Thursday, September 4, 2025

Thames path part 2 - beautiful towns (Abingdon to Hampton Court)

Just before Reading we encountered a hoarding. Nothing of note except it literally went on for a couple of Kilometres. It turns out this was for the Reading festival where daily sell out crowds of 90,000 had been entertained. Seems our timing was perfect as all had departed! Note the lush grass which appears to have been a result of the river flooding rather than rain.

Having walked some 100 km, it was time to move our caravan base to Henley-on-Thames. The next week was a mixture of country and stunningly beautiful towns. The path slides past Oxford, where the banks are almost an embarrassment, to Abingdon where colourful views really kick in.

Henley might have been outshone given the grey skies but still had colourful views.

And the next day Marlow also put its hand up to be in the top ten.

Between towns there is also much of interest.

The railway bridge at Moulsford was designed by Brunel for the Great Southern Railway and built in the 1840s. It is skewed 60° to the river and comprises four semi-elliptical arches. If you look closely at the angle of the brickwork it almost defies the imagination of how they were laid.

By contrast, a mere 30 year old timber pedestrian bridge near Marlow has been closed due to being “unsafe”. This meant quite a detour to the walk. Indeed there were many detours in place – some advertised and well signposted and others just closed by builders trucks and fences – all quite frustrating and tiring.

It appears that a closure was warranted as the central section looks to have dropped…

We also encountered some quirky sights.

In Wallingford we stumbled across this street sign, which immediately raised a question. What was the link to Ian Anderson’s band? It turns out that the original Jethro Tull lived in a house down the road in the 17thC. He was someone who applied science to farming and invented a seed drill for a more even spread rather than the clumps that arose from hand sowing. It seems Ian Anderson had little to do with farming (other than some interest in salmon farming) but just liked the name.

At Whitchurch we had to cross over the Thames. Fortunately, we were on foot so no toll applied, but for a car it was 60p.


A marked increase from the past....

We encountered a few white deer at Culham House. The colour is due to a genetic condition that reduces Melanin. Almost as odd is the design of the house behind. 

The final ‘quirky’ was a quick trip back to William Morris’s house at Kelmscott as it was closed when we walked past. The house had some magnificent fabric designs and Morris was clearly an intellectual with a considerable interest in books, including his translation of Iceland's sagas.

If that was not enough, the house had an attic that required a very steep staircase. To overcome unacceptably high risers the stairs were split into two so each step effectively halved the required riser.

While at Henley cousin Pamela joined us for a couple of days. I still find it mystifying how girls can talk nonstop for hours. It does seem one is on a walk and the other a stroll....

We did come across some quite small houses where the front door would have even required Pam to duck! They might have even challenged hobbits!

Some of the houses in the area were wonderful to behold. Whether several decades old,

or the latest designs they were all very appealing to the eye (if not the wallet).

I wasn’t aware it was lunchtime but does anyone want a quad skull?

Of course the most famous town in the river is Windsor. We moored near here last year.

This time our return trip was via the train using the GWR spur line to Slough. Windsor also has a second spur line to Staines operated by South Western Rail. Both stations have some great décor which unfortunately needs some TLC.

The following day the path took us opposite the Crown estate. By contrast to the stations it is really well-maintained. The tranquillity of the view was unfortunately, regularly disturbed by planes taking off from Heathrow (one of which can be seen).

Some bridges and signs gave food for thought (and that of course meant a Google search,,,)

The Henly-based section ended at Hampton Court. The external gates are stunning and give an interesting foreground to the Court.

As we circumvented the large grounds, the far end enabled access to walkers and the "long water" leading to a distant rear view of the court.


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