10 photos from paddleboarding with Active 360 Richmond

These are a selection of the views of Richmond that you'll only see from the water.

Richmond Nub News went out for a session with stand-up paddleboard experts Active 360 Richmond.

The conditions were perfect - sunny morning, clear blue skies, very placid current and just as little wind.

At one point it might have picked up enough to knock us off balance and into the water - apparently this happens to the best of boarders.

Our leader Mark Horne maintains that the Thames is among the cleanest urban rivers in Europe and it certainly did not seem dirty when I gulped a mouthful after falling in.

This is why the Thames is now an attractive home to aquatic birds including cormorants and herons.

A seal has even been spotted in recent months, even jumping up onto the board of a youngster and with the Active 360 parent group in Kew.

Active 360 Richmond is based on a pontoon next to Richmond Bridge on what it sees as "one of the most beautiful stretches of the Thames".

It offers group sessions and coaching, sessions with a built-in break for coffee or ice cream and exercise classes such as yoga, pilates and even HIIT (high intensity interval training). The things you can do on a paddleboard!

There's also the eco tour featuring close-up encounters with resident river animals and a chance to listen to the sound of the Thames using an underwater hydrophone.

Paddle upstream and it takes you past historic riverside sites inculding Ham House and Eel Pie Island, to the very end of the Tidal Thames at Teddington Lock.

The downstream routes goes to Richmond Lock, Isleworth, Kew Gardens to Chiswick and beyond.

Click through the carousel at the top of this story to see more photos from our trip.

Visit the Active 360 Richmond website for bookings.