The Last Leg

The sun is back and I eat breakfast on the deck before packing ready to leave. It’s A level results day and our son is in Budapest, due to fly to Italy, so we receive his results in a message – he’s achieved the grades needed for his first choice university so we begin the day on a high. We’re on the road by 10, driving to Benson to pick up the Thames Path where we leave it and continue to walk east. 

The path crosses the river at Benson Lock and then hugs the south bank as far as Wallingford. It’s mostly rural until we reach Wallingford bridge. There’s a floating hotel moored here called The African Queen which appears to have come from Mapledurham, just down the road from home. 

The path leaves the riverside, passing down Thames Street between picturesque old buildings with the odd modern monstrosity thrown in. It passes through an arch between two buildings and across a narrow wooden bridge over a stream, emerging by a slipway back at the river’s edge. 

The riverside properties here are separated from their moorings by the path and at first it’s fenced but as we get further from the town there are no fences and the path simply crosses the substantial gardens. There are rowing clubs here for the Oxford colleges as well as private properties.

Shortly before we pass under the Nosworthy Road we reach open countryside and, before long, encounter the inevitable cows. These have calves and are blocking our path but don’t seem to mind us weaving through them. We cross the path to Cholsey where there are signs that there was once a ferry service across the river, and enter Cholsey Marshes where the path grows increasingly wooded.

We continue to follow the river until we reach a railway bridge where a boardwalk leads us through its arches and then sharply right on a footpath through the impressive grounds of Moulsford Prep School. 

Emerging onto the Reading Road we turn left past the fronts of riverside homes until we reach Ferry Road and our lunch destination, The Beetle and Wedge. We didn’t book ahead as we weren’t sure how long our walk would take and we’re fortunate to get a table as the restaurant soon fills up completely. The food is excellent but the service seems a little overstretched. As we finish our lunch the African Queen moors up outside.

As we retrace our steps back to Benson we are surprised to find a couple of huge branches have been broken by the wind since we passed a couple of hours ago … we hadn’t realised the wind was so strong. Within an hour we’re home and reflecting on what we’ve learned – we can live very comfortably on a boat and both agree that a couple of years exploring the waterways is something we’d definitely consider; our next step will be to hire a self-drive for a few days.  We’ve also resolved to walk the entire Thames path, bit by bit.

Rainy Day

We wake to the unmistakeable sound of rain, but we are cosy and toasty inside. We’d planned ahead for meals so there’s no need to go out and we enjoy a lazy day playing games, reading and watching movies – another appropriate selection from the TV’s hard drive: Deepwater Horizon. Not everybody is put off by the weather – boats continue to pass us on the river, leaving a wash that laps gently against the hull but doesn’t really cause much movement. Even a rainy day doesn’t seem so bad when viewed through the window of a boat.

West on the Thames Path

I’m up before Simon and drink my morning coffee on the foredeck. It’s a beautiful sunny morning. I’m visited by a lone female duck who gobbles down our stale baguette and hangs around hoping for more. A couple of small fish bounce across the river surface like skimmed stones. After a comfortable night we are both showered, breakfasted and out by 10am. 

We follow the Thames Path back to Shillingford village, cross the A4074 and walk along it to where the Thames Path rejoins the river, close to where the Thame joins the Thames, south of Dorchester. 

 We cross the river at Day’s lock and continue along the opposite bank. It’s farming country, mostly cattle and sheep, and the flimsy electric fence doesn’t seem enough to deter a determined bovine. Across the river large properties boast impressive gardens and boathouses, but overlook the power station at Didcot beyond the river and fields. We walk among clouds of white butterflies, which gather in spectacular numbers around pink blossoms; we see a heron, red kites and a deer which watches us calmly and doesn’t bother to get up.

The Thames Path crosses the river again at the bridge in Clifton Hampden; we’ve been walking for around two hours now and feel like a break. We stop at the Barley Mow for lunch and then turn back the way we came. 

Just past Day’s Lock there’s a footbridge towards Little Wittenham so we cross it and take the path towards the Wittenham Clumps; a pair of chalk hills topped by some of the oldest beech woods in England, the lower of which was formerly the site of an iron age hill fort. An alternative colloquial name is Mother Dunch’s buttocks, after a lady of the manor.

It’s a warm afternoon and the ascent is hard work but the view is pretty spectacular if you disregard the power station. We walk back along a bridle path through forests and farmland which emerges at the far end of the Shillingford Bridge Hotel’s car park. After grabbing a much-needed cold drink from the fridge in the boat, we drive to Waitrose in Wallingford to pick up ingredients then sit on deck to enjoy the last of the afternoon sun before dinner.

After dinner we cross Shillingford Bridge and walk the Thames Path as far as Benson where we have a drink at The Waterfront Café (a fairly regular summer lunch haunt for us) and watch the sun go down. Walking back in the dark is a bit of a challenge!

Arrival

We arrive on a fine afternoon and install ourselves on board. The boat has been recently refurbished and the living accommodation is spacious and comfortable. We’ve been warned that high wattage appliances can’t be used – so no hairdryers or microwaves – but there are few other compromises. Having come equipped to self-cater we’ve brought quite a few food and drink items that need to be chilled and the fridge is not quite regular size so we have to do “fridge tetris” to fit everything in; this provides the perfect excuse to enjoy a couple of chilled drinks on the small front deck. There’s a full size Calor gas cooker, a wide selection of movies, books and games and an excellent sound system. The toilet turns out to be less of an issue than I feared.

We are keen to explore our surroundings and take the riverside path from the hotel garden but it’s quite overgrown and our shoes aren’t really up to it. We retrace our steps and follow the Thames Path over Shillingford Bridge and along the north side of the river along a private road. The path turns right along a narrow track between properties, then we see a left turn that isn’t signposted but clearly takes us back towards the river. It emerges at the end of a cul de sac where there is a sign marking high water from various floods – some as high as us. 

The road leads through the village of Shillingford towards the A4074 where we find a hotel called the Kingfisher where we stop for a drink. It’s a fairly soulless and neglected place; we’re the only customers. While Simon orders the drinks (appropriately, his is a Kingfisher) I look for local information among a display of leaflets. We’re in Midsomer country so there’s a map of locations, but as we’ve never watched the Midsomer Murders they don’t mean much to me.

We return via another footpath which joins the Thames Path where we had turned right earlier. We retrace our steps back to the boat and prepare dinner. I enjoy watching night fall over the river as I cook.  There’s no wifi and almost no mobile signal but fortunately Simon downloaded some music on Spotify which we can play through the amp and speakers provided. After dinner we choose a movie from the wide selection provided on a hard drive attached to the TV. Big Fish fits the aquatic mood. 

A Few Days Afloat

We’re toying with the idea of beginning our retirement with a couple of years exploring Britain’s waterways by boat, so it seemed wise to have a trial run to see whether we could adapt to life afloat. I have found a wide-beamed narrowboat for rent on Airbnb which seems ideal – although located only about half an hour from home it is on a stretch of the Thames Path we haven’t yet explored. Baron II is moored at the Shillingford Bridge Hotel, where I remember having Christmas lunch as a child. A few days before we arrive, the owner helpfully sends some video instructions on how to access the boat and – somewhat alarmingly – how to operate the composting toilet. I decide not to share the second one with Simon until absolutely necessary.