London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Infobox London Borough | name = London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
short_name = Richmond
adminhq = Twickenham
imagename =

status = London borough | area_rank = 290th
area_km2 = 57.41
ons_code = 00BD | ethnicity = 89.0% White
4.9% South Asian
3.7% African-Caribbean
url = http://www.richmond.gov.uk/
leadership = Leader & Cabinet Cllr Serge Lourie
mayor = Cllr Marc Cranfield-Adams
mps = Vincent Cable
Susan Kramer
gla_constituency = South West London
gla_member = Tony ArbourThe London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (audio|En-uk-LBRichmond.ogg|pronunciation) is a London borough in south west London, England, which forms part of Outer London.

ettlement

It can been seen from a map that the borough is not entirely urbanised. There are some large areas of open space within the borough boundaries. The main suburban developments are Hampton and Teddington in the south, Twickenham, St Margarets and Whitton in the central area west of the River Thames and the Richmond-Kew-Mortlake-Barnes corridor across the loop of the river. It is the only London borough to straddle the Thames with districts on both sides of the river.

List of districts

* Barnes
* East Sheen
* East Twickenham
* Fulwell
* Ham
* Hampton
* Hampton Hill
* Hampton Wick
* Kew
* Mortlake
* North Sheen
* Petersham
* Richmond
* St Margarets
* Strawberry Hill
* Teddington
* Twickenham
* Whitton

Attractions, parks and open spaces

Parks take up a great deal of the borough and include Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Kew Gardens, and Hampton Court Park. There are over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundary and convert|21|mi|km of river frontage - five times more green and open space than any other London borough.

The borough is also home to the National Physical Laboratory and the attractions of Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium and the WWT London Wetlands Centre draw both domestic and international tourism.

In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of the Richmond upon Thames were the 2nd most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 29.8% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. [http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/active_people/active_people_survey_headline_results.htm]

History

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey; council offices were centred at York House in Twickenham. The name 'Richmond upon Thames' was coined at that time; it is now commonly but inaccurately used to refer to Richmond only.

The borough is twinned with Konstanz in Germany, Fontainebleau in France and Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Politics

Transport

The borough is connected to central London by the National Rail services of South West Trains. The London Underground, District Line, serves Richmond and Kew Gardens stations: both are also served by Overground trains on the North London Line.

List of stations

The other stations are:
* Barnes
* Barnes Bridge
* Fulwell
* Hampton
* Hampton Wick
* Mortlake
* North Sheen
* St Margarets
* Strawberry Hill
* Teddington
* Twickenham
* Whitton

Education

Richmond upon Thames is the local education authority for the borough, and has responsibility for 52 schools.

University

*St Mary's University College
*Richmond, The American International University in London

ister cities

Richmond has three sister cities, as designated by the Sister Cities International, Inc.: [Sister Cities information obtained from the [http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/Europe/UK/index Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)] ." Retrieved on June 28, 2007.]

*flagicon|USA Richmond, Virginia USA
*flagicon|France Fontainebleau, France
*flagicon|Germany Konstanz, Deutschland

References

External links

* [http://www.richmond.gov.uk/ Richmond upon Thames Council]
* [http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/ Richmond & Twickenham Times online]
* [http://www.totallyrichmond.com/ Totally Richmond website]
* [http://www.visitrichmond.co.uk/ Visit Richmond]
* [http://www.yourrichmond.co.uk/ Your Richmond]
* [http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/leisure_and_culture/local_history_and_heritage/local_studies_collection/local_history_notes.htm Library Local History Notes on houses and persons mentioned.]
* [http://www.hamptonfc.com/ Hampton & Richmond Borough Football Club]
* [http://www.richmondtheatre.net/ Richmond Theatre]