Tag: windsor

I missed a couple of weekends on the Thames Path as I was on holiday until n North Norfolk for a week. The weather man promised sed me fine but cool weather which turned out to be perfect for me, blue skies and fluffy clouds and a perfect temperature for walking. I did not get up as early as I might have planned. I drove to Lower Radley CIA the Oxford ring road, where I parked as near to the river as I could get, then I had a half mile walk to the Radley station where I could get a bus to Abingdon. The bus arrived about a minute after I arrived, then as we pulled into Abingdon the T2 pulled into same bus stop perfect timing. I got off the bus in Clifton Hampden a smidge after 11.

The path is very rural and unpaved most if the way to Abingdon. I could have stopped at the village of Culham, but wanted to get two thirds of the way before I stopped for lunch, which would be at Abingdon. Just before I got there I stopped and put a pair of socks over my 1000 mile socks as I was still having issues with blisters, I’m not sure if I need to have my need two layers or one and tight laces or loose, but the issue is a around the ball of my foot.

It was only then a short walk to the Nags Head on the river by the bridge at Abingdon. I had a half of beer and a great wood fired pizza which went down a treat. The pub also sold steaks delivered to the table on a hot paving stone. I took the opportunity to try a time lapse sequence using the Magic Lantern software I had installed on my Canon 70d. It allows you to more finely control aspects of the cameras features. Also using the SLR means I can use manual exposure which you can’t do with the GoPro.

The final stretch was rural again, which I expect most of the remaining 60 miles will be. I turned in land at the rowing club at Lower Radley and was soon reunited with the car. With hindsight I could have done a bit further as the final mileage was just short 10 miles. The next stretch will take me to past Oxford, then I think it will become more of a challenge to get appropriate public transport.

I had another free day but was not up too early, I looked at the map and considered Abingdon but it would mean a 13 mile hike, so I settled on Clifton Hampden it would make for a circular walk next with Abingdon as the mod point and a land crossing between the loop of the Thames.

I parked up at the Barley Mow car park just over the river in Clifton Hampden. They clearly get flooded as the pavement was raised in stretches. The plan was to walk to the intriguingly named Golden Balls roundabout, and get to the bus to Benson. The route would mean a 3 mike walk in land. The walk was pleasant starting out at the picturesque chocolate box village of Clifton Hampden, then round the back of the Culham science establishment, and through a bluebell wood in bloom. The sunny weather made for a pleasant walk although there was a chill wind. The timing would be tight for the bus and they pass once an hour. When I got to the roundabout I saw the bus pass it was running late BT four minites but I still missed it.

There is a Notcutts garden centre on the roundabout so I went in there to get some coffee and cake and while away 40 minutes before heading out to the bus stop again. At the bus stop I saw a convoy of about 50 large customised motor bikes drive by. The bus did come just a few minutes late to my relief, the fare to Benson Marina was £2.20. The bus stop is in a sort of side road but cars had parked in the site road in such a way that the bus had to reverse back into the main road traffic to leave the bus stop.

From the marina it is country side al the way to Shillington bridge where you have to leave the river then down an alleyway to the main road where for about half a mile you have to use the pavement before you can get back onto the riverside. My next stop would be Day’s lock near Dorchester, where I chanced upon a guy just about to take his boat through the lock. I took the opportunity to take a time lapse sequence, whilst chatting to the boat owner. He was on his way to Rugby to some low cost marina he had found. He did gardening jobs to earn a living and seem be a happy with his lot puttering about the country on the rivers and canals. I closed the lock for him to save him having to moor up and return.

After the previous days efforts I was keen to get back to the car, which did not take too long. The weather was just about holding out and it was still cold. This weekend I managed to get another 20 miles done and had 70 miles left to go so I was past the 100 mile point. The next walk would be a circular one taking in Abingdon which is on a big bend in he river.

I was up fairly early for for a leisurely start and to give me time to research my route and transport plan. I left the house at 08:40 and drove the B4009 to Wallingford, where I parked in the long term car park for £2, it is free after 13:00 on a Saturday. The planned bus was from the market square but I could not find bus stop B (C and A were clearly visible). I asked one of the bus drivers bit they did not know. He asked a colleague who did not know bit when I said I was after a 134 bus he said I had just missed it. I wandered over to where it had left to investigate my options, when I noticed a taxi in the rank. The driver suggested £20 to get to Pangbourne, so rather than mess around I would take him up on his offer.

About 15 to 20 minutes look later I was £20 lighter but I had saved a lot of time. The public transport option involved a bus and a train with a wait for each, a total of one hour and twenty minutes. I will try the taxi option again in future.

From Pangbourne, unusually the Thames Path goes up a steep hill away from the river, then when you get back to the river it is a path parallel to and high above the river on a steep escarpment. At some point I passed a pillbox, which was from WW2 when the Thames was considered a place to retreat behind should the Germans start to invade southern England.

I missed a sign a mike or so out of Goring but it was only a short back track to the official Thames Path. I was in familiar territory as I had been out this way to look at Monkey Orchids at a nearby nature reserve. At Goring I fancied an early lunch and the Pierrepont cafe near the bridge did a great smoked salmon, avocado, and poached egg on toast, which I washed down with an americano.

Suitably refreshed I crossed the bridge and joined the path on the opposite bank, my next stop would hopefully be for a coffee at the hotel Moulsford, which I had spotted on the OS map. However the beetle and wedge website looked a bit posh for just coffee. *Set on the banks of the River Thames immortalised in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ and Jerome K Jerome’s chronicled escapades of his friends’ visits in ‘Three Men in a boat’, the Boathouse Restaurant emphasis is on quality of food, wines and service.” I grabbed a custard and chocolate bun just in case.

It did not take long to get to Moulsford, and although the hotel catered for walkers and coffee I walked on up the hill into the village, as the path did not follow the river. About a half mile of busy road was next, then a farm track took me back to the river. Just before the river I got a view of a viaduct and it seemed like a great place to get a time lapse sequence, I was hoping for a train or two to pass. I sat down and ate half my bun, which like the food at the café was excellent. Whilst I waited the 10 minutes I usually give a tone lapse a train did pass and I also watched some parachutists in the distance jumping out of a plane. The weather although sunny with clouds, was great there was a cold wind as the weather man had promised.

The path keeps to the countryside for a few miles, I heard the distinct sound of a reed warblers and stopped to watch it through my binoculars, it was my first this year. A mile or two outside Wallingford I stopped for a rest on a memorial bench for Dennis William Wilson, who liked fishing according to the plaque. The Thames had become noticeably narrower at this point, an indication that I was making progress, in fact I was over the halfway point.

When I got to Wallingford I decided to walk on to Benson to make the next leg to Abingdon slightly shorter, it felt wrong to walk past the car, and as it turned out quite rightly so. It was only about a mile and a bit to Benson lick where the path crosses the river again. My plan was to get a bus from the stop outside Benson marina. I arrived about 10 minutes early for the bus but twenty minutes late I had still not seen a bus apart from one that was on its way to Watlington. The timetable said there was a bus every 30 minutes, so I popped over the road to get a drink at the marina, then headed out to the stop with 16 minutes to wait.

Lots more pill boxes