Bushy is my home, both as a child until leaving school, and now as an adult having resettled here around 15 years ago. I grew up exploring the park, from the woodlands to the water features. The Longford River cuts through the park, feeding the ponds and flowing into the Thames at Hampton Court. Historically also known as The King’s River, The Queen’s River, The Cardinal’s River, and New River, the Longford as we now know it was actually man made, originally built in the 17th century at the order of Charles I, to bring water from the River Colne near Heathrow, to Hampton Court. I’ve included most of the park’s key water features here, and illustrated two of the creatures you’ll often see by them – a fallow deer and white swan.