Isabella Plantation on a wet day in April

It was the prospect of rain that tempted me to Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park on the grounds that the rain would be a deterrent to most people and so it would be peaceful as well as pretty.

And so it was. There were a few other hardy souls braving the constant drivel but they passed fleetingly and were quickly forgotten.

The main benefits of this were the constant quiet (no unhappy or overly happy children being intrusive) and the absence of brightly coloured Cagouls blighting photographs.

As usual I started by the main gate at the bottom of the gentle slope. The main ditch leading into the pond was wet (for a change) and lined with subtly coloured heathers. Breaking the calm were the yellow flowers along the edge of the water. 

It was between times for a lot of the other flowers with some heralding fresh buds and others well past their best..A few fresh flowers could be found among their dead comrades adding spots of colour against a background of mixed greens under a grey sky. 

Most people follow the main path that borders the water straight down the centre of the garden but there are other paths and other water.

In one corner is an oasis of calm, even on busy days, with its own water that takes a more natural route down the slope where the pond waits.

This looks like a plantation with many trees of the same type and size suggested that they were planted together.

The pond is the start and end of the journey.

Normally it is ringed by children will bags of bread, as the ducks well know. With the rain keeping this distraction away the ducks could get on with their normal business for this time of year, which is fighting each other over the females.

I tend to keep away from Richmond Park simply because it is too popular and it is impossible to find the peace that you would expect to find in a large open space, Going in the rain solved that problem.