Let's give at least three cheers for John Lewis, who helped to ensure that we can enjoy Richmond Park in the 21st century . . and here it is, all 2,500 acres of it laid out for us on an excellent map . .

The deer steered clear of me by and large, but there are a lot of them in the Park, and it still seems astonishing to me that these animals can be found so close to the centre of such a huge city as London . .

here's the smaller of the two Pen Ponds . .

and lots of different waterfowl . . Egyptian Geese, Mute Swans, Coots . .

 . . Pochards and Canada Geese . .

 . . and Marathon runners too . .

 . . quite a few of them as it turned out . .

 . . the Egyptian Geese joined in at one point . .

 . . once the runners had gone by I set off after them towards Richmond Gate, hoping to get to Bishop's Pond before the leaders . . here's the view back towards Pen Ponds, and over to Wembley Stadium . .

 . . more deer here, dear . . 

 . . and after watching Tyregirl on her first large lap (and she seemed to think I was daft, carrying a step ladder around the Park with me!) . . here are a few views of runners at different points on the path between Richmond and Sheen Gates . .

 . . I was going to use these aeroplanes as part of a metaphor about all the different people that inhabit London . . the metaphor didn't work but the photos stay . . I do like photos of aeroplanes!