Teddington

Teddington is where the Thames stops being tidal, and most people who move here have made the same call about their own ambitions. Eisenhower planned D-Day in Bushy Park and the bouncing bomb was worked out in a lab by the gates, which was the last time anyone in Teddington was in a hurry. The Victorians set out to build a cathedral here and ran out of money halfway down the nave, so the residents have carried on the work one loft conversion at a time. Even the television studios gave up and turned into luxury flats, which is roughly what everything here wants to be.