The BBC weather promised cold but sunny with showers, however when I woke up the that sounded optimistic. It was grey and was threatening to rain. I was on no hurry as finer weather was promised later. I dropped Helen off then drove through the rain to Pangbourne.
It had clearly been raining a lot as there were lots of puddles on the road some starting to look like the start of a flood, as the covered the width of the road. To get to Pangbourne I had to pay £4 to cross the river. I parked up at the station car park and purchased a ticket to Reading for £3.50, and as luck would have it a train arrived as I walked into the platform, it was the 09:57 to Paddington.
Reading station is a modern building, painted mainly blue and silver, a big walkway above the platforms houses down eateries and there are escalators and lifts to move people about. It was still raining so I popped into the Starbucks opposite the station to figure out my next move. Cinnamon bun and Peru Piccino in hand I checked my phone for options to Sonning. A bus was due in 15 minutes, so I consumed my purchase and headed out to find the bus s stop. There was building going on and temporary bus stops on place, could not find the 127 stop? No but a bus employee who I asked pointed out that the 128 was pulling into the street just behind me! The driver stopped even though it was not the correct stop for which I thanked him. The one way to Sonning was £2.
The sky was getting brighter as I alighted in Sonning village, and it was a short walk to the bridge where I could join the Thames Path where I had left off on Sunday gone.
The path was muddy grass which was slippery and hard going but it was only a couple of miles to the edge of Reading where the path became paved. On the hard to get to side side of the river was an old barge which looked like it might be sinking and was covered on top with tarpaulins. Inside out of sight was a drummer drumming away on his drum kit. In the middle of Reading is what must be a new footbridge because it is not marked on the OS map.
After Reading I passed some snake’s head fritillaries growing by the river, I’m not sure I have ever seen them growing wild. A few miles later the path because very uninspiring with the path being narrow and had river to one side and a brick wall topped by a railway on the other. I occasionally heard the odd gun shot and even machine gun fire which I thought was strange. When I got to Mapledurham lock I found the source of the shots. There was a WW2 re-enactment going on in the grounds of the house there. I had not passed any coffee stops and was hungry by that point, there was a sign at at the lane entrance to the lock suggesting a tea room being open, but it was closed which was really annoying as it was about to pour down. I had to shelter under the small roof of a notice board while the squall passed.
The last few miles would have been more enjoyable had I not developed a blister on my right foot again. I could not figure out why so I re-laced my boots as I had left a few holes out to remove the pressure on my big toe, but it had not helped. I carried on to Pangbourne which did not take long. The days mile tally was 10 miles a comfortable distance.