Thursday 29 July
This stretch of the Thames Path (and the next one) are really home territory for both of us. We started from the centre of Windsor on a bright clear morning that was ideal for walking. But, both being ex boy scouts I was prepared with a fleece and a waterproof, thankfully neither of which were used.
The route took us out into the public part of Home Park, but soon we had to cross the river at Victoria Bridge and go along the road through Datchet, before crossing again at Albert Bridge. These bridges were built in the 1850s to create a private riverside park for Queen Victoria; a situation that has not changed with our current Queen, despite the inconvenience to walker of the Thames path.
After leaving Windsor, the next notable point on route is Runnymede and the gatehouses designed by Lutyens on either side of the road. The gatehouses are owned by the National Trust who let one for an independently run tea room. We were eagerly anticipating our morning cappuccino by this time, but were disappointed. The tea room is more of a ‘greasy spoon’ serving all-day breakfasts and the coffee was dreadful.
As readers will know, Runnymede is the site where King John sealed the Magna Carter in 1215. We could see the memorial that was funded by the American Bar Society in 1957, but as both of us had visited before, we pressed on towards lunch.
Our lunch stop was the Swan Hotel in Staines. This hotel/pub enjoys a great position overlooking the river, but unfortunately the food did not match the location. The beer, however, was better – Fullers Seafarers’ Ale. It seems that Fullers donate £5 for every barrel sold to the charity Seafarers UK, so we did our bit for another good cause.
Barely refreshed we crossed over Staines Bridge, stopping to view a rather strange statue we concluded was a Heron. Being none the wiser about the statue we struck out towards Laleham and Chertsey.
It was just after Chertsey Bridge that we were stopped by a lady asking if our Nordic poles were as good as she had heard. We regularly get strange looks walking with poles (Chris more than me) but this was the first genuine enquiry, so we gave her a brief run down on the benefits of poles and left a convert.
The stretch of the river after Staines is characterised on one bank by ribbon development of bungalows, some clearly dating from the pre-planning period judging by the incongruity of styles. Another feature of this stretch of river is the number and variety of Houseboats.
Captain Pugwash would have felt at home on the white boat, and the other would not have looked out of place on an airfield.
Our walk for the day finished at Shepperton Lock near the ferry that will take us to the other bank at the start of the section to Teddington.
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