“When Baden Powell was a schoolboy at Charterhouse he would often play truant and hide in the woods. His masters could never find him, not because he was particularly well hidden, but because they didn’t know how to look.”

Two weeks ago a group of 150 local Cub Scouts, aged 8 - 10, took part in an ‘I-Spy’ Hike, up one side of the Thames to Hammerton’s Ferry and back down the other, to Richmond Lock. On the way they had to answer some questions that could only be solved by looking around and being observant.

So, how observant are you? How well do you know the area in which we live? Do you see but not notice? Here are some of the questions that the Cubs had to consider:-

1. What does the automatic machinery on Richmond Lock sometimes do?
2. When was the iron railway bridge at Richmond built?
3. Outside the gateway into Richmond Palace is one of the oldest pillar boxes in the world. It is called an “anonymous cylindrical”. Why does it have this name?
4. There is a sign painted on the wall of the ‘Slug and Lettuce’ in Richmond saying “F L 7.1.1928”. What does it mean?
5. How long does the return boat trip to Teddington Lock take?
6. What is remarkable about the plane tree outside ‘Gaucho’ on Richmond Riverside?
7. What is the name of the statue on the lawn in Buccleugh Gardens?
8. Where would you find ‘Bulbous Betty’?
9. Within 100 metres of Marble Hill House are two underground constructions. What are they?
10. According to the harbour master what is the speed limit at Richmond Bridge?
11. The senior surviving officer on the Titanic once lived on Ducks Walk. What was his name?
12. Between Twickenham Bridge and the railway bridge, on both sides of the river, are two brick turrets sitting on top of mounds. What do you think that they are there for?
13. About 100 yards from Twickenham Bridge is a brass marker set in the pavement on Ranelagh Drive. What is it pointing at?

You can find the answers here!

– from Martyn Day