Wallingford and on to Abingdon

At eight o’clock on Wednesday morning last Sharon, Janis’ sister and very worthy crew member, decided she needed a break so caught a bus at Wallingford at the start of a trip to the Greek Islands and shortly afterwards our little fleet cast off for the passage north towards Abingdon.

 

This is just the boathouse!

 

In close company…..

 

……with friends

 

The Red Kite in flight

 

We had arrived at Wallingford on the previous Sunday afternoon from Beale Park in good sunshine, so to make the most of it, we set off straightaway to reconnoitre the ancient town and castle remains. Unfortunately all that remains of the latter, one of the largest in Medieval England, is two fragments of wall, an extensive meadow that must be wonderful in Springtime festooned with wild flowers and a tall mound that was the original motte in the days of William the Conqueror. It looked an impressive structure from the plans that were shown on various boards in the park.

 

A fragment of Wall that was Wallingford Castle

 

A blaze of colour in Wallingford

 

Dame Agatha Christie’s Gravestone at Cholsey

 

On the Tuesday, the previous day having been rained off, we three set off to walk the three miles to Cholsey, a nearby small village where in the churchyard there are the remains of Dame Agatha Christie. After viewing the gravestone we enjoyed a drink at the local Red Lion before setting off on our walk back across the fields.

After leaving Wallingford on Wednesday morning, Janis and I breasted our two boats together a couple of hours later at a very quiet rural mooring just above Day’s Lock and with white cattle lowing in the background, set off to explore nearby Dorchester with its ancient Abbey. We were impressed and marvelled that they could trace their history back to early pagan Saxon times, when St Birinus was sent from Rome in the Seventh Century as a missionary. He was the first Bishop of Dorchester and his shrine is in the abbey.

 

Our quiet mooring at Day’s Lock

 

We spent a quiet night at Day’s Lock before setting off, arriving here in Abingdon yesterday afternoon. Today has been quiet with me cleaning ship, doing the laundry and writing this post. Tomorrow we plan to be tourists again.

Beale Park and peacefulness

Yesterday the wide and majestic River Thames continued to bewitch us as, bathed in glorious calm sunshine yet again, we travelled the six and a half miles from Henley on Thames to Beale Park, just north of Pangbourne and the urban mass of Reading.

 

Early morning fog at Henley

 

At the latter near the entrance to the Kennet and Avon Waterway we stopped for an hour at the Tesco mooring for a quick shop before pressing on with the rest of the passage.

Here at Beale Park the mooring is very rural with both ends of ‘Futurest’ tied to a convenient tree and, most wonderful of all, it is so very still and quiet. At times the river is very busy with all manner of craft passing by from the unusual ‘Floating Beach Hut’ to the very large, white ocean going cruisers, which create such a large wash as they rush by. It is good to see the occasional narrowboat too and the others just do not know what they are missing.

 

Garden and Norman Ruins at Greys Court

 

From the top of the Tower at Greys Court

 

Field Bindweed

 

Henley towards the church and river

 

The memorial in the churchyard to an icon of my time

 

Sharon at the helm

 

‘Futurest’ into the lock

 

The post box on Whitchurch Bridge. For boaters?

At twilight there is a mass honking of Canada Geese as hundreds of them appear overhead from all directions and dropping swiftly down, fly off up river just skimming the surface to some favoured anchorage further north. Momentarily it is noisy but evocatively not out of place as the calm stillness soon returns.

Navigating the river can be expensive with mooring fees up to ten pounds for twenty four hours sometimes. We stopped in Henley for two nights for a total of sixteen pounds, but what a lovely stay we had while we were there. The weather on  both evenings was balmy enough for us to sit outside on our deckchairs, with gin and tonic in hand and watch the bright star constellations appear while discussing the happy goings on of the day.

On the day after the first night there, the two girls and myself walked the three miles across country to nearby Greys Court, a large house dating back to the Tudor period and lived in until quite recently by the Brunner Family. It is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public. In the extensive gardens there are even romantic ruins that date back to Norman times and the house has the only donkey wheel for pumping water from the well in the country. It was in use till quite recent times.

We walked a different way back to the ships at the end of the day but again, as on the way out, it was most pleasantly accomplished along footpaths and bridle ways, festooned with pink and white Field Bindweed and large Blackberry Briars. The latter tended to delay our journey somewhat but we were refreshed by the sweet succulent fruit.

Today we intended to visit another National Trust property, Basildon House, which is across Beale Park, the road and railway line, which run parallel to each other at this point and high up on the deeply wooded hill at the side of the valley. But the weather has changed. We awoke this morning to a heavily overcast sky and the unusual patter of raindrops on the roof. I’ve been spoilt this year and since the undergrowth to the road would be wet and soggy underfoot I have elected to stay aboard to write this posting. The two girls eager to arrange a bus journey for Sharon from Wallingford to Luton Airport; she leaves us temporarily again when we arrive there, have gone for a walk, computer in bag, into Pangbourne for a free Wi-Fi signal somewhere.

I expect them back at any time now.

Party at Loudwater

Conveniently on Friday afternoon last, the 31st of August, our little flotilla arrived at Bourne End, enveloped in beautiful sunshine. The arrival was opportune since my daughter E-J lives at Loudwater, three miles away, and the following day she was holding a party hopefully in the garden if the fine weather prevailed. So we had decided before leaving the mooring at Cliveden that we would make Bourne End our next destination.

 

Red sky at night at ‘The Bounty’ Pub, Bourne End

 

The new mooring at Bourne End

 

However moorings at this little place are rather short. Nearly all of them are private and the only other option is the local Marina, who charge £23 per night for a spot, which we wanted to avoid if possible. We learned from the lock keeper at Cookham that there is a pub mooring at ‘The Bounty’ on the off side of the river for patrons only and a further small mooring beyond the village maintained by a local preservation trust.

So on Friday afternoon in beautiful sunshine I moored ‘Futurest’ outside ‘The Bounty’ pub. There was only enough room for one of our ships at the quay so ‘Roots and  Wings’ came alongside us and breasted up safely. The whole manoeuvre had been tricky since the fresh breeze at that time was doing its best without respite to blow us off the quay. I was grateful to a man who quickly came to my assistance on the centreline and our combined pull finally persuaded ‘Futurest’ that we knew what was best for her.

The pub mooring was for twenty four hours only so early on Saturday Janis took her boat down to the other possible mooring at the southern end of town and as there was one free there she called me on the walky-talky and I followed her down to this much more useful mooring on the same side of the river as Loudwater and later Janis and I walked the three miles over the fields to my daughter’s house for the arranged garden party that afternoon.

It was a wonderful gathering of my in-laws and E-J’s husband Steve’s family. Though five members of the former who had previously said they would be there, failed to arrive the atmosphere wasn’t marred and it was good to see all three of my children together once more; something that doesn’t happen too often these days unfortunately.

 

My son Alex and grand daughter Penny at the party

 

Penny at fifteen months showing us how she walks

 

There was plenty of food and drink both alcoholic and non-alcoholic and it was a wonderful show on behalf of both E-J and Steve.

Steve gave us a lift back and the following day he brought his three girls, E-J and my grandson George to visit the ship. Afterwards they invited me back for dinner.

Then late on Sunday night E-J gave me a lift back to the ship and met Sharon for the first time.

All in all it had been a memorable stay at Bourne End.

Photos at Cliveden

At Cliveden I took a number of photographs but because of the weakness of the internet signal I was only able to show a few of them in the last posting. Here I hope to be able to show a few more.

 

Cliveden up on the hill

 

The long walk up from the river. We are well strung out.

 

The front aspect of Cliveden

 

The clock Tower, which disguises a water tank

 

A pink Water Lily in the Water Garden

 

Egyptian Geese perhaps?

 

The rear aspect of Cliveden from The Duke’s Statue

Cliveden

We are moored in a most idyllic location about a mile above Boulters Lock in Maidenhead.

 

View from ‘Futurest’s side hatch

 

The River Thames here is wonderfully wide, festooned with a string of narrow islands thick with trees and shrubbery. These are strewn in a long straight line down the centre of the river and with the grand house that is Cliveden at the top of the high and steep Beech covered hillside on our right and the flat patchwork plain of Berkshire stretching away to our left, this must be one of the most beautiful parts of the Thames. It certainly is for me.

The weather remains fine for us which helps make any scene more beautiful of course, but so far we’ve spent two nights tied up here in this lovely quiet spot.

‘Roots and Wings’ being of a shallower draft, is nearest to the land with her stern touching the bank, tied to a convenient tree and  close enough for our safe access or egress. However the bank here is decidedly not a straight one and consequently her bow though hidden by overhanging foliage, tumbling down from the hillside above, points out into the river so that two mooring ropes bent together are needed to reach a convenient tree and return back aboard for making fast. ‘Futurest’ is then sedately breasted up to ‘Roots and Wings’ on her offside and the two of them look like a pair of rather genteel ladies quietly dozing in the Sun on a summer’s afternoon. It is simply quite wonderful.

We arrived here at this National Trust property from Windsor on Tuesday afternoon and the weather being so pleasant, we climbed the hill and began exploring the gardens and woods immediately. But the estate is so extensive that we needed to spend the whole of yesterday there as well in order to see everything.

 

The long walk up. We are well strung out

 

The rear aspect of Cliveden from the south

 

After the days the evenings have been quiet, just sitting in our deck chairs watching the Sun go down and the swift approach of twilight. In silence, with a cool gin and tonic in hand we’ve listened to the calls of the birds settling for the night across on the islands and marvelled at the ‘vee’ formations of the many parties of Geese flying swiftly south east and the flocks of Starlings passing overhead, off to some roosting ground to the north east high above us. As the darkness of night descends we’ve found ourselves irrationally unnerved by unknown rustlings in the bushes behind us and instinctively ducking as tiny bats seem to fling themselves at us and then dodge swiftly past. But oh they are so close. However we have slept well and long at night.

Today the girls have gone off again, this time to find a shop to buy bread and milk, though I’m not too sure where they will find it; the country is so rural around here.

Sunny days at Windsor

When we arrived at Hampton Court last Tuesday there was no difficulty in finding a spot at the free moorings right against the Palace grounds where we remained happily for two nights. But instead of visiting the palace on this occasion, on the day in between, we walked across Bushey park, back into Kingston-upon-Thames. I needed my phone to be repaired and the nearest shop was at that place. It was a lovely sunny day and the walk wonderful, in that we enjoyed close company for a lot of the time with the royal deer.

 

Tame deer in Bushey Park

 

On Thursday morning in a light rain, we let go and after a couple of hours quietly cruising, we tied up next at Sunbury at the quiet village moorings, below the weir, right behind the lock island.

This village though pretty, is small and after a short walk across a park and a thoughtfully and well designed garden we returned to the ships the same evening ready to leave the following day.

 

 

Good moorings at Sunbury

 

We went to bed early and in the morning blessed with fair weather once more we quietly slipped our bow and stern lines and set off en route for Staines. We went round to the lock, careful to dodge all the plastic  cruisers moored midstream beneath the weir and once clear of the lock set off northwards.

The moorings at Staines, conveniently right at the end of the High Street, were again free of charge and we took advantage of this by remaining for two nights. On the day in between, Saturday, we caught a bus back to Hampton Court to spend glorious time at the Palace.

 

An heraldic beast on guard at Hampton Court Palace

 

William III’s palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren

 

Guilded gate at the bottom of the Palace Gardens

 

When we had been there the first time we had seen an advertisement for a Royal Joust during the bank holiday weekend and had decided to return there from Windsor when we arrived, to take advantage of this extra entertainment. However on Saturday it rained all day and the jousting had to be cancelled. So we stayed in the palace instead and were still there five hours later. The time had flown past but we slept well that night after returning to the ships on our bus.

So we arrived here at Windsor yesterday afternoon again in perfect sunshine and in the middle of the bank holiday weekend. It’s a good thing that most of the town is pedestrianised now as many people were there and they were everywhere. But we have still managed to find a good mooring, so far free of charge, in the lock cutting just above it.

It is good to be here. Windsor is a lovely town.

 

Windsor Castle as we approached from the south

 

One of the entrances to Windsor Castle

 

The crooked house of Windsor

 

HM making a telephone call (only a painted GPO phone box)

At the beginning of the season I had been looking forward to visiting the River Wey again while we were in southern regions. But now due to dry docking commitments in Banbury in just over a month we have had to curtail this plan and make straight for Oxford instead.

So yesterday I was sad as we passed the entrance to the river in that I shan’t be seeing either it or my friends Ann, Charlotte and James, which I had been greatly looking forward to. However there is always next time I suppose and time passes very quickly.

Janis and Sharon are very fit and while I sit and write this blog today they have chosen to undertake another long walk. But the weather being fine means we should all make the best of it. So maybe, now I have finished, I’ll set out to find them.

On the other hand maybe I’ll just sit down and relax with a cup of tea; a much better idea.

On the Thames at Hampton Court

So much has happened since my last post in Ware and all of it is exciting, which needs must to be recounted ere long.

I’ve not allowed myself to get as much behind with the blog for any lazy reason on my own part as much as my computer has. But in the four years since I’ve possessed it I’ve never once had it serviced. Consequently over that period it has become slower to boot up and then work efficiently until finally about a fortnight ago it became frustratingly so. So while we were in Ware I took it to a computer doctor who diagnosed that it needed to be returned to factory settings and agreed to do the job for me.

As a result the computer is wonderfully slick at loading up now. But in the meantime I've had to reinstall all my precious programs that previously helped me to write the blog and it is only now that I have managed to return to normal. I intend to retell those missing stories over the next week or so as we progress in our journey and by the time we reach our destination all will be accomplished hopefully in a satisfactory way.

But yesterday our two little ships made the exciting passage up the tidal Thames from Limehouse to Teddington and this needs to be told first.

 

Entering the Thames from Limehouse Lock

 

Working narrow boats of fifty seven feet long, with a slender beam of only seven feet, shallow drafted and with a relatively high windage, were never designed originally to venture into tidal waters and yet yesterday our two close replicas of these boats braved the tide and other elements with great fortitude and dignity and I felt quite sure that ‘Futurest’ was even enjoying the different pressures of the water thrown against her.

 

The Tower of London

 

‘Roots and Wings’ in a quiet moment

 

She rode so beautifully the hefty swell that was hitting her from all directions as various heavy commercial and passenger boats continually rushed by at enormous speed. With great confidence she pitched into the hefty swell and with her snub nose tossed up spray which then spattered harmlessly against her cratch cover. I knew she could do it as Ian her builder had previously told me that he had done the same passage some years before. So I was very proud to be able to do the same journey safely again for the sake of ‘Futurest’.

 

Approaching a large vessel at Tower Bridge…..

 

…….and facing up to his wash afterwards

She began to pitch as soon as we left the smooth water and embracing arms of Limehouse Lock into the lower reaches of the Thames and she continued to battle steadfastly right up and through Tower Bridge into the Pool of London, the conflict beginning to ease only when we were beyond the Houses of Parliament. She sped along nonetheless, the engine never missing a beat and landmarks rushed by thick and fast, hardly giving me enough time to take photographs. Soon we were in calmer waters beyond Battersea Bridge which was a good job since work was going on beneath the railway bridge, which caused some constriction.

 

A quick glimpse of Wren’s Monument as we rush past

Soon we were on the Boat Race course and then passing the entrance to the Grand Union Canal at Brentford. By this time the warm Sun was shining brilliantly and very soon we were at Teddington. Mesmerised by the throb of engine, the heat of the Sun and dreams of Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat' I almost missed the lock, only just managing to pull up without finishing behind the weir in amongst the moored plastic cruisers.

 

Quaint riverside buildings at Putney

 

The finishing post of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

 

We passed easily through the lock in the company of two other narrow boats who had joined us towards the end of the passage and tied up gratefully at the lock landing for the night. We had covered twenty miles, by far our greatest day’s run ever, in three and a half hours almost exactly.

 

Safely in the lock at Teddington

 

We filled in the paperwork and paid our Thames license fee and I was amused at the ancient wording and thereby the refusal of the local people to let go of the past. As would have happened no doubt at this lock two hundred years ago, I was required on the license form to give: ‘Name of Launch’

This morning we moved leisurely upstream to the good moorings outside Hampton Court Palace and though we continue to be shaken about against the side of the jetty by large passing trip boats, we are pleased that we are now on the majestic River Thames.