Thames Path Leg 1 Windsor to Henley

A few years late but we're finally getting around to documenting our walk along the Thames Path. 180km from the Thames Barrier to the Source of the Thames.

We did it in a reasonably random order. We didn't start from the beginning but we did do the last section, from Oxford to the Source in one go.

Apparently the usual direction of travel is from the Source to the Thames Barrier.

We went in the other direction with the assistance of the Cicerone guide by Leigh Hatts. It was a pretty good guide, not perfect but got us out of (and in to) a few sticky situations.

When we decided to do a walk from Windsor to Henley along the Thames path, that's all we thought it was going to be. A walk from Windsor to Henley, staying a night in Marlow. In the beginning we had no ambitions to walk the entire length of the Thames.

We've always said we wanted to document our walk, having recently seen Dorchester upon Thames featured on Antiques Roadshow (big night in in the Bush household) we realised we knew we'd stayed there on our walk but couldn't really remember the details. That has prompted us to get on with writing up what we can remember.

So without further adieu...

We did our first walk on the 26th and 27th of September 2009.

We started in Windsor. We caught the train to Windsor on Friday evening after work. We stopped for a meal at a pub on the way to our lodgings. We arrived at our accommodation, it wasn't flash. It is now called Oscar Lodge, I'm not sure if that was it's name when we were there. The image below from the establishment's website pretty much sums it up.

One of the luxuries however was a TV, we didn't own a TV at the time so as well as some great walking, we enjoyed watching some TV. This night there was a Bourne double bill. Having watched the Bourne Identity, I tried to carry on and watch the next in the series keeping us both up later than we should have been.

In the morning we didn't quite get a breakfast of champions to get us on the go. Rice bubbles was pretty much it. So fuelled up on rice bubbles we headed in to town to find a map or guidebook or something (we weren't very prepared).

I enthusiastically purchased an Ordnance Survey map (never to be referred to), Jackie more practically purchased the aforementioned guide book.

Jackie, before we were officially on the path, outside Windsor Castle. I don't think the Queen was in this weekend.

And we were off, with guidebook at the ready.

The map below is the path for a our first day of walking. Roughly 22.3km, although a bit longer given our unintended diversion at Cookham.


View Thames Path in a larger map

We didn't know what to expect when we started out. The walk was quite rural but there were plenty of reminders of nearby wealthy civilisation.

Taking a breather

I can assure you, that bench had a bend in it before Jackie stood on it. I can't quite recall why Jackie was standing on the bench, I'm not sure there ever was a reason. 

There was lots of interesting and impressive architecture along the Thames. It was not something we were expecting. Huge houses along the river, many with boats parked out the front, that it if they didn't have a boat house. 

We walked past a number of locks, often taking a break to watch the boats go through. This one was Boulters Lock near Maidenhead (where we had lunch)

One of the grander establishments we walked past

We got to Cookham eventually. We had managed to take a left instead of a right at a crucial junction which added a bit of time before we got here but we got there in the end. 

After Cookham it was a steady stretch to Marlow which is a lovely town where we would stay the night at the Prince of Wales pub. We had a nice room and were well looked after. 

We headed in to town for a drink and meal. We found a nice beer garden where we had a well earned drink and then went to a Mexican restaurant where we had a huge, well earned meal. The restaurant was Pachanga, it looks like it is closed now. It seemed to be a local favourite for birthday parties.

Jackie enjoying a drink after the first day of walking

The next morning we had our breakfast and saddled up for another day on the path. We were blessed with another day of beautiful weather. Marlow to Henley was a 13.9km section.


View Thames Path in a larger map

The walk in towards Henley saw more impressive riverside dwellings.

We came across these bbq tables with funny metal things in the middle, we figured you were supposed to put your picnic under the metal thing to stop the birds getting to it. The picture below is me demonstrating that a bird could not get to a picnic through the grate.

The Flower Pot Hotel was a welcome oasis, we were getting pretty tired by this point. There was a large beer garden with a bust bbq but all we wanted is somewhere to rest our legs and have a refreshing ale. 

As we headed in to Henley we walked past Temple Island which is the start point for the Royal Henley Regatta. The temple is ornamental, they call it a folly over here.

The site of the Henley Bridge was very welcome, it was a hot day, we were pooped and ready for a drink.

Proof that we made it.

The second major error of the trip (the first being a wrong turn in to Cookham), was my choice of drink, a Bitburger alcohol free beer. I did drink it but had something a bit stronger to celebrate as well.

As we sat there having our celebratory drinks we discussed how much we had enjoyed the walk, even if it had been tough. We had our guide book and were flicking through the pages when we hatched  plan to walk the entire Thames path. So even though we were shattered from two days of walking in the sun, we were excited about the adventure that lay ahead of us.