News in Richmond

A post by The Royal Parks...

Over the next few months around 300 deer will be born across Richmond and Bushy Parks. Giving birth is a vulnerable time for any animal, but with both parks attracting millions of visitors every year, it's magnified for these herds of wild, free-roaming deer.

Everyone has found the last fifteen months tough and we're all desperate to get life and business back to normal.

To help support the full return of the high street, Nub News has been running a regular UP CLOSE WITH feature where we profile local businesses.

A Richmond cocktail bar has announced it its plans for the grand post-lockdown reopening on Monday.

The team at So Bar Richmond have been waiting a long time to get back behind the bar and have made several changes to follow lockdown regulations.

Children's author Sir Michael Morpurgo has written a touching poem about the plight of the minke whale which became stuck in Richmond and Teddington Locks and sadly lost its battle for life earlier this week.

You can read the RNLI's poignant tribute to the whale here.

This week in aid of Mental Health Awareness week we will be publishing a series of seasonal recipes with foraged ingredients by local nutritional therapist Belinda Blake.

Read more about Belinda and the benefits of foraging for mental health here: Forage your way to improved wellbeing this Mental Health Awareness Week.

We are sad to report that the decision has been made to put down the young minke whale that swam up to Teddington lock from Richmond in the early hours of this morning.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said: The juvenile minke whale in the River Thames at Teddington Weir has deteriorated rapidly over the last couple of hours of monitoring by BDMLR Medics and representatives from Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, based at the Zoological Society of London.

Hundreds of hopeful whale-watchers lined the River Thames at Teddington today as they tried to catch a glimpse of the whale, which had moved up river from Isleworth instead of making its way back out to sea.

TV film crews and a news helicopter were on the scene as the four metre baby minke whale moved between the Teddington Weir and the river next to the Wharf restaurant.

LIVE UPDATES ended

A minke whale has been freed after being stuck in Richmond lock for several hours although its exact location and health is unknown. Read more here.

The owner of a dog-friendly café in Hampton Hill has condemned new controls requiring leads in the Royal Parks.

Louise Rawlinson, who runs 'Paws for Coffee' café just a few yards from one entrance to Bushy Park, said the controls have driven away dog walkers and so have devastated takings.

White bikes have been placed at the roadside in Richmond in a poignant commemoration of two cyclists killed in crashes.

The bikes were placed beside Twickenham Road (A316) on Saturday.