Thames Path – Ewen to the Thames Source
/Ewen – Thames Source – 2 miles
We were awake and up early, antsy to get going for our final steps on the Thames Path. We could have finished the walk yesterday, but we wanted our arrival at the Source to be a special occasion. We wanted to take in every image and savor every minute of these last couple of miles. The completion of the Thames Path needed to be its own celebration on its own day.
We marveled at the dry stack stone walls that seem prevalent in this area.
The morning was crisp and the sun was brilliant. Autumn has arrived …the leaves are starting to change color.
A colorful ring-necked pheasant cock stepped out onto the path … accompanied by his harem of hens. They all scattered when they noticed our approach.
It was a short 2-mile walk from the Well Cottage to the Source. Dew sparkled and will’o’the’wisps clung to the ground, creating a surreal, magical setting as we made our way through the wet fields, knowing this was the end of our trek.
Dew-laden spider webs glistened in the brilliant morning sunshine.
We trudged through a meadow of tall, wet grass. A lone tree stood sentry in the early morning ground fog as we made our way closer and closer to our goal.
And then, there it was … the stone monument that marked the Source of the Thames.
Reading the marker was difficult, but David finally figured out the simple inscription:
The conservators of the River Thames 1857-1974
This stone was placed here to mark the source of the River Thames
The Source isn’t much … no river, no water.
We struggled with our imaginations trying to conjure up the Thames River we’ve walked beside for the past three weeks … the mighty, tidal river we saw at the Thames Barrier in contrast to this tiny, dry hole in the ground surrounded by rocks. Evidently in wet winters, this whole area is flooded. Now, however, if it wasn’t for the marker and a Thames Path sign, we’d never know that we had reached the Source.
If not for the Thames Path sign, we might not have known we’d arrived at the Source.
We made it!!
We hooped and hollered a bit and congratulated each other with hugs and kisses. We took the requisite photos and then lapsed into a contemplative silence as we retraced our steps out of the meadow and headed to the Kemble train station for our trip back to London.
As much as we were excited about completing our walk, it was also bittersweet. It was an ‘is that all there is?” moment. After years on my bucket list and months of preparation and anticipation, the Thames Path walk was over. We felt a mix of satisfaction and exuberance at having attained our goal and yet a sense of loss. This had been our raison d'être for the past 20 days and it was done. Now what?
We walked the mile to Kemble and bought our Great Western train tickets bound for London. Twenty days to walk here and we’d be back in London by train in less than two hours. All that walking undone in a flash. We always felt the same way when it took us weeks to cross an ocean in Nine of Cups and then we’d fly back half way round the world in a matter of hours.
Our Thames Path stats:
20 walking days – 184 miles from the Thames Barrier to the Thames Source and 231 total miles walked, an average of ~11.5 walking miles per day. That worked out to a half million steps for those who keep track of such things (as I do) … 509,843 steps to be exact.
Join us next for a few days in London before heading back to the States.