Day 3: Lechlade to Trout Bridge – 10 miles

Thursday 18 March

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The day did not start well. Barely 10 miles into our journey to Lechlade we were stuck on the motorway due to an accident. We left at the next exit and through a combination of analogue navigation (map), sat nav and luck we managed to find an alternate route. The net result was that we were over an hour late in starting our walk. But at least the weather was good with some sunshine.

We soon left the dreaming spire of Lechlade and started down the Thames. It definitely is ‘down’ as Lechlade is 60m above sea level. This stretch of the Thames is very much in open countryside. There are no villages in sight and very little habitation. The view is broken up by a series of war time pill boxes at roughly half mile intervals along the bank. The majority of these are in good condition and would have proved very useful if an invasion force came up the Thames, albeit slowly.

The walking on this section is easy and we were able to keep up a good pace, although the path changes bank quite frequently. The first stopping point was Buscot lock. This is the furthest upstream lock on the Thames and is marked by a statue of ‘Old father Thames’ - a perfect photo opportunity for your intrepid walkers.

We passed another lock near Kelmscott Manor, the summer home of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. This one offered ice creams, but no cappuccino so we pressed on to lunch. Our stop was at the Swan Hotel, an isolated establishment at the junction of the Thames and a minor road. For the few customers around they offered a good selection of food, including a variety of homemade pies. But best of all there was Ruddles County on tap. This was nostalgic for both of us as we remembered the third pint bottles of Ruddles from our youth. Those were the days!

The bar staff at the pub were most interested in our walk being for Charity and we were soon providing consultancy advice on setting up a Just Giving website for a charity they had in mind. Strangely for two ex fee earners, we did not charge for this advice or even suggest a donation. Philanthropy lives!

Suitably fortified we set of on the last few miles for the day. Once again the scenery was uneventful, other than the regular pill boxes. We did see a couple of buzzards and heard some curlews, but not much else. The afternoon section was quite short and we soon reached the Trout Inn, our final stop for the day. We were looking forward to some afternoon tea, but the landlord locked the door just as we arrived. Our boots were not muddy, but perhaps he did not want to take the chance.

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DAY 1 & DAY 2

DAY 1: THAMESHEAD TO CRICKLADE - 12 miles

Wednesday 3 March 2010: The start of the Thames Path is a surprisingly non-descript ring of stones in the corner of a field near Cricklade in Gloucestershire predictably called Thameshead. The source of the UK’s most famous waterway is an underground spring which luckily for us is marked by an inscribed stone and a signpost. The sign post shows 184 miles to London - gulp! It’s already 11.30am and we’re late - 12 miles to do today for the first leg of the journey. Well the saying goes ‘every journey starts with one step...‘ so off we go.

The Thames stream emerges some half a kilometre across the field and is already fast and clear but a minnow compared with the river we know in London.

The weather is cold and dry and eventually gets sunny through the day. We have all the right gear for walking - comfortable but unfashionable! - and we keep up a good pace.

The river slowly gets wider as it picks up other streams and drainage ditches. It’s so peaceful away from the traffic and plane noise of the South-East. The only noise is from birds. I realise that Steve is a bit of a twitcher as he tries to convince me that we can hear skylarks. It was definitely a bird...

The walk from here to London is all downhill - that’s what the guide book says - so it should be a breeze, but after 6 miles we’re ready for lunch and the church tower of Somerford Keynes signposts our destination - the Bakers Arms. We do our best to clean the mud off our boots before polishing off chicken sandwiches and pints of Butcombe bitter. We’re very glad of the chance to sit down and rest but it’s soon time to hit the path again.

We make good progress for the rest of the day until we get to within a mile of our overnight destination Cricklade. The river is quite wide and fast now and as we cross the water meadows we find that the whole field is flooded to about 6 inches, barring our way. We try to skirt around it, but to no avail and we need to double back and continue our journey into town by an alternative route.

We spend a night in the Vale Hotel tucking into a delicious plate of sliced liver and a bottle of Merlot before watching England beat Egypt and collapsing into bed for a well earned rest.

We’ve done 12 miles today - only 172 miles to go!

DAY 2: CRICKLADE TO LECHLADE - 12 miles

Thursday 4 March 2010: Thursday dawns bright and sunny. Fortified by a ‘full English’ we stride out - admittedly a little stiffer in the calves than we were the day before. We keep forgetting to stretch our muscles! First stop is the Tesco Local to pick up some sandwiches for lunch - sadly there’s no convenient pub today. I hope this isn’t repeated in subsequent days.

Straightaway the river is wider and stronger but still crystal clear. We follow the river’s edge for miles across the fields. Thankfully the banks are well above the water level so hopefully no flooding today.

We really are away from it all. There’s nothing to hear except for the birds - and there are swans, geese, ducks and herons to see and hear. We are enjoying the sunshine and the peace but occasionally getting buzzed by an RAF transport plane on a training exercise from RAF Lyneham. We wave but they don’t acknowledge - don’t they know we’re on a mission too?

After about 4 hours we come across a flooded stretch of the path. We’re momentarily dispirited as there seems to be no way around it. We can’t go back. It’s too far and I’m not paddling through it. Eventually we spot a way though the hedge and with a bit of luck and a few scratches we scramble through and back onto the path - relieved.

No welcoming country pub today and due to lack of a suitable place to stop we end up sitting on two concrete blocks in a layby on the A361 eating our Tesco sandwiches being stared at by passing delivery drivers. How did it come to this? Retirement has it’s drawbacks!

Marginally rested we slog on up the A361 until once again we can get back to the Thames' banks and we spot the spire of the church in Lechlade beckoning the end of the second day. We trudge across the water meadows weary, but satisfied that we’ve done the first 24 miles and now only 160 mls to go.

A hot pot of tea in the Black Cat Teashop is our treat before driving home and a soothing hot bath.

So we’re on our way and already so many friends have been so generous. As I write, this our total in aid of Woking Hospice has reached £825. We’re overwhelmed by the response but urge people that haven’t yet donated to help us exceed our target.

Catch us in a couple of weeks for the next installment.

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