Thames Path Walk – Marlow to Henley-on-Thames to Reading
/Sometimes as we’re walking, we engage in lively, philosophical discussions. You know … the meaning of life, solving world issues, is there life after sailing. Today involved a more practical discussion. How much snot can a human head hold? Yes, we’re both cold-laden at the moment and this seemed a germane topic. The answer was, we determined … an absolutely enormous amount, more than imaginable. We have purchased packets of ‘facial tissue’, i.e. Kleenex, pilfered and used rolls of toilet paper from our pub rooms and absconded with an untold volume of restaurant napkins. Our noses are red, chapped and dripping and our pockets are burgeoning with used, soggy, snotty paperware … and still the snot continues. We purchased a daytime-nighttime cold remedy which did diddly-squat, then finally found a decongestant called Snotbuster … no, no, it was called ‘Blocked Nose Relief’ (catchy name) from Tesco (supermarket) which seems to be doing the trick.
So from snot talk, we continue with our walk …
Marlow to Henley-on-Thames – 8.5 miles
Birds, birds, birds today. Banks of mute swans, coots, grebes, ducks, gaggles of Canada geese, white geese and Egyptian geese, herons, blackbirds, jays, ravens, a moorhen and even an English robin.
Flowers abound on the path. Bright pink wild sweet peas, azure blue chicory, white yarrow, the ubiquitous dandelion, wild roses, teasel, thistle and so many more, thrive along the river bank and in the meadows. The wildflowers are not so different from what we see in the US and many of the names are the same. Along with the flowers, we see mile upon mile of blackberry brambles which, fortunately for us, are ripe at the moment. We find that our walks are sometimes delayed significantly because we’ve been picking and eating our way to the next destination. We’ve been fortunate that the weather has been incredibly dry and pleasant … cool enough for comfortable walking, warm enough for t-shirts and definitely warm enough to stop and fill our faces with blackberries.
Picking blackberries en route … no wonder it takes us so long to get anywhere.
Many of the buildings that are close to the river were part of a Benedictine Monastery that was mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. Bisham All Saints Church with its classic Norman tower was built c.1175. It was pure joy in the morning as we viewed it from the opposite bank of the river.
Bisham All Saints Church dates back to the 12th century
We passed by massive estates. One, Culham Court, sports a herd of white deer grazing in the pasture. George Harrison, of Beatle fame, used to live here in Henley-on-Thames in an estate called Friar Park. In fact, his recording studio FPHOT (Friar Park Henley on Thames) was located in Henley as well.
White deer herd at Culham Court
Sometime I just don’t see what the camera sees. We were checking out these posted scores, trying to figure out what game was involved (it was cricket), but never saw the falcon that was sitting on a tree in the foreground.
Who cares about the cricket scores … check out the falcon!
A little Stonehengian artwork in one estate’s garden.
Whimsical scarecrows peeked through the fence at us.
Hen houses on a local farm with chickens and guinea fowl pecking for food.
Before we knew it, we were approaching Henley-on-Thames.
Crossing Henley Bridge built in 1786 to the Henley riverside. That’s St. Mary the Virgin church tower dominating the skyline at the right.
And before we knew it, we were in Henley-on-Thames, a lovely riverside town. We headed directly to our Airbnb room in a lovely Edwardian rowhouse located about ½ mile from the river, up a hill and, unfortunately, on the 3rd floor of the house. Though the place was nice, we haven’t yet decided if we like Airbnb stays or not. Though we’re paying for the room, we somehow feel intrusive. Sometimes there isn’t another reasonable option, but in our estimation, pub accommodations are the best.
Today’s mileage: 13.2 miles
Really … two old Citroens parked on St Marks Street
Henley-on-Thames to Reading – 9 miles
There was the pitter-patter of soft rain during the night, but another lovely day dawned. Are we really in England? Even the Brits think this prolonged fair weather is pretty remarkable. It’s a regular topic of conversation in tea shoppes and pubs. As we headed down the hill on St. Marks Street to rejoin the path, the pigeons and doves were cooing and the church bells beckoned the faithful to morning services.
Marsh Locks horse bridge
The Marsh Locks were just a short distance up the path. We walked on an unusually long wooden pedestrian bridge that jutted far out into the river and then returned to shore. This bridge was actually an old horse bridge and the reason it was so long was because it had to go around a large brass foundry that was located on the riverbank. The foundry is gone, but the bridge remains.
Thameside Court has an extensive narrow gauge railway running alongside the river path.
Most of the riverside houses are Edwardian. Some of the estates here, like others we’ve seen along our route, are massive. Thameside Court, for instance, was built in 1914 and is owned by billionaire Swiss financier, Urs Schwarzenbach, who added an extensive narrow gauge railway running alongside the river path. Remember that huge estate with the herd of white deer I described earlier? Urs Schwarzenbach owns that one, too. Turns out he’s a pretty rich guy who likes Thames riverside property.
We stopped at the Sonning Locks (pronounced Sunning) for our morning tea break. I was reminded that George Clooney and his family live in this little corner of the world. I’d like to think he just didn’t know we were in the neighborhood and that’s why we weren’t invited for evening cocktails. Luckily, we had our tea to console us. Then we were back in the country again, the river on one side, meadows and grasslands on the other.
We saw the sign for the Troll Bridge, then crossed it, but saw nary a troll beneath.
Pretty flowers and ribbons, but definitely no trolls under this bridge.
We passed the modern, cable-stayed Christchurch Pedestrian Bridge as we entered Reading. No trolls under that bridge either.
Walking along the final mile to hotel in Reading, we noted a Tesco supermarket on an arch leading off the path. This Tesco caters to canal boat visitors who motor up and down the Thames. Boats can moor on the riverside, do their shopping and provisioning and be on their way. Though we did not have a canal boat, we took advantage of the proximity and convenience and stocked up on breakfast and snack supplies for the next couple of days.
Mileage today: 11.2 miles – 94 miles to go