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Thames path upstream part 2Thames path upstream part 2
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Well after the hot dry summer the source dried up and it moved five miles ! I will however hope to find it’s moved back Read more
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  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2

    Day One Marlow to Reading

    October 24, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    So part 2 , continuing post lockdown and hoping the weather improves after yesterday morning’s dark biblical rainstorm and thunder !
    Well it started dark - it was 730am ! As I made my way to the riverside path it was busy with Dog walkers ,Runners and
    Walkers ! It’s dry too! The sun comes up behind Bisham church with its Norman tower and then football HQ - Bisham
    Abbey dating back to 1139 but has had a spotted history due H8 dissolving it and passing it on to one of his queens ! Temple mill island and Lock are of interest as I cross Temple Bridge over to Berkshire! Now the sun is up and on my back !
    High up sits Harleyford Manor , a possible inspiration for Toad Hall , Danesfield house also on top of the cliff , and one pillar survives as Medenham Abbey. I get slightly lost passing the Culham estate as the path vers away from the river ! And just after the herd of deer races off an artwork which resembles Stonehenge appears -if it had been all stacked together!
    Finally we get back to the river after the Flower Pot inn - “boatman always on attendance “ although these days the ferry has closed !
    The Hambleden Lock and 300 yard narrow footpath past the weir is impressive (a sort of very mini Igauzu falls set up ) and has featured in many an odd crime TV drama !
    I pass an old haunt of Henley business school before the long straight river section runs down to Temple island and onto the set up for Henley Regatta. There are a few hopefuls on the river being bellowed at by cycling advisers !
    Across the bridge at Henley and on up the river and my first diversion of the day over the long wooden foot bridge over Marsh Lock - it used to access a mill now gone ! Sadly it’s also about turn as the bridge has been declared unsafe ! It’s a long detour as there are some large houses along here , one of which includes a narrow gauge railway in its gardens ! No trains running today from the impressive station .
    Shiplake is a pretty scattered village ( sorry Mike !) and it’s onward past the isolated barges , sheep and then I appear at Sonning for a well earned Lunch ! Bah!
    Lunch is just a beer as the system has gone down - not even an olive!
    The church has an impressive ceiling and there is an odd chapel for the mentally ill on pilgrimage - a St Sarik chapel !
    After this it’s a short slog to Reading and I cross the Jennet and Avon canal via the Horseshoe bridge which is attached to Brunel’s GWR bridge and Reading !

    That’s 19 miles almost !
    And there’s almost a new PM and thankfully Boris has avoided the cut - what a blowhard!

    I’m early enough to get to the Museum to see the Bayeux tapestry copy - but it’s Monday and it’s closed !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2
    1

    Day 2 Reading to Wallingford

    October 25, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Another early start and done great sky! As I start on the path opposite on Fry’s island is the only bowl’s club reached by ferry- take note Andy!
    The early morning is full of rowers , big skies , plane trails ,big houses (Hardwick house) weirs and locks , boat houses and bridges.
    The white Pangbourne bridge catches the early sun and since it’s a toll road those who cross it still ! 60p per car !
    There’s an odd village jail which looks like a very small oast house ! The church has a very odd ceiling - all rectangles !
    After an annoying detour from the river I reach the other side of the town and Basildon church , the final resting place of the original Jethro Tull ( Ian A has paid his respects !)
    After a lot of ups and downs I reach Goring and Streatley for lunch and yes there is a beer and a sandwich today !
    This is the crossing point with the Ridgeway and I should stay on the west side but it looks pretty dull so track north on the east past Leatherne bottle gone restaurant and pop into North Stoke’s church where it has some great mediaeval wall paintings !
    Finally I reach Wallingford , home of Agatha Christie , some old pubs, the candle stuffer church tower of St. Peter and another crazy ceiling- octagonal !
    It’s an interesting place with old market square and the remains (Cromwell!) of a castle !
    That’s it for today another 19 miles and didn’t even see the eclipse as it was cloudy!    Read more

  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2
    1

    Day 3 Wallingford to Oxford

    October 26, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    It’s the tough third day - aches and distance today - a long walk today and hopefully it will be good weather! Through town and up stream to Oxford ! An early start by the bridge (Welsh people’s ford on the road from Wales) which has been here since 1066. Crossing the weir at Benson lock . Shillingford bridge is impressive , balustraded from 1827.
    Moving on from the wharf I pass the confluence of Thames and Thame ! The lower section of the River Thame runs from the town of Thame to its confluence with the River Thames just south of Dorchester-on-Thames. Seemingly the Oxford name for the Thames is Isis rather than Thames! I don’t take a detour to Dorchester as the day is long enough!
    High on the hill on the other cliff top bank is the Clifton Hampden Manor House but I pass by the bridge and down the Clifton cut and onto Culham and Abingdon.
    I’m on the wrong side to see the town which is one of the oldest inhabited in UK.
    It’s still impressive with church and Almshouses and bridge! The walk north here is muddy and slow and not that interesting really ! Nuneham house on the other bank looks impressive with its Capability Brown gardens and a boathouse. It’s been a day of willows , ducks , rowers and fishermen ! The rest of the walk towards Oxford is bridges,Oxford boathouses and then it’s Oxford ! The folly bridge is a weird house and opposite the Head of the River pub and now I must find my hotel !
    A long day and long walk of 23 miles ! And it was sunny too!    Read more

  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2

    Day 4 Oxford to Tadpole Bridge

    October 27, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    A quiet drizzly grey start to the day as I weave my way through the back streets of Oxford. The guide book says the path is on left bank but it’s definitely on the right ! Guess it depends which way the writer was moving!
    On the way out ruined Godstow Abbey from1133 and later the Swinford bridge , a toll bridge .
    Todays it’s a very different day ! The Thames is much smaller and calmer and it’s pretty much meadow all the way! It’s meanders a lot and adds some distance .

    The odd conversations/ sites of the day : Wild water swimmers in Oxford - students! Rowers again ! Curious cows - see video ! Lock keeper “the water is still low after the drought” ! A barge owner who left Cornwall during the pandemic when the place was flooded and property values went mad ,now happily enjoying life on the rivers and canals ! So it’s been all majestic willows and cows and sheep today. Lunch at Newbridge - which isn’t new as it’s the second oldest on the river ! It has six pointed arches and dates from 1250!
    I was told to look out for otters at some point but didn’t see any - only a lady and her dog, some runners, and a couple with small boy ! It’s a quiet section , the sun came out and I’d given up all hope of seeing anything and then …..out of the sunshine appears a tall bald naked man who walks past me hiding his dignity neath his wallet ! “Apologies for my state of undress !” It is warm I replied !
    Tadpole inn bath beckons after 19miles!    Read more

  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2

    Day 5 Tadpole Bridge to Cricklade

    October 28, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Almost there and weather has been kind !

    It’s , however,a wet start …lots of drizzle !
    Rushey lock is the first obstacle with its ancient paddles ! Then it’s Radcot bridge and I spend a long time away from the river! Back near the river is Kelmscott manor which used to have William Morris as a resident and his grave in the churchyard .
    It’s another slog with no river but things improve at Buscot village and church and it’s pre- Raph Burne Jones windows!!
    Reaching St. John’s lock and a glimpse of Lechlade , church and it’s Halfpenny bridge .
    I eventually reach the odd Round House - which marks the end of navigation and was previously a toll booth ? The church at Inglesham is very impressive with it’s old wooden pew boxes .
    Another meandering section is dealt with and then I am directed away from the Thames again for several miles!
    I finally see the river again which is much smaller in width and strength near Castle Eaton and get a welcome lunch in the Red Lion , a Georgian inn describing itself as the first pub on the Thames ! Beyond here I weave with the river all the way to Cricklade , the last stop before the source and the church’s landmark tower looms over the town . The Ceiling of the tower of Sampsons church is very impressive ! Strangely the Catholic Church is older and boasts a Norman chancel arch !
    Another 19 miles and just the last 12 miles to do tomorrow !    Read more

  • Ant TravelsThames path upstream part 2

    Day 6 Cricklade to Source (hopefully)

    October 29, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Homeward stretch ! And the source ? They said it was 5 miles shorter during the summer drought but I’ll walk to the historic source !
    Lucky again with the weather as it’s warm and dry!
    Heading out from Cricklade it’s clear the Thames is pretty tame here and the summer drought hasn’t really returned it to “normal “. The stream is becoming intermittent and it’s really just a trough at times but I am right next to it !
    I pass through Waterhay and then through the picturesque Ashton Keynes where the Thames gets divided into several channels and the western side of the high street is considered the Thames . It’s here and then it’s not here . Through the lakes/ ponds areas the stream appears and disappears. And then it’s gone for good - I could walk on the riverbed ! Approaching Kemble I do walk in the river bed ! The source has multiple marks - the ringed circle of stones or the simple stone monument that arrived in 1974 - previously “old father Thames “ seen at St John’s Lock was here . It’s been a very dry year and today just before November it’s 20 degrees! And I’ve just read something that says the source (weather permitting) is actually 8 miles further on in Gloucester!
    11 miles and done !    Read more

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