Day 19 – Wallingford to Wittenham Clumps

Distance: 13.5km (479.9km)

Steps: 20,107

It’s getting further away from home now but the combination of a Freedom Pass and the amazing TfL Rail link from London to Reading means that the only cost is time. Travelling on a Sunday is always fraught with opportunities to explore new routes and today was no exception. Our line through Albany Park being closed, I departed from Sidcup at 12:15 but on arrival at Paddington was sent back on the tube to Ealing Broadway (there being no TfL trains at Paddington today). But the TfL train did indeed take me from Ealing to Reading for free and an X39 bus dropped me off in Wallingford at 4:30pm.

A fellow was attaching his kayaks to the roof of a small car but stopped to give me directions through a maze of ‘Private – No Entry’ driveways down to the Thames Path.

I headed North towards Benson Lock and its adjacent campsite. I was there by 5:00pm but there was no room at the inn so I carried on, confident of finding a suitable site somewhere upstream.

2km further brought me to Shillingford Bridge. Over on the south side of the bridge I spotted a Greene King IPA sign. Not sure what it was attached to but worth investigating. What a find! At first I thought that The Shillingford Bridge Hotel was shut down but a man disguised as an angler sat out front with a fresh looking pint so I looked further. There was one open window on the first floor so probably there was somebody about. I tried the front door and found myself in Reception. In the empty bar to my left the barman was attending to his mobile phone. It being past 5:30pm, he had to check with Chef about the availability of food but all was well and I settled down on the ‘patio’ for a pint and a sandwich. A receptionist lady appeared but I wasn’t planning on staying. On the other side of Reception there is a 400 capacity ballroom. Seen better days but potentially a great venue for a party, so long as anybody could find the place. The staff here are particularly nice and helped me on my way.

But the real jewel in the crown was the swimming pool (two of them actually, both empty of water but the other one was full of leaves and plastic furniture). Similar in size and design to the one at Rom, this pool had obviously been skated. If only I had brought my board. We shall return one day for a family holiday.

I headed west from Shillingford Bridge on the bridleway past North Farm, the sun setting ahead of me. I was aiming for Little Wittenham Wood but a few hundred metres before reaching the woods I came upon a plantation of young trees. Rowan (Mountain Ash). Pretty though they are, why anybody would choose to populate an entire plantation exclusively with Rowan (Mountain Ash) is quite beyond me, I’ll have to do a bit of research. About 200 trees, planted to a 3 metre grid, perfect for my basher. So there I stopped for the night, on the eastern edge of the plantation, so as to get the best of the light next morning. I shared the wood with a couple of owls who were calling on and off all night.

Day 18 – Goring to Wallingford

Distance: 25.9km (466.4km)

Steps: 36,261

As a person who ordinarily gets by quite well on five to six hours sleep a night, retrospectively, maybe being ‘sound asleep by 9:00pm’ wasn’t such a bright idea.

I awoke at 3:00am. A full moon had risen and I was wide awake. I did try to go back to sleep but to no avail. So after counting 600 sheep I gave up, got dressed and very slowly began to pack away my camp. I span it out to 4:00am, by which time I had re-laced my boots three times. Then I feasted on a packet of peanuts (eaten one at a time) and a strawberry flapjack.

Around about 5:00am the temperature plummeted and a mist came off the water, or maybe the mist came off the river and the temperature plummeted. Either way, furry hat or not, it was time to get going. There was just enough light to see the tree roots that would be trying to trip me. As I walked between paddocks, the horses were just waking up and were blowing raspberries to each other. By the time I reached Gatehampton Manor it was full light.

Even at this early hour, there were fishermen about, in gaps between bushes. Not sure if dawn is a good time to catch something or if they were simply an hour or two ahead of the bailiff. Maybe fish for breakfast is the order of the day around these parts.

Just peeking through the foliage beside the railway bridge is a WWII pillbox. Well hidden by trees and bushes today, I wonder if it was so well camouflaged back then. I can’t help but think, if the invading forces had got so far inland as Goring, the game would largely have been over. Thank goodness these Thames pillboxes were never used in anger.

Set back in the trees on the opposite bank to Little Meadow, is this magnificent old abandoned building. Not sure what it was but it surely deserves better than being left to rot.

About 1km south of Goring Bridge, the Thames Path has been diverted. No mention of who has diverted it or with what authority but there’s an expensive looking new hedgerow been planted behind a substantial fence. My guess is that it’s not an official diversion but rather a landowner taken it upon himself to gain a bit of river frontage.

Goring is a picture postcard sort of place. The town was still fast asleep when I arrived at 7:00am. All bar the butcher, from whom I bought a pork pie and McColls, where I got a warm bottle of sparkling water (something definitely wrong with their fridge).

There were a dozen or more Royal Mail vans blocking the road as I approached the bridge linking Goring to Streatley. On the Streatley side I turned right down towards the river and back on the Thames Path.

3km brought me to Moulsford, where a large group of boys were playing football. I walked under the railway viaduct north of the town and stuck to the west bank all the way into Wallingford. It started to rain.

I got the bus to Henley, then an assortment of trains home.

Day 13 – Datchet to Maidenhead

Distance: 26.1km (336.6km)

Steps: 35,399

There ain’t half some money around this neck of the woods. I arrived at Datchet at 08:22 and strode out towards Windsor. The Thames Path along here is sandwiched in a strip of wild countryside between the river and the road. I ran up the two steep flights of concrete steps to reach Victoria Bridge and crossed to the south bank of the river.

Following this bank around Home Park, I soon reached Windsor town (and the castle). I should have turned right to cross the river but I went straight on to call in unexpected like on some old mates. At the height of our prominence in London we used to do dozens of gigs for Penguins. But (and I should have thought of this) event management companies are on the floor at the moment. So there was just one lady receptionist on duty in the whole building and she promised to pass on my hellos.

Back to the Thames Path then. Windsor is a bit of a tourist trap: a castle, some nice old shops and restaurants, lots of swans and a river running through the middle of it. You can go on a boat trip, or on a DUKW, or even hire a boat and drive it about yourself. I had a good grockle around then crossed the pedestrianised Windsor Bridge to the Eton side and started following the Thames Path again. After a while it started to rain, so I took shelter under a bridge.

And glad that I did. It only rained for half an hour but it was a full-on thunder storm.

All of this land along here is called ‘The Brocas’ and belongs to Eton College. Just past Boveney lock, is the very modern Eton College rowing boathouse.

Behind this there are two 2km ‘rowing practice lakes’.  Not content with the Thames to practice on, Mr Dorney has dug his own lakes where students of Eton College can practice their rowing whilst avoiding  contact with ordinary mortals.

The M4 bridge is being reinforced so to pass the building site, the Thames Path floats on a clever pontoon system for 100 metres.

An easy 2km north brought me to Maidenhead Bridge on the outskirts of town. As I began to cross the bridge it began to rain. By the time I got to the middle of the bridge it was raining hard. By the time I got to the western end of the bridge it was coming down stair rods.

I took shelter in the rather tired Thames Riviera Hotel.  Any port in a storm. Reminded me a little of the Bickley Manor but not so modern. Shades of Fawlty Towers. The staff seemed bored and a little surprised to see me. I had a bottled beer and let the rain pass.

Which it soon did. I walked through Maidenhead to our accommodation where I met Jezebel. We walked back into town later that evening and we spied a water vole on the riverbank.

We stopped for a ‘quiet drink’ but I chose the wrong pub, The Vine.

It looked lovely, had a friendly landlord but downright weird punters. We had just the one and headed back to the Premier Inn. Early start tomorrow.

Day 11 – Kingston to Chertsey

Distance: 29.0km (306km)

Steps: 40,786

Bit slow off the mark this morning. I grabbed a sausage roll on the run for breakfast and crossed the bridge at Kingston at 9:30am. The first 3km of the Thames Path above Kingston are on the north bank, skirting Hampton Court Park. Immediately over Kingston bridge I turned left onto Barge Walk.

Across the river on the south bank, the luxury homes and moored rivercraft abruptly end, to be replaced by a huge long stretch of abandoned concrete wharf. Just waiting I reckon, to be transformed into a prestige development of luxury apartments. This is very pleasant riverside walking and soon I reached Hampton Court Palace.

Built between 1515 and 1520, the palace was a gift from Henry VIII to the then Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, but in 1529 the two men had a contratemps over Henry abolishing the monastries and murdering all the monks and the king took the property back. It still belongs to the Queen and when she’s not home, it is open to the public.

I was fleeced for a bottle of warm water by the man in the kiosk on Hampton Court Bridge. Just south of the bridge, the Thames Path passes Molesey Lock and then follows the riverside boundary of Hurst Park. There is a little ferry that for £3 will take you across the river to Hampton. Then 3 km of footpath in searing heat with barely any shade, This brought me to the locks at Sunbury. I had arranged to meet Jezebel at the very modern (2013) Walton Bridge between midday and 1:00pm. I knew she was already there, having been given accurate directions by ‘Walton’ the ginger cat!

It was already gone 1:00pm and I still had 2 km to go. I bravely ignored two pubs beside the tow path, The Anglers and The Lamb and I sped past the Marina Café to arrive, late, at the café beside Walton Bridge, where Jezebel was resting her damaged feet. A swift snack for lunch and we were off again to the western end of a channel which I’m sure I read somewhere is called ‘The Cut’.

More tombstoning teenagers.

Just before the ferry, there’s a single derelict house on an island, mid-stream. It’s for sale for £2.1 million. Which includes the island. A steal, I’d say, in view of the location.

The sign said to ring the bell ten times, so Jezebel did. And the ferryman came promptly to pick us up. The ferry only crosses 100 metres of water but saves a long round trip to the next bridge. We landed on the far side in an area of Shepperton known as Chertsey Meads, some of the most stylish riverside homes I have yet seen.

Then, weary, we walked on to The Bridge Inn, beside Chertsey Bridge. Here we took refreshments and an Uber to our accommodation in Addlestone. At 7:00pm, the external temperature was 35 degrees. It had been a very warm day.

Day 10 – Putney to Kingston upon Thames

Distance: 32.6km (277km)

Steps: 44,102

The train disgorged us at 08:00am on Monday, the hottest day of the year so far. By 8:15am we were walking west from Putney Bridge, past countless rowing clubs along the south bank, the sun already hot on our backs.

Just before Hammersmith Bridge, we met Pria from Earls Court. Well, more accurately, Pria overtook us and stopped to chat. She’s a hiker too and having just completed the South Downs Way, is looking for her next challenge. Pria prefers the south bank and was out for a stroll to Richmond on a sunny day.

Craven Cottage is currently a huge building site. Diggers and cranes all over the precious turf. The West Stand has been completely removed as Fulham FC invest millions developing the facilities at their ground.

We gave a special wave to Disney HQ, Molly’s employer. The monolithic office building just visible between the residential developments on the north side.

And so at about 11:00am, we came to Barnes Bridge, a railway bridge with a sleepy station of the same name. Built in 1895, this structure doubles up as a pedestrian bridge, with a steel walkway spanning the river, attached onto one side of the railway bridge. The people of Barnes proved themselves to be an awfully polite lot. Slung below Barnes Bridge is also a (one person wide) wooden walkway, this being the only safe way to get past the bridge and back onto the towpath. Three people: a lady with a pram, a man on a bicycle and a running lady, all backed up to let me go first. Thank you, kind residents of Barnes.

We reached the entrance to Kew Gardens a bit before midday, where a Mr Whippy ice cream van was parked temptingly. But the ice cream man gesticulated “another ten minutes” so I carried on. There would surely be another.

The iconic ‘Palm House’ at Kew was just visible at the end of an avenue of trees and we were admiring the view when Pria came back the other way having reached Richmond whilst we dawdled along and she was on her way back to Earls Court.

There’s a canny twin obelisk thingy at the side of the trail with a row of polished paving stones crossing the path at an angle. This  marks the meridian and the boundary of Old Dear Park. It is possible to look through the gap but I’m unsure what the purpose of this is?

I had planned to rest a while at Richmond Lock, but there is no café here, not even an ice cream kiosk, so we carried on towards Richmond town.

Richmond lock lies beside three magnificent sluice gates, weighing 32 tons each, with a pedestrian walkway over the top. Built in1894 they represent the lowest tidal barrier on the River Thames. Above here the river is penned all the way. We walked just ten minutes further upstream to reach Richmond, where we sat in the air conditioned luxury of the Slug & Lettuce for lunch.

It was a wrench to leave the cool of the pub and return back into the furnace heat outside but we did and we walked on towards Ham House. We passed a couple of  riverside restaurants.

I remember doing a gig in one of these and at the end of the evening I found that my car was locked in. The local authority had padlocked the gate with my vehicle still on the riverbank. The restauranteur conveniently had a pair of 36″ bolt croppers behind the counter which were the perfect antidote to the situation.

The banks and shallows of the river were busy with families and groups of teenagers splashing around in the river on this sunny afternoon.

I used to do gigs at Ham House, in a marquee in their Rose Garden. Here was located the most sensitive sound limiter in London. No matter what volume I played the music at, the power would be cut if a guest whooped or screamed, never mind amplified music. The reset button was back in the house, so parties here, whilst in beautiful surroundings, never really had much musical continuity.

We walked on to Teddington Lock, where once there was a TV studio. Perhaps there still is. Just above Teddington Lock there is a blue pedestrian footbridge and here we threw our lot in with a large group of friendly teenagers, tombstoning into the col of the Thames from the bridge about 5 metres above.

The water was very cold. Jezebel would have nothing to do with this life threatening activity and explained the potential risks as we went along.

We walked on and reached Kingston upon Thames at 6:00pm via Canbury Gardens, the world and his wife paying no heed to the alcohol exclusion zone. At Kingston, we checked in to our accommodation, the Premier Inn there, directly above Aldi. Jezebel attended to her feet but they looked pretty bad, more blister than foot showing. The fault of her ‘summer walking boots’. I went down to Aldi and stocked up for a picnic in the room, we wouldn’t be going out that evening.

It was a nice room, high up on the fourth floor, east facing, so caught the sunrise early the next morning.

Where to next?

This is very hot weather for walking. The next three days should see me in Windsor but this is of course an exploration and should I find an interesting diversion, I may go somewhere else. It’s not set in stone but at the moment, the plan looks like this:

Monday 10th August – Putney to Kingston

Tuesday 11th August – Kingston to Addlestone

Wednesday 12th August – Addlestone to Windsor

Sammi Seffer is walking with me on Monday, which will be nice, though she needs to be back for work  in the evening. If anybody else would like to join me this week, whilst I’m still within striking distance of London, you will be very welcome.

Penguins are in Windsor. I’ll stick my head in and say hello to Max.

Day 9 – London Bridge to Putney

Distance: 21.9km (244.4km)

Steps: 32,037

I had the concrete skatepark on the South Bank all to myself this morning, other skateboarders wisely still at home in bed. Not Jezebel and myself though, we were on the 06:52 from Bexley and at London Bridge by 7:30 am in time to take a stroll through Borough Market, exchanging banter with the stallholders as we went.

The Hungerford walkways were closed due to Corona virus, so we crossed the river via Westminster Bridge and stopped for breakfast in Victoria Tower Gardens. I have always followed the riverside path on the south side but my Cicerone guide shows a path north of the river so we decided to follow it. It’s a very pleasant route.

We passed Millbank Tower and the Tate Gallery. There’s a really useful cycle lane on this stretch of the Embankment. I discovered the outlet of the River Tyburn, under a property named Tyburn House. Never knew that was there.

Just before Vauxhall Bridge is this sculpture ‘Locking Piece’ by Henry Moore. It has been there since the 1960s and I have always admired it when passing. Today is the first time I’ve got up close to it.

On the opposite bank is the huge residential development that was once Battersea Power Station. My old mate Mike Grice is spending £9bn of the developers’ money to turn this iconic building into a small town.

More evidence of the ‘Super Sewer’ as traffic is disrupted opposite the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, home of the Chelsea Pensioners in their red coats.

Past the ‘Londoners’ Favourite Bridge’, Albert Bridge (tourists prefer Tower Bridge, I’m told but real Londoners know better).

Albert Bridge featured in the closing scenes of Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.

There’s a sign on this bridge ordering troops to ‘break step’ for fear that the vibration of marching might damage the bridge.

Then came the houseboats at Chelsea. It is not possible to pass these by without discussing which one you might prefer to own. We  also speculated as to which one belongs to Jezebel’s friend and former employer, Jamie Oliver. The red one with herbs growing in pots, near the kitchen door we reckoned.

We turned into Lots Road, in search of a café but there was none to be found.  Jezebel got very excited about the huge engines/pumps in the Thames Water pumping facility there. Then, tucked away in an obscure corner of Chelsea Harbour, hiding its light under a bushel, we stumbled upon The Design Centre. What a lovely place. Chock-a-block full of interior designers, beautiful fabrics and posh furniture, it had the added benefits of a café and toilets. We settled there for lunch.

We arrived in Putney, the end of our journey today, at 2:00pm, where we stopped for a picnic in Bishops Park. Our special thanks go to Mr Damien Thorn (Volunteer Gardener) who gave us a fascinating guided tour of All Saints Church and the churchyard.

All Saints Church as it is today, and as it was in 1976

Day 7 – Dartford to Woolwich

Distance: 29.1km (192.7km)

Steps: 51,153

The 06:53 Train from Bexley  deposited Jezebel and I at Stone Crossing before 7:30am and despite a brief fight with a chain-link fence and some brambles (on the wrong path), we were back on the trail, below the Dartford Bridge before 8:00am.

We strode out from the point where our adventure had been so abruptly interrupted when I had seen purple spots and had blacked out

One immediately notices a couple of things: First. The power station main building has gone. No mean feat. It was more than 30 metres tall and over 100 metres long. It has been replaced by the hive of activity, which is a modern building site. Must be over 100 operatives, plus a dozen MEWPs. A large white-painted steel skeleton is emerging. Nobody showed any interest in my holdall nor questioned the step ladder slung awkwardly over my shoulder. Secondly, the chimney (formerly 800 feet tall) was nowhere to be seen. (See video) The chimney had been visible from five counties and was heavily relied upon by navigators. There’s a good video here: chimney   

We carried on past Long Reach works, where Ron had been inventor-in-chief. A rare crop of yarns he can tell too. This stretch of riverbank was where Jezebel used to play as a child and I used to ride a Yamaha XT500. The old isolation hospital would have been to our left but this is just piles of rubble now.

Which brought us to breakfast at the Dartford Creek Barrier (East side). Boiled eggs and tomatoes with salt. Time check 9:20am. We walked inland to cross the creek at University Way, go round the back of the council depot and then we followed the creek back to the River Thames and the Dartford Creek Barrier (West side). Time check 12:50am. Two and a half hours to go 50 metres. On the way round we saw:

The old Wells firework factory, spectacularly closed in 1976

and the last five munitions workers homes, all now in a derelict state

Around the top of Slade Green Marshes we passed Jim Rayfield’s Volkswagen rescue centre, then admired the clever design of Erith Yacht Club’s ‘clubhouse on stilts’. We then entered Erith from the Slade Green end, past the scrap metal yard. “It’s a rough old area” said Jezebel. We sat on the public pier with the anglers for lunch, then set off at 2:00pm for Woolwich.

Erith Oil Works boasts a pair of huge concrete silos, where they keep their rape seeds for making oil. These are visible from Debbie’s flat opposite Ingress Abbey in Greenhithe.

This magnificent Grade 1 listed example of Victorian industrial architecture is the Crossness Pumping Station. It houses the largest oscillating beam steam engine ever built. The engine was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and went into service in 1865.

We arrived in Woolwich just after 6:00pm, weary and footsore. We got the train back to Bexley. Tomorrow’s another day.