ABSTRACT
About ten miles south-west of London is an attractive series of suburbs on or close to the Thames; Teddington is one of these, its main claim to distinction being that it is the location of the National Physical Laboratory, which was founded at the turn of the century with the objective of establishing standards for materials testing and measurement. Metrology remains an important activity of the Laboratory, which is situated on the edge of a beautiful deer park with many varieties of trees including some magnificent oaks. This is Bushey Park and about two miles south of the Laboratory, straight through the centre of the park, is Hampton Court Palace, which graces the banks of the River Thames. There were two pubs in a small cluster of shops outside the Palace grounds, imaginatively called the Kings Arms and the Queens Arms, and 50 yards to the west of these pubs the road divides into a short no-exit lane, which serves a dozen or so houses, and the main road. We found a splendid Georgian house to rent on the service lane, facing Hampton Court Green and backing on to Bushey Park; deer would sometime peer in through our back windows, so it was an ideal spot for the older children.
