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.
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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