Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire is "The mother of all Richmonds throughout the world", according to my British geography book. There are another 56 Richmond's around the world named after this beautiful, small market town in the north of England.

The name "Richmond" is derived from the French "Riche-Mont", or strong hill.

A suburb in inner Melbourne nested in a bend in the Yarra River between Collingwood to the North and South Yarra. As well as Collingwood and South Yarra, it has borders with Abbotsford to the North, Hawthorn to the East, Kew to the North East and East Melbourne to the West.

Like most inner city suburbs from working class roots around the world, it has reasonable night life, although not as rowdy as in the punk days. It also boasts some excellent restaraunts, especially on Bridge Road. Bridge Road is also home to a large number of fashion shops and, with Swan Street and it's array of designer factory outlets just down the hill, Richmond is quite a popular destination for the female clothes shopper.

Richmond also has a fashion design industry, as well as information technology, hardware and building supply shops, and manufacture.

To the Northern end of Richmond, around Victoria Street, there is a large Vietnamese community, so large that Victoria has earned the nickname 'Little Saigon' or 'New Saigon'. This part of Richmond enhances inner suburban Melbourne's cosmopolitan atmosphere and provides a lot of interesting shopping and dining that would not be available in other parts of the city.

Richmond is home to the Richmond Football Club or The Richmond Tigers, an Australian Rules football team and member of the AFL.

Richmond Tigers: Australian Rules team, in the Australian Football League.

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Joined competition: 1908
Colours: Black and Gold
Home Ground: Melbourne Cricket Ground. (Administrative headquarters at Punt Road Oval)

History: Richmond were formed in February, 1885 at the Royal Hotel opposite Punt Road, their spiritual home ground. They adopted their present colours in 1887.

They won two premierships with the VFA before gaining admittance to the more powerful VFL in 1908, due to their convenient location close to public transportation. Richmond won their first game against Melbourne. Success came relatively quickly. After losing their first grand final to Collingwood in 1919, they made amends the next year by beating the same team to win their first premiership cup. They went back-to-back the following year. In 1927, 28 and 29, the Tigers finished runners-up to Collingwood three times in a row, during the Magpies' unequaled run of four consecutive premierships.

In 1931, the legendary Jack Dyer made his debut. "Captain Blood", as he was known, played over 300 games for the club, then coached for 11 years. His time at the club was one of Richmond's most successful periods. They won premierships in 1932, 1934 and 1943, and finished runners-up in 1931, 1933, 1940, 1942 and 1944. It's no coincidence that this golden era coincided with Dyer's presence at the club.

In the twenty years following World War 2, Richmond had a bit of a slump, but recovered in the mid sixties, thanks to the coaching genius of Len Smith (considered one of the most important influences in shaping the modern, fast, play-on style of game) and the move to the MCG. smith only coached for two years, but his influence was felt even after he stepped down due to a heart condition. Tom Hafey took over in 1966 and the revival continued. Under Hafey, Richmond won four premierships and were runners-up once between 1967 and 1974. Stars of this era included Kevin Sheedy and Royce Hart.

Since then, success has dried up for the tigers. They won the premiership in 1980, and finished runners-up in 1982, but haven't appeared in the Grand Final since then. In 1990, Richmond was even in danger of folding due to financial problems. (One of the first sides to face this harsh reality of our modern game) but they survived thanks mainly to the support of their large (yet notoriously fickle) fan base during their 'Save our Skins' campaign.

In recent years, the Tigers have pretty much maintained a position of mediocrity, seldom rising or falling from the middle section of the ladder. They've finished ninth (and just missed the finals action) on several occasions, and gone through several coaches. To be honest, there doesn't seem to be any signs of much changing in the near future, though only time will tell.

Richmond upon Thames, in full, is a borough in south-west London, on the south bank of the Thames. At this point the Thames is flowing northward, and Richmond is a beauty spot, with the most impressive views along the river; for this reason it is also home to a number of historic properties.

Richmond Palace was a great royal residence: the palace itself no longer exists, but several of its outbuildings, such as the gatehouse, still do, from the part rebuilt in Tudor times. King Edward III died here in 1377, Henry VII in 1509, and Elizabeth I in 1603. Before the rebuilding the area was known as Shene (a suburb to the east is still called East Sheen), but Henry VII renamed it after Richmond in Yorkshire. Richard II's much beloved queen, Anne of Bohemia, died at the old Shene Palace in 1394, and the grieving king had it demolished.

It is bounded by two open spaces, the Old Deer Park and the Green. Across the Green is the main town part of Richmond, and on the edge of the Green are elegant Georgian houses and my candidate for best pub: the Prince's Head, a Fuller's pub with no piped music and no drastic modernisation.

Downriver from Richmond is Kew, and it's a short walk to the Lion's Gate entrance of Kew Gardens. Upriver from Richmond Palace is Richmond Bridge, and a towpath or footpath goes all the way up the river, probably as far as Hampton Court, though I haven't yet done that full walk. The Thames is beautiful all along here. In the stream there are a few small islets, one delighting in the name Eel Pie Island. Beyond the water meadows of Petersham lies Ham House, a seventeenth-century mansion (now National Trust), and across the river is Marble Hill Park (English Heritage). Horace Walpole's pioneering Gothic confection Strawberry Hill is a little further south.

Richmond Hill is a long ridge rising up from the town to the next village, Petersham, with increasingly impressive views across to the south and west, and fine public gardens tumbling down the hill. It was a view from here that inspired the naming of the Richmond in Virginia. Because of the elegance of the grand buildings along the hill, it is a good view from the river too. The 1790s popular song 'Lass of Richmond Hill', however, refers to the place in Yorkshire.

At the far end of the hill comes Richmond Park, which I think is probably the biggest open space in London. This is an old royal hunting preserve, and to this day is well stocked with deer, red and fallow, though I am hopeful that the gun-mad royals are not allowed to indulge their tastes as they used to in past centuries. Dotted amid the wilder forest regions of the Park are a few more attractions. Pembroke Lodge was the house where Bertrand Russell was brought up, and is now a tea-room. Within its grounds is a prehistoric barrow called King Henry's Mound. As well as having yet another magnificent view of the river lands in their splendour in one direction, in the other it looks through a 'keyhole' in a hedge, and carefully trimmed avenues, to far-distant St Paul's Cathedral, which is only just visible; but this is one of the seven protected views from the high points of outer London, meaning that it is illegal ever to build anything that obscures the view of the cathedral.

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames also covers Kew, East Sheen, Mortlake, Twickenham, and extends as far as Hampton Court Palace. There is yet another palace in the borough, the small 1600s Kew Palace within the grounds of Kew Gardens, though currently being restored and not open to the public. The whole area is a must-see attraction of outstanding beauty.

Richmond is also the name of a brand of cigarette, manufactured by John Player and Sons in Nottingham.

Purchased in my local area largely by underage smokers, I can only assume it's the same the world over. They are known for their low cost and so are bought by people who have little money but crave the nicotine.

Not as smooth as JPS (also made by John Player and Sons), their content shows as 12mg tar, 1mg nicotine and 13mg carbon monoxide. Overall, not the healthiest cigarette to smoke...