Introducing Richmond

At the end of one of the furthest tendrils of the south-west reaching District lines, lovely, leafy Richmond reclines sedately by the banks of the Thames.

Although reachable by tube or overland train from central London in 45 minutes, Richmond feels more like a cosmopolitan town in its own right, saturated with shopping opportunities and eating establishments.

The river is one of the main attractions, meandering determinedly south from here having passed Kew and Brentford, with a delightful cache of Georgian houses flanking it. Plush locals spend sunny weekends dipping pedi’ed toes in the water from local pubs like the White Cross, or spotting resident stadium-filling rock stars and thesps doing the circuit at the 110-year-old Richmond Theatre.

Even the local MP, Zac Goldsmith, is a visual asset, with his golden-boy looks and green credentials – no wonder this has been assessed as one of the happiest places to live in the UK.