Sunday 11 April
After a couple of week’s gap due to holidays and other pressures of retirement we were back on the trail. This section was quite short mainly due to the lack of convenient pubs further down the path.
We started at The Swan Hotel at Trout Bridge, but were unable to leave one car as the car park was roped off. On our return at the end of the walk we saw that this was due to a meeting of the local Ferrari owners club and the car park was adorned with some very exotic machinery. Without any hint of envy we decided to stick with walking boots and enjoy the fresh air!
This section of the Thames continued the theme of open countryside with very little in the way of habitation. However the river is now getting quite large and meanders at lot more. There are also a
few more pleasure cruisers who were invariably going at a faster pace than us, but we caught them up at the locks. Being Sunday we also saw a few more walkers, but no other hardy souls making the long trek to the Thames Barrier.
About two thirds of the way we came across two pubs either side of the river at a bridge. Being too early for lunch but still in need of refreshment we thought of coffee. The first pub was shut, but the second enticed us with a black board offering with a full range of coffees. Unfortunately, our hopes of a good cup of coffee were dashed as the machine was broken. We were offered instant coffee, but declined and continued on our way.
Our end point for the day was The Ferry Inn adjacent to the river. The pub was aptly named as there used to be a ferry, but no more. We saw some rather forlorn walkers who reached the river on the other side and were expecting a ferry. They obviously had a very old map.
The Ferryman Inn provided a reasonable lunch and kept a good range of beers. We opted for Wadsworth 6x. Talking with some of the locals we mentioned the problems of the coffee machine at our intermediate stop. It seems that that the machine had not been working for some time, although we were given the impression that it had just broken down. Repairs are clearly at the same pace as the river – slow.
The next stage should see us getting to Oxford and we are looking forward to walking into the City.
