Walton residents, do you know the location of Sir Richard's Bridge? I am sure you do
It is at the top end of Ashley Road and leads over over the railway to the Burwood Park roundabout.
But who is it named after?
It was the second Sir Richard Frederick, who lived in Burwood House until his death in 1873.
When the railway came to Walton in 1838, surveyors were careful to choose an alignment that did not impinge on Burwood Park where the original mansion was built by Sir John Frederick (1708-1783), a wealthy city merchant.
The bridge across the ex-London and South Western Railway main line from Nine Elms to Woking Common was named after Sir Richard, who had it built to enable his pony and trap access to Walton for Hersham Station (as it was then called) which was opened in May 1838.
Here is the Frederick family coast of arms:
Motto: Prudens simplicitas beat.
Latin translation is "prudent, wise + simple, unaffected + blessed, fortunate, sometimes saint"
jollyweez
I just started to read Home, an autobiography of Julie Andrews. Seems she was born in 1935 at Walton-On-Thames. "Walton's small claim to fame was its bridge over the Thames. A very early version was painted by Canaletto; J.M.W.Turner painted a new bridge in 1805. The span was reconstructed again long ago, but in my youth the bridge was so old and pitted that our bones were jarred as we rattled over it, and I was able to peer through the cracks and see the river flowing beneath." July Andrews