Called Putelei in the Domesday Book of 1086, Putney is most famous as the starting point of the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Barnes is less well known and more ‘villagey’ in feel. The best way to approach Putney is to follow the signs from Putney Bridge tube station for the footbridge (which runs parallel to the rail track), admiring the gorgeous riverside houses, with their gardens fronting the Thames, and thereby avoiding the tatty High St until the last minute.