That's Monday if, like me, you're losing track.
Things didn't start well with it raining as I arrived back in Reading. I found my way to the path. There's a detour due to Reading Bridge itself being closed (causing traffic chaos) but I managed and continued with the plodding. The first treat of the day was two black swans. Wow! I've only ever seen them in Oz before. I didn't think we had them here. Weirdly enough, the previous day I had been pondering what might happen if some were released. And here was the answer. A local, later in the day, told me that they are included in the Swan Upping count although I'm not sure they belong to The Queen as they're not mute swans. The great crested grebe swimming around behind them didn't get a look in this time.
The scenery was becoming more beautiful given that it was no longer flat all the time. There's something rather special seeing the sweep of the river with a backdrop of trees going up a hill. The houses were carrying on the chocolate box picture competition (am I showing my age?). Shiplake was gorgeous and yet again I couldn't help but wonder who the people are who live in these places. None more so than when I found a miniature railway, complete with a scale replica of St Moritz station! The other person taking pictures knew nothing about it either. Turns out the place is called Bolney Court but other information is hard to find.
Wandering on, I nipped into the River and Rowing Museum to use their facilities. It looks modern and bright. There were several groups of fairly small schoolchildren being entertained and educated. It might have beem related to a Wind in the Willows exhibition. It's always great to see museums and galleries making an effort to involve young people.
Henley-on-Thames is known for its annual regatta and there are boats everywhere. Over the bridge, they were getting ready for this year's shindig in the first week of July. The course is a one mile straight stretch of the river - must be the only bit! All very impressive with Temple Island at the far end. However, far more exciting to me was the appearance of numerous red kites swooping and soaring and, occasionally, landing. I did my best to take some photographs. I wouldn't normally use the word awesome but I think it'll do the job this time.
So, having seen the kites, a 9" gauge railway and many beautiful houses, what next? The answer was - a private deer park! Now I can go and see deer whenever I like, living not far from Richmond Park, but it was the idea of having your own private deer park that boggled my mind. Keeps the grass cut, I suppose. There was also the picturesque and ancient All Saints Church at Bisham nestling on the other bank as I approached Marlow.
The lady from my b&b for the night had contacted me during the day offering to collect me as the weather hadn't been so good. As I entered Higginson Park, pausing to take out my phone, this swan swept towards me on the water and gave me the 'look'. Honestly, at the beginning of this journey, the geese wouldn't say boo to a human, now the geese are hissing at me and the swans are asking for snacks!
The b&b was very lovely and dinner was courtesy of Waitrose.
What a lovely day, lovely dayyyyyyyyy.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Monday, 18 May 2015
Day 7 Streatley to Reading
This was a short day of only 11 miles and then I would be popping home for the night. However, there some lovely sights along the way.
There was the glass box overhanging the river, a real room with a view complete with chairs. More beautiful houses, new varieties of waterfowl, a house with a small statue of an elephant in the front garden. All life is here. It also seemed to me that money is more apparent, I think that lots of the properties I'm seeing are not cheap.
Both yesterday and today were getting busier with people on the path, some not even having a wet dog or small child as an excusefor being out and about. But then it was a lovely weekend. I chatted to a lady with a labradoodle (wet). I spotted wingtips over the water ahead of me, some geese were flying in formation as they do. When they got to me what struck me was that there were four Canada geese but also one what I shall call a greylag, almost as if he'd asked if he could join the flight. Nice to see some inter-species training cooperation!
Somebody had put a hillside into the walk for today. I was most put out. This is called the Thames Path so why does it have undulations? I wasn't the only one complaining; I met some cyclists and told them about the fallen tree ahead.
Anyway, I got back home just after 3 pm. It was nice to be back in my house and do some washing. I checked out my new plants in the garden to see that they hadn't died. Two cats were alive as was the
Miniwomble. There was even post for me and none of it from the other great river.
There was the glass box overhanging the river, a real room with a view complete with chairs. More beautiful houses, new varieties of waterfowl, a house with a small statue of an elephant in the front garden. All life is here. It also seemed to me that money is more apparent, I think that lots of the properties I'm seeing are not cheap.
Both yesterday and today were getting busier with people on the path, some not even having a wet dog or small child as an excusefor being out and about. But then it was a lovely weekend. I chatted to a lady with a labradoodle (wet). I spotted wingtips over the water ahead of me, some geese were flying in formation as they do. When they got to me what struck me was that there were four Canada geese but also one what I shall call a greylag, almost as if he'd asked if he could join the flight. Nice to see some inter-species training cooperation!
Somebody had put a hillside into the walk for today. I was most put out. This is called the Thames Path so why does it have undulations? I wasn't the only one complaining; I met some cyclists and told them about the fallen tree ahead.
Anyway, I got back home just after 3 pm. It was nice to be back in my house and do some washing. I checked out my new plants in the garden to see that they hadn't died. Two cats were alive as was the
Miniwomble. There was even post for me and none of it from the other great river.
Day 6 Abingdon to Streatley
Yes, I've fallen behind. Blame it on the wifi failure at Streatley YHA on Saturday. They suggested the pub wifi, and I did use that to tweet some photos but, I didn't think they'd want me stuck by the fireplace for hours while I thought up a witty blog post. (There's always a first time)
Abingdon to Streatley was set to be 20 miles or so. I made sure of the 'or so' by losing my position on the map near the end and failing to read the book sufficiently closely. Mind you, the local I asked for help told me I was on a different place on the map to where we were and that I was on the wrong side of the river. I dd my best to be very nice and grateful despite part of me being totally knackered and irritable.
The weather was lovely - the sun was out and the wind subsided. I spotted a red kite and it dropped down to take a drink af the edge of the river. I caught a very rough photo of it but who cares, they are magical to see and watch.
My feet have held up remarkably well, liberal lashings of vaseline all over my toes seems to have helped. Late on Friday (Day 5) I had a strange soreness developing on my right achilles tendon. I bought some ibuprofen gel and added that to my daily preparations but it wasn't good on Saturday morning. After a couple of hours I decided that I would take an early pit stop at the next lock and combine lunch with some emergency first aid (if that doesn't sound odd). I applied gel, a wound dressing to stop any rubbing, put on extra socks to lessen the movement of my foot in the shoe. I also had lunch which I'm proud to say was a large helping of malt loaf washed down with a bogoff diet pepsi! You can take only so much water and sandwiches. It was yummy and I finished off both the malt loaf and pepsi later in the day.
The lock I stopped at was actually unmanned which mean there were minimal facilities so I had to prop myself up against a noticeboard for my faffing about. It meant I got to chat to people though. One lady who wanted to check where we were (Days Lock) was the support crew for her husband who was canoeing from Lechlade to Southend to raise money for Sea Sanctuary, Falmouth. They worked with people who have mental health difficulties and take them out on boats, with counsellors to help address their problems. At first, I thought she said Seal Sanctuary. Oops. another couple I said hello to, and the man commented on my mascot, I bumped into later when they needed my map reading skills..... It's ok, I pointed them in the right direction.
Anyway, there was lots of scenery, and the YHA was up a very steep drive and I arrived 20 minutes before reception opened. Ever the prepared traveller, I changed my walking shoes for flip flops (thongs if you're reading this upside down), got some coffee sticks out of my bag and made myself a drink. I looked quite settled in by the time I registered. Dinner was a lovely thai green something or other curry followed by sticky toffee pud, all for only £8.50.
I had to go to the pub though. There they had beer and wifi whereas the YHA only had beer. Life is tough sometimes. And I didn't kill the perosn who was snoring in my dorm.
Abingdon to Streatley was set to be 20 miles or so. I made sure of the 'or so' by losing my position on the map near the end and failing to read the book sufficiently closely. Mind you, the local I asked for help told me I was on a different place on the map to where we were and that I was on the wrong side of the river. I dd my best to be very nice and grateful despite part of me being totally knackered and irritable.
The weather was lovely - the sun was out and the wind subsided. I spotted a red kite and it dropped down to take a drink af the edge of the river. I caught a very rough photo of it but who cares, they are magical to see and watch.
My feet have held up remarkably well, liberal lashings of vaseline all over my toes seems to have helped. Late on Friday (Day 5) I had a strange soreness developing on my right achilles tendon. I bought some ibuprofen gel and added that to my daily preparations but it wasn't good on Saturday morning. After a couple of hours I decided that I would take an early pit stop at the next lock and combine lunch with some emergency first aid (if that doesn't sound odd). I applied gel, a wound dressing to stop any rubbing, put on extra socks to lessen the movement of my foot in the shoe. I also had lunch which I'm proud to say was a large helping of malt loaf washed down with a bogoff diet pepsi! You can take only so much water and sandwiches. It was yummy and I finished off both the malt loaf and pepsi later in the day.
The lock I stopped at was actually unmanned which mean there were minimal facilities so I had to prop myself up against a noticeboard for my faffing about. It meant I got to chat to people though. One lady who wanted to check where we were (Days Lock) was the support crew for her husband who was canoeing from Lechlade to Southend to raise money for Sea Sanctuary, Falmouth. They worked with people who have mental health difficulties and take them out on boats, with counsellors to help address their problems. At first, I thought she said Seal Sanctuary. Oops. another couple I said hello to, and the man commented on my mascot, I bumped into later when they needed my map reading skills..... It's ok, I pointed them in the right direction.
Anyway, there was lots of scenery, and the YHA was up a very steep drive and I arrived 20 minutes before reception opened. Ever the prepared traveller, I changed my walking shoes for flip flops (thongs if you're reading this upside down), got some coffee sticks out of my bag and made myself a drink. I looked quite settled in by the time I registered. Dinner was a lovely thai green something or other curry followed by sticky toffee pud, all for only £8.50.
I had to go to the pub though. There they had beer and wifi whereas the YHA only had beer. Life is tough sometimes. And I didn't kill the perosn who was snoring in my dorm.
Saturday, 16 May 2015
Day 6 photos
In advance of the words as I'm sitting in a pub doing this. Day 6 was Abingdon to Streatley, about 21 miles of a nice sunny day.
Why not have malt loaf for lunch? Only £1 but apparently I bought 13 portions
Feel the history in those windows. Who needs double glazing?
There was even an original loo roll holder
Don't try going up these stairs if you're the slightest bit tiddly
Church, river, scenery, sunny sky, Abingdon,
Goat or sheep?
Is it made of lego? (Other building blocks are available they're just not as good)
A church in Wallingford which had a skeletal/see-through spire
Not so many photos today. Lots of scenery but not a lot new or interesting. But tomorrow, I'm walking to Reading :-)
Why not have malt loaf for lunch? Only £1 but apparently I bought 13 portions
Feel the history in those windows. Who needs double glazing?
There was even an original loo roll holder
Don't try going up these stairs if you're the slightest bit tiddly
Church, river, scenery, sunny sky, Abingdon,
Goat or sheep?
Is it made of lego? (Other building blocks are available they're just not as good)
A church in Wallingford which had a skeletal/see-through spire
Not so many photos today. Lots of scenery but not a lot new or interesting. But tomorrow, I'm walking to Reading :-)
Day 5 photos
Brought to you by the free wifi at The Bull. Streatley not Ambridge.
Christ Church, Oxford
Junior lily pad
Black tulips
Bus or walk. Walk or bus?
The University of Oxford Botanic gardens were very good
Did I tell you that I like ferns and the little curly baby fronds?
Skip If you don' t like ferns
I think this plant belongs in a sci fi film
Obviously this is one of those really evil but pretty plants that catches insects
Plant pot in a garden
Can topiary be aspirational?
Some very flash boathouses (and two old ones)
My room at the wonderful St Ethelwold's House, Abingdon
The window to my room is to the left of the one with dark wood on the first floor
One of the buildings in the garden at St Ethelwold's
More flowers
Christ Church, Oxford
Junior lily pad
Black tulips
Bus or walk. Walk or bus?
The University of Oxford Botanic gardens were very good
Did I tell you that I like ferns and the little curly baby fronds?
Skip If you don' t like ferns
I think this plant belongs in a sci fi film
Obviously this is one of those really evil but pretty plants that catches insects
Plant pot in a garden
Can topiary be aspirational?
Some very flash boathouses (and two old ones)
My room at the wonderful St Ethelwold's House, Abingdon
The window to my room is to the left of the one with dark wood on the first floor
One of the buildings in the garden at St Ethelwold's
More flowers
Friday, 15 May 2015
Day 5 Oxford to Abingdon
After the 14 miles yesterday from Newbridge to Oxford, which seemed far longer in the rain, today was almost a rest day! With only nine miles to Abingdon, I was in danger of arriving in the morning if I left by my normal target time of 9 am. So, to keep my legs in practice, I thought I'd wander around Oxford for a couple of hours.
In a Youth Hostel you can always find leaflets so I grabbed a few and headed out, to see this City of Spires. It's funny, some parts are just like any other town centre and then you get all this yellow-stoned gothic (?) architecture everywhere. I don't know if J K Rowling had visited before she wrote the books, but Oxford must have come in handy for the films. With only a couple of hours available and having to fight through the hordes of tourists (not me obviously), I was delighted to find that the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens were not only nearby but also relatively small. I'd got the hang of the pretty buildings and they were mostly shut.
At the Botanic Gardens I queued behind a senior German couple and their pushchaired grandson; they politely claimed their discount and went in. I smiled sweetly and said all that I could come up with was my Friends of Kew membership. The man looked excited and asked if I had my card because I could get in for free! Result. Didn't even have to be over 60 ;-) If you were reading my travel exploits last year you'll know that I do pop into the odd botanic garden or two.
These gardens are the oldest scientific gardens in the country, pre-dating Kew. Small but perfectly formed, one thing I did enjoy seeing was a group of schoolchildren, about 7 years old I suppose, being shown around by a really enthusiastic lady, explaining about different plants, what they're used for etc. If one child out of that bunch grows up thinking science is interesting then she's a star. Oh, I took lots of pictures. Of plants. How exciting is that.
I made my way back via St Mary's Church one of the few buildings that was open and free. And impressive. Determined to do the whole Thames Path, I walked upto where I'd left it yesterday and then retraced my steps. It's ok though, I hadn't started my garmin.
The beginning of today's walk was well, a bit busy. I've got used to strolling along, minding my own business and there comes this charabanc full of bliddy tourists. Walking on *my* path. The river has got a lot wider and busier, with more pleasure boats ploughing up and down. It took quite a while before normal service was resumed. A dog taking its owner out for a bike ride didn't know whether to bark at me or keep running, so it nearly fell over trying to decide. There were lots of geese, no cygnets, not so many butterflies (were they all washed out of the sky yesterday?). And a dead swan 😢 Lots of lovely scenery and I made it to Abingdon in 2 hours and 58 minutes.
I found my accommodation without any trouble. I'd picked St Ethelwold's House because it sounded so interesting and calm. Sandwiched between two nights at Youth Hostels, it was probably well timed. This place is a charity and serves as a place for retreat with Christian values but also offering itself as a place for meditation, yoga, classes for the local community and basically a place to chill. The building is really old, ranging from 12-13 century beginnings with a Georgian frontage. The bit where I am has a long corridor with no right angles! If you were tipsy you'd probably come out feeling the place was ok! I love it. So much character and history and peace. There are rooms and places where you can simply go and be. The garden is beautiful and overlooks a branch of the river. Abingdon itself looks great. I need to check tomorrow's plans to see if I've time for a look around.
In a Youth Hostel you can always find leaflets so I grabbed a few and headed out, to see this City of Spires. It's funny, some parts are just like any other town centre and then you get all this yellow-stoned gothic (?) architecture everywhere. I don't know if J K Rowling had visited before she wrote the books, but Oxford must have come in handy for the films. With only a couple of hours available and having to fight through the hordes of tourists (not me obviously), I was delighted to find that the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens were not only nearby but also relatively small. I'd got the hang of the pretty buildings and they were mostly shut.
At the Botanic Gardens I queued behind a senior German couple and their pushchaired grandson; they politely claimed their discount and went in. I smiled sweetly and said all that I could come up with was my Friends of Kew membership. The man looked excited and asked if I had my card because I could get in for free! Result. Didn't even have to be over 60 ;-) If you were reading my travel exploits last year you'll know that I do pop into the odd botanic garden or two.
These gardens are the oldest scientific gardens in the country, pre-dating Kew. Small but perfectly formed, one thing I did enjoy seeing was a group of schoolchildren, about 7 years old I suppose, being shown around by a really enthusiastic lady, explaining about different plants, what they're used for etc. If one child out of that bunch grows up thinking science is interesting then she's a star. Oh, I took lots of pictures. Of plants. How exciting is that.
I made my way back via St Mary's Church one of the few buildings that was open and free. And impressive. Determined to do the whole Thames Path, I walked upto where I'd left it yesterday and then retraced my steps. It's ok though, I hadn't started my garmin.
The beginning of today's walk was well, a bit busy. I've got used to strolling along, minding my own business and there comes this charabanc full of bliddy tourists. Walking on *my* path. The river has got a lot wider and busier, with more pleasure boats ploughing up and down. It took quite a while before normal service was resumed. A dog taking its owner out for a bike ride didn't know whether to bark at me or keep running, so it nearly fell over trying to decide. There were lots of geese, no cygnets, not so many butterflies (were they all washed out of the sky yesterday?). And a dead swan 😢 Lots of lovely scenery and I made it to Abingdon in 2 hours and 58 minutes.
I found my accommodation without any trouble. I'd picked St Ethelwold's House because it sounded so interesting and calm. Sandwiched between two nights at Youth Hostels, it was probably well timed. This place is a charity and serves as a place for retreat with Christian values but also offering itself as a place for meditation, yoga, classes for the local community and basically a place to chill. The building is really old, ranging from 12-13 century beginnings with a Georgian frontage. The bit where I am has a long corridor with no right angles! If you were tipsy you'd probably come out feeling the place was ok! I love it. So much character and history and peace. There are rooms and places where you can simply go and be. The garden is beautiful and overlooks a branch of the river. Abingdon itself looks great. I need to check tomorrow's plans to see if I've time for a look around.
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Day 4 photos
Not many due to the inclement weather.
Newbridge, the place and the bridge there really isn't much else
The Rose Revived Inn - hopefully it will be soon
A Great Crested Grebe I've been reliably informed
Cows of the 'not bothered' variety
Rain
Fluffy sheep
The Cafe at Crisis, Oxford, just before closing
Newbridge, the place and the bridge there really isn't much else
The Rose Revived Inn - hopefully it will be soon
A Great Crested Grebe I've been reliably informed
Cows of the 'not bothered' variety
Rain
Fluffy sheep
The Cafe at Crisis, Oxford, just before closing
Day 4 Newbridge to Oxford
The weather forecast wasn't good and it wasn't wrong. The day didn't start well either. The breakfast offer was so poor that I declined and had some instant coffee and a cereal bar in my room. Not optimal for a 14 mile walk but hey ho. The duty manager was apologetic and I got last night's beer for free as well as not being charged for breakfast (that last bit was the minimum I would have expected). The Rose Revived Inn is in a superb location but in real need of the refurb that is taking place in a few weeks. I shall check Trip Advisor later this year.
After only 3km of walking it started to rain. I was already wearing my fleece for the first time, so this was bad. There were lots of sheep today and bedraggled lambs. At least two sorts - black face or not - I'm no expert! Plenty of cows too. The first bunch I had to get past were dark brown and busy eating but one of them had horns so I was cautious. He ignored me and so did the rest of them, phew.
Walking along, especially when it's on uneven ground, you can find yourself staring intently at the floor and forgetting to look up. Up is where the birds are and while I've commented on low-lying birds I think I've also seen kestrels and kites up above, hovering and swooping. Along with swifts or swallows, I never remember the difference. One female mallard seemed to be heading straight for me until she did an undignified late change of direction. They really are much more graceful on the water.
There was almost a repeat of the over-friendly cow problem except that this time I was on my own. Walking through a field, there were about 20 youngish cows, brown/black colour. I put my head down and walked on, sticking to the path. First of all some of them moved out of the way, but then they seemed to re-group in a chorus line, watching me while continuing to chew the cud. Undaunted, I carried on and was quietly glad to reach the gate. I turned to close it and they were all there on the other side. They'd followed me! It would have made a funny picture :-)
The river made a point of living the word 'meander' today. If it could go round a bend, it did. Scenic but a bit tiresome when you'd rather walk a straight line while you're being rained on. There were a lot of long boats and river cruisers parked up. I wondered how many were being lived on rather than saved for high (and dry) days and holidays. It was a quiet day as you might imagine - not too many people out walking so no chatting at all although I did wave at some lock-keepers in their little offices. The scenery was greener than usual, probably because all the daisies and buttercups were closed up waiting for the sun to show.
Approaching Oxford, there were more geese along the river, as well as the swans and mallards. The geese seem to group together with several adults and seeming dozens of goslings between them. Perhaps they're sharing the childcare. On the footpath I spotted something. On closer inspection it was a duckling, mallard I think. It wasn't well. I suppose it had been left behind somehow. Sniff.
Dripping, and following some very helpful directions from a lady cyclist, I found my way to the Crisis Skylight Cafe in George Street, Oxford. I think the last time I'd been there, the place was still a building site. I persuaded the lady at the counter that I was indeed a staff and could have a discount coffee to go with my lunch. With little breakfast to speak of, I went for veg chilli nachos and a piece of cake, all of which was fantastic. It's a lovely cafe. And if anyone is reading this, the wooden chairs and tables are great, please don't change them. I had a little char with our local fundraiser who helpfully pointed the way to the YHA. I did listen to what she said about all the local eateries but I couldn't face going out again, so pizza and chips it was 😀
Tomorrow, Abingdon.
Walking along, especially when it's on uneven ground, you can find yourself staring intently at the floor and forgetting to look up. Up is where the birds are and while I've commented on low-lying birds I think I've also seen kestrels and kites up above, hovering and swooping. Along with swifts or swallows, I never remember the difference. One female mallard seemed to be heading straight for me until she did an undignified late change of direction. They really are much more graceful on the water.
There was almost a repeat of the over-friendly cow problem except that this time I was on my own. Walking through a field, there were about 20 youngish cows, brown/black colour. I put my head down and walked on, sticking to the path. First of all some of them moved out of the way, but then they seemed to re-group in a chorus line, watching me while continuing to chew the cud. Undaunted, I carried on and was quietly glad to reach the gate. I turned to close it and they were all there on the other side. They'd followed me! It would have made a funny picture :-)
The river made a point of living the word 'meander' today. If it could go round a bend, it did. Scenic but a bit tiresome when you'd rather walk a straight line while you're being rained on. There were a lot of long boats and river cruisers parked up. I wondered how many were being lived on rather than saved for high (and dry) days and holidays. It was a quiet day as you might imagine - not too many people out walking so no chatting at all although I did wave at some lock-keepers in their little offices. The scenery was greener than usual, probably because all the daisies and buttercups were closed up waiting for the sun to show.
Approaching Oxford, there were more geese along the river, as well as the swans and mallards. The geese seem to group together with several adults and seeming dozens of goslings between them. Perhaps they're sharing the childcare. On the footpath I spotted something. On closer inspection it was a duckling, mallard I think. It wasn't well. I suppose it had been left behind somehow. Sniff.
Dripping, and following some very helpful directions from a lady cyclist, I found my way to the Crisis Skylight Cafe in George Street, Oxford. I think the last time I'd been there, the place was still a building site. I persuaded the lady at the counter that I was indeed a staff and could have a discount coffee to go with my lunch. With little breakfast to speak of, I went for veg chilli nachos and a piece of cake, all of which was fantastic. It's a lovely cafe. And if anyone is reading this, the wooden chairs and tables are great, please don't change them. I had a little char with our local fundraiser who helpfully pointed the way to the YHA. I did listen to what she said about all the local eateries but I couldn't face going out again, so pizza and chips it was 😀
Tomorrow, Abingdon.
Day 3 photos
Yes, even more pictures! Click on the links and you'll find yourself in twitter. You don't need a twitter account to look. Not even you, Mum :-)
As long as you know the direction you need, it's fairly easy. Most of the time....
Pretty much anything looked glorious that morning
St Lawrence Church, Lechlade. A handy alarm clock just outside my window!
A Pillbox. Apparently stopped the invasion of the Midlands in WWII. Unfortunately.
Didn't look like a size 44 to me
A swan farm I think
Yes another picture of things reflected in the river
Father Thames
A bridge, how exciting
We don't want your fish here
A lock. One of many.
Bees
Two swans , seven cygnets
Picture perfect
But we want to be friends
This one wanted to know if I had any food
As long as you know the direction you need, it's fairly easy. Most of the time....
Pretty much anything looked glorious that morning
St Lawrence Church, Lechlade. A handy alarm clock just outside my window!
A Pillbox. Apparently stopped the invasion of the Midlands in WWII. Unfortunately.
Didn't look like a size 44 to me
A swan farm I think
Yes another picture of things reflected in the river
Father Thames
A bridge, how exciting
We don't want your fish here
A lock. One of many.
Bees
Two swans , seven cygnets
Picture perfect
But we want to be friends
This one wanted to know if I had any food
Day 2 photos
As before, click on the links and you'll find the photos on twitter.
S Sampson's Church Cricklade
There was a lot of tweeting coming from in there. Somewhere.
Have you ever seen so many buttercups?
This was on the way *out* of the field...
Dragonfly - blue body & black wings - amazing
St Mary's Church Castle Eaton
A deer! (Not that we don't have them in London)
St John the Baptist Church Inglesham
Damn! Haven't seen Status Quo since the 70s. Wonder if they've got any new chords...
And if you want nice formatting, tough.
:-)
S Sampson's Church Cricklade
There was a lot of tweeting coming from in there. Somewhere.
Have you ever seen so many buttercups?
This was on the way *out* of the field...
Dragonfly - blue body & black wings - amazing
St Mary's Church Castle Eaton
A deer! (Not that we don't have them in London)
St John the Baptist Church Inglesham
Damn! Haven't seen Status Quo since the 70s. Wonder if they've got any new chords...
And if you want nice formatting, tough.
:-)
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Day 3 Lechlade to Newbridge
Oh wow! How could I possibly have used the word 'boring' yesterday? Today was so amazing. The wind of the first two days had gone, the river was glassy smooth and the sun shone. I had to stop myself taking photos, everything looked so picturesque.
Lechlade is the first navigable bit of the river and the first lock, St John's, is not far downstream. There are 43 locks between Lechlade and Hampton Court and two more at Teddington and Richmond.. Very quickly I decided that it would not be a good idea to take pictures of all them. I did wonder though, if part of the job description for a lock keeper is to love gardening. There must be a competition for Best Kept Lock or something, they all have such beautiful gardens, perfectly manicured lawns and postcard quality cottages.
Something I didn't expect were the Pillboxes. These are ugly concrete constructions built to protect against invasion and hordes of foreigners reaching the Midlands. They must have worked, obviously. They are on the banks of the river or slightly further away, some remain open, others are blocked up. Apparently at least one is being used as a hang-out for bats.
The locks, weirs and bridges added more variety to the meanderings of the river. Some new varieties of butterfly went by, some geese to keep the swans company and, near Newbridge, lots of seagulls of some sort. I do try to look up these birds and butterflies (I'm alright with bees 😄). I find what I'm sure is the right one and then the small print says "Only seen in Yorkshire on Tuesdays" and it's back to square one.
My walking seemed to be quite slow but there were more people to say hello to and chat with, if only briefly. Funny how you can tell Americans before they say anything! They were being pursued by a cat referred to as "she" until I explained the truth which was very evident at the rear of the feline. I bumped into my chums from yesterday a couple of times and we even shared a beer at the end of the day. They were being collected to go back to their accommodation from the place where I'm currently typing to you.
An 'interesting' bit of the day was catching up with a couple of chaps who seemed to be shouting and waving at 20-30 cows. Didn't seem like a good idea to me. Turned out it was my chums and the cows were simply being very friendly. Where they were staying the hostess explained that if the cows have been kept indoors until quite recently (I'm sure David Archer put his out weeks ago) then they're still very inquisitive and friendly. These flipping cows wouldn't take no for an answer. Or shoo. Or any other words. We only escaped by getting to the other side of a nice metallic gate.
Later on there were more swans and geese, some of them loitering on the path.you always hear that swans can be dangerous and this is baby swan time of year, so I was apprehensive. I walked slowly past the birds and they were fine, so I thought I'd try for a picture. While I was getting my camera out one of the swans came up to me so it was about a yard away, with that labrador look of "Have you got some food by any chance?". I clicked, breathed a sigh of relief and moved on.
This part of the walk is about as remote as it gets. Choice of where to stop for lunch, somewhere to stay overnight is minimal. I have a sneaky feeling that means you get taken for a ride, just a bit. My room is a large double with en-suite shower, separate toilet but the washbasin is in the room. Not very private if you were sharing, even if with your nearest and dearest. And the ceiling to the shower room needs serious attention, in fact
the windows of the room itself although double glazed have a serious mildew problem. Impressed I am not. Still, I had a bath in one of the non-en-suite bathrooms :D Tomorrow, the joys of Oxford YHA. At least I know what to expect. And it's cheap.
Such a Perfect Day.
Lechlade is the first navigable bit of the river and the first lock, St John's, is not far downstream. There are 43 locks between Lechlade and Hampton Court and two more at Teddington and Richmond.. Very quickly I decided that it would not be a good idea to take pictures of all them. I did wonder though, if part of the job description for a lock keeper is to love gardening. There must be a competition for Best Kept Lock or something, they all have such beautiful gardens, perfectly manicured lawns and postcard quality cottages.
Something I didn't expect were the Pillboxes. These are ugly concrete constructions built to protect against invasion and hordes of foreigners reaching the Midlands. They must have worked, obviously. They are on the banks of the river or slightly further away, some remain open, others are blocked up. Apparently at least one is being used as a hang-out for bats.
The locks, weirs and bridges added more variety to the meanderings of the river. Some new varieties of butterfly went by, some geese to keep the swans company and, near Newbridge, lots of seagulls of some sort. I do try to look up these birds and butterflies (I'm alright with bees 😄). I find what I'm sure is the right one and then the small print says "Only seen in Yorkshire on Tuesdays" and it's back to square one.
My walking seemed to be quite slow but there were more people to say hello to and chat with, if only briefly. Funny how you can tell Americans before they say anything! They were being pursued by a cat referred to as "she" until I explained the truth which was very evident at the rear of the feline. I bumped into my chums from yesterday a couple of times and we even shared a beer at the end of the day. They were being collected to go back to their accommodation from the place where I'm currently typing to you.
An 'interesting' bit of the day was catching up with a couple of chaps who seemed to be shouting and waving at 20-30 cows. Didn't seem like a good idea to me. Turned out it was my chums and the cows were simply being very friendly. Where they were staying the hostess explained that if the cows have been kept indoors until quite recently (I'm sure David Archer put his out weeks ago) then they're still very inquisitive and friendly. These flipping cows wouldn't take no for an answer. Or shoo. Or any other words. We only escaped by getting to the other side of a nice metallic gate.
Later on there were more swans and geese, some of them loitering on the path.you always hear that swans can be dangerous and this is baby swan time of year, so I was apprehensive. I walked slowly past the birds and they were fine, so I thought I'd try for a picture. While I was getting my camera out one of the swans came up to me so it was about a yard away, with that labrador look of "Have you got some food by any chance?". I clicked, breathed a sigh of relief and moved on.
This part of the walk is about as remote as it gets. Choice of where to stop for lunch, somewhere to stay overnight is minimal. I have a sneaky feeling that means you get taken for a ride, just a bit. My room is a large double with en-suite shower, separate toilet but the washbasin is in the room. Not very private if you were sharing, even if with your nearest and dearest. And the ceiling to the shower room needs serious attention, in fact
the windows of the room itself although double glazed have a serious mildew problem. Impressed I am not. Still, I had a bath in one of the non-en-suite bathrooms :D Tomorrow, the joys of Oxford YHA. At least I know what to expect. And it's cheap.
Such a Perfect Day.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Day 2 Cricklade to Lechlade
I was thinking back on yesterday's blog and decided that I haven't switched on my philosophical mode just yet. So, some thoughts.
It seems to me that country folk don't know about dog poo bags. I've come across more dog mess than I would wish. Is it a case of "Oh well, it'll biodegrade out here in the great outdoors" or "No-one will know, or see"?
And the animals of the non-domesticated variety are so not used to humans the way those urban creatures are. Herons normally simply stand still until you move on. Or if they're really not bothered, they carry on stalking that fish. Yesterday, I saw one and it flapped off in a great hurry and I was nowhere near it. Today, a deer appeared on the path ahead of me. I had enough time to take a photo before it hopped it. In Richmond Park, I would have been waiting for its 30 mates to follow along. Mind you, something that may have been a grouse got its revenge today. Pootling along a bridleway through a field, a sudden flapping right next to me was quite a fright. I hadn't seen the bird but it had seen me. So had the other two that took off a few seconds later (possibly female not so brightly coloured). I didn't swear, honestly.
Today? It turned into a day of four churches! It was raining first thing so I decided that I would take a look at St Sampson's Church in Cricklade before I left town. Majestic, strong, lots of stone, not many memorials and knick knacks considering its great age. It was worth the visit. The sun came out, I nipped into Tesco Express for my lunch and was off on the path again. After a while, I was starting to think that well yes, the non-rolling scenery is very pleasant to look at but dare I think it's boring? Then I saw a fabulous bright blue dragonfly with black wings. There was the incident with the 'grouse', more swans, cygnets, ducks and ducklings. I chatted to a couple of fellow Thames Path walkers. They got the blame for a user error with my garmin. I missed about 45 minutes of plodding and mileage having seemingly forgotten to set it going again after the stop to visit St Mary's Church at Castle Eaton. Small, pretty, old. Church number two of the day.
I must say that walking a river route does remove the likelihood of there being many hills. After a while, my legs were groaning if I had to go up a few steps over a bridge! Being off-road means it's softer on the sole but on the other hand (or foot) traipsing through wet grass leads to, you guessed it, wet feet. If you know me, you'll have heard me expounding the joys of technical clothing. It does dry out almost as quickly as it gets wet. I tried not to feel smug when one of the chaps I was talking to told me he was already on his third pair of socks for the day. He did seem to have some nice soggy, woolly ones.
The Book for today's walk strongly suggests that one bit is far too dangerous as it goes down the side of the A361 for a mile, where the national speed limit applies and is used. I was trying to delay my arrival at Lechlade as this was a fairly short day of (about) 10 miles, so I sat myself down by the side of the busy road to eat my lunch. No drink though, I didn't fancy finding a place to do a Paula. The traffic was fast moving but with space between the vehicles. I crossed and headed to the Inglesham turn-off. Despite the dire warnings, there was a path or grass verge the whole way and it was possible to cross again without getting run over.
At Inglesham, the church of St John the Baptist is an absolute delight. It is small and 12-13th century. Some restoration work was paid for by William Morris. There is decayed plasterwork with wall paintings still evident, amazing box pews and a Jacobean pulpit. If you're ever in the area do pop in.
From Inglesham, it was but a stroll to Lechlade, where I took the New Inn Hotel by surprise with my early arrival. The compromise was they bought me coffee and cake in the place next door and I promised to give them time to sort my room out. It seemed to be being re-built. Coffee, chocolate brownie and the sudoku done, I went off in search of church number 4 which was only yards away.
St Lawrence, Lechlade was completed in 1476 but there may have been a place of worship on the site since the 7th century AD. The exterior of the church is impressive with its spire but the inside reminded me of St Sampson's. The graveyard was so beautiful that it inspired the poet Shelley to write some stanzas, and there are one or two paths named after him. Indeed, the graveyard was fascinating, revealing so much of local lives and families gone by. What was sad was that some areas are overgrown and had been newly strimmed of their weeds while others were still in the wilderness.
I found a sweet shop which I entered out of academic interest only, of course, but then found that they sold yummy ice-cream and I walked out with a double scoop flavour combo of caramel fudge and clotted cream and peanut butter. This I ate on the way to the pub situated down by the Ha'penny Bridge.
Lovely day.
It seems to me that country folk don't know about dog poo bags. I've come across more dog mess than I would wish. Is it a case of "Oh well, it'll biodegrade out here in the great outdoors" or "No-one will know, or see"?
And the animals of the non-domesticated variety are so not used to humans the way those urban creatures are. Herons normally simply stand still until you move on. Or if they're really not bothered, they carry on stalking that fish. Yesterday, I saw one and it flapped off in a great hurry and I was nowhere near it. Today, a deer appeared on the path ahead of me. I had enough time to take a photo before it hopped it. In Richmond Park, I would have been waiting for its 30 mates to follow along. Mind you, something that may have been a grouse got its revenge today. Pootling along a bridleway through a field, a sudden flapping right next to me was quite a fright. I hadn't seen the bird but it had seen me. So had the other two that took off a few seconds later (possibly female not so brightly coloured). I didn't swear, honestly.
Today? It turned into a day of four churches! It was raining first thing so I decided that I would take a look at St Sampson's Church in Cricklade before I left town. Majestic, strong, lots of stone, not many memorials and knick knacks considering its great age. It was worth the visit. The sun came out, I nipped into Tesco Express for my lunch and was off on the path again. After a while, I was starting to think that well yes, the non-rolling scenery is very pleasant to look at but dare I think it's boring? Then I saw a fabulous bright blue dragonfly with black wings. There was the incident with the 'grouse', more swans, cygnets, ducks and ducklings. I chatted to a couple of fellow Thames Path walkers. They got the blame for a user error with my garmin. I missed about 45 minutes of plodding and mileage having seemingly forgotten to set it going again after the stop to visit St Mary's Church at Castle Eaton. Small, pretty, old. Church number two of the day.
I must say that walking a river route does remove the likelihood of there being many hills. After a while, my legs were groaning if I had to go up a few steps over a bridge! Being off-road means it's softer on the sole but on the other hand (or foot) traipsing through wet grass leads to, you guessed it, wet feet. If you know me, you'll have heard me expounding the joys of technical clothing. It does dry out almost as quickly as it gets wet. I tried not to feel smug when one of the chaps I was talking to told me he was already on his third pair of socks for the day. He did seem to have some nice soggy, woolly ones.
The Book for today's walk strongly suggests that one bit is far too dangerous as it goes down the side of the A361 for a mile, where the national speed limit applies and is used. I was trying to delay my arrival at Lechlade as this was a fairly short day of (about) 10 miles, so I sat myself down by the side of the busy road to eat my lunch. No drink though, I didn't fancy finding a place to do a Paula. The traffic was fast moving but with space between the vehicles. I crossed and headed to the Inglesham turn-off. Despite the dire warnings, there was a path or grass verge the whole way and it was possible to cross again without getting run over.
At Inglesham, the church of St John the Baptist is an absolute delight. It is small and 12-13th century. Some restoration work was paid for by William Morris. There is decayed plasterwork with wall paintings still evident, amazing box pews and a Jacobean pulpit. If you're ever in the area do pop in.
From Inglesham, it was but a stroll to Lechlade, where I took the New Inn Hotel by surprise with my early arrival. The compromise was they bought me coffee and cake in the place next door and I promised to give them time to sort my room out. It seemed to be being re-built. Coffee, chocolate brownie and the sudoku done, I went off in search of church number 4 which was only yards away.
St Lawrence, Lechlade was completed in 1476 but there may have been a place of worship on the site since the 7th century AD. The exterior of the church is impressive with its spire but the inside reminded me of St Sampson's. The graveyard was so beautiful that it inspired the poet Shelley to write some stanzas, and there are one or two paths named after him. Indeed, the graveyard was fascinating, revealing so much of local lives and families gone by. What was sad was that some areas are overgrown and had been newly strimmed of their weeds while others were still in the wilderness.
I found a sweet shop which I entered out of academic interest only, of course, but then found that they sold yummy ice-cream and I walked out with a double scoop flavour combo of caramel fudge and clotted cream and peanut butter. This I ate on the way to the pub situated down by the Ha'penny Bridge.
Lovely day.
Day 1 Photos
Sort of. I give up, I really do.
To see my photos you'll have to click on the following links to twitter. Don't worry, you don't need to have a twitter account just to look.
The Beginning
The Source, the Tree, the Pebbles, the Stone, the Signpost
Cute ducklings
Swans and cygnets - there were five but you can't see them all
Pylons, no, they're not ugly
Oilseed rape, it's yellow
English village, even the ducks are having a nap
No you can't phone from here
With apologies to my twitter friends, you won't see any extra pictures.
To see my photos you'll have to click on the following links to twitter. Don't worry, you don't need to have a twitter account just to look.
The Beginning
The Source, the Tree, the Pebbles, the Stone, the Signpost
Cute ducklings
Swans and cygnets - there were five but you can't see them all
Pylons, no, they're not ugly
Oilseed rape, it's yellow
English village, even the ducks are having a nap
No you can't phone from here
With apologies to my twitter friends, you won't see any extra pictures.
Monday, 11 May 2015
Day 1 Kemble to Cricklade
Scores on the doors:
Kemble station to The Source 1 mile
The Source to Cricklade 12.8 miles
Average pace 19m 42s per mile, including faffing, drinking, looking at the book, taking photos etc.
Weather started gloomy pretty much when I got to The Source turning sunny although breezy all day
What a lovely day to start! English countryside doing its best to look gorgeous. The Source of the Thames is, shall we say, dry but it has its moments going from stream, to trickle to a good impression of a small river and everything in between. The Thames Path doesn't hug the river the whole time; some of the route is where the river used to go or perhaps you just didn't want to swim under that house! There's a lot of water around and about where gravel pits have been turned into fishing lakes, a water park, a nature reserve and so on. Quite calming.
I had lunch overlooking the lake at Neigh Bridge Country Park. I could hear a cuckoo! Two rather wet black labradors came to see if I had any food to share, one even sat obediently in front of me with that "I'm really hungry, I'm a labrador" look in her eyes.
As is the way, I kept tally of what I was seeing. Beautiful Wiltshire villages with cottages of Cotswold stone were sprinkled about. It's baby time for wildlife: ducklings, cygnets, thousands of very small dragonflies. There were several different types of butterfly - white, yellow, brown with eyes on their wings, orange with patterns, a different orange one with patterns. You can tell I'm an expert. They were all pretty though. One rabbit, plenty of sheep and lambs, cows and calves, birds. However, no ring-necked parakeets, foxes or cats.
Cricklade is a small place but it has a few pubs. I'm staying at one but it doesn't do food. They gave me a bigger room than I'd paid for but the bath is the smallest I've ever tried to get into! A small child might be able to lay down in it but otherwise you have to choose which bit of you want to be in the water. And wifi. So let's start this year's battle to get some pictures on here...
Kemble station to The Source 1 mile
The Source to Cricklade 12.8 miles
Average pace 19m 42s per mile, including faffing, drinking, looking at the book, taking photos etc.
Weather started gloomy pretty much when I got to The Source turning sunny although breezy all day
What a lovely day to start! English countryside doing its best to look gorgeous. The Source of the Thames is, shall we say, dry but it has its moments going from stream, to trickle to a good impression of a small river and everything in between. The Thames Path doesn't hug the river the whole time; some of the route is where the river used to go or perhaps you just didn't want to swim under that house! There's a lot of water around and about where gravel pits have been turned into fishing lakes, a water park, a nature reserve and so on. Quite calming.
I had lunch overlooking the lake at Neigh Bridge Country Park. I could hear a cuckoo! Two rather wet black labradors came to see if I had any food to share, one even sat obediently in front of me with that "I'm really hungry, I'm a labrador" look in her eyes.
As is the way, I kept tally of what I was seeing. Beautiful Wiltshire villages with cottages of Cotswold stone were sprinkled about. It's baby time for wildlife: ducklings, cygnets, thousands of very small dragonflies. There were several different types of butterfly - white, yellow, brown with eyes on their wings, orange with patterns, a different orange one with patterns. You can tell I'm an expert. They were all pretty though. One rabbit, plenty of sheep and lambs, cows and calves, birds. However, no ring-necked parakeets, foxes or cats.
Cricklade is a small place but it has a few pubs. I'm staying at one but it doesn't do food. They gave me a bigger room than I'd paid for but the bath is the smallest I've ever tried to get into! A small child might be able to lay down in it but otherwise you have to choose which bit of you want to be in the water. And wifi. So let's start this year's battle to get some pictures on here...
Sunday, 3 May 2015
Just a short walk this time
I have shed loads of annual leave to take by the end of June, so what better to do than a bit of walking? Yes, I know there are a lot of things, but think budget, logistics, time of year, cost of flights to Oz... So, The Thames Path it is. 184 miles from the source of the Thames near Kemble, meandering through the English countryside, and London, to the Thames Barrier. The book of said national trail was already on my shelves - calling me. Training for the last Big Walk, I did actually cover the Thames Barrier to Shepperton, so some covering of old ground in the opposite direction and plenty of new places to discover.
I have my lovely camera, bought for the trip downunder last year, to take plenty of artistic shots of my home territory. I'll be staying in some b&bs, a couple of youth hostels and spending three nights at home. Trip Advisor will be busy!
The Schedule
Day 1 Monday 11 May
The Source to Cricklade, staying at The Old Bear Inn.
Day 2 Tuesday 12 May
Cricklade to Lechlade, staying at the New Inn Hotel.
Day 3 Wednesday 13 May
Lechlade to Newbridge, staying at the Rose Revived Inm.
Day 4 Thursday 14 May
Newbridge to Oxford, staying at the YHA.
Day 5 Friday 15 May
Oxford to Culham/Abingdon, staying at St Ethelwold's House.
Day 6 Saturday 16 May
Culham to Streatley, staying at the YHA.
Day 7 Sunday 17 May
Streatley to Reading, popping home for the night.
Day 8 Monday 18 May
Reading to Marlow, staying at the Oak Tree B&B.
Day 9 Tuesday 19 May
Marlow to Windsor/Datchet staying at the Manor Hotel.
Day 10 Wednesday 20 May
Windsor to Hampton Court, nip home.
Day 11 Thursday 21 May
Hampton Court to Putney, home again
Final Day Friday 22 May
Putney to the Thames Barrier
I'm rather looking forward to it.
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