people shut themselves off, they create the seeds of their own downfall.

[@chrisprice8634]

Great vid mate.

[@harduphiker]

@@chrisprice8634 thank you 🙂

[@CampingRulesOkay]

I couldn't NOT comment on this Tim. Travellers and gypsies are completely different. Travellers is not a new term for gypsies (even though the government likes to use it for both these days). Gypsy is actually a slang term for the romani people (commonly called Romany gypsies in the UK). Generally the term 'travellers' refers to groups of vehicle dwellers from certain regions of the UK and Ireland. The two are very different but are seen by outsiders as the same because of the similarities in their nomadic lifestyles. As a vanlifer I have experienced people's assumptions that all vehicle dwellers are the same group (and therefore associated with the same negative activities of some) and can attest that there are in fact many different kinds. I point this out for clarification, not from irritation btw ❤

[@harduphiker]

I wasn't talking about now, I was talking about the 16th Century...where 'van lifers' or travellers weren't a thing?
Maybe I should have said Romani, I was struggling for a better words since gypsies as a term is frowned upon.

[@harduphiker]

But also in the story I was relating, it wasn't clear if the people camping on Cigarette Island were actually Romani. Just people camping there, iterant...well..travellers!
Modern concepts of "new age travellers" didn't exist then.