An Unwilling Walker

We are really grateful to the people who have accompanied us on our walks otherwise we end up telling each other the same stories.

Not everyone is keen to join us though.....

At a recent get-together Sam would not leave his wine or his chair to come and join us!  We will let him off though because, as I am sure a lot of you know, he does a lot to help the people of Grandcess.  In fact the walk would not be happening if he hadn't told us, from first hand experience, what life is like for the people out there.

After the Twelfth Leg

We have now walked over 100miles!

Abingdon Bridge

Here we are in Abingdon at the end of our walk.  We liked the look of Abingdon and we had a welcome cup of coffee with Andy in the garden of the pub on the bridge right next to the Thames.

We liked the approach into Abingdon.  The undergrowth was a bit off-putting on the rest of the walk - it was difficult to walk through and it cut down on what we could see.  Maybe it would be better earlier in the year before it has grown so high.

Horticultural Hazards

We weren't too keen on the tall grass but were even less keen on the tall stinging nettles!  Good job we weren't wearing shorts.

Power to the People

We got a little bit obsessed with Didcot Power Station during this walk.  It was with us for a lot of the way but it kept moving - sometimes it was directly ahead, sometimes to the left of us and sometimes to the right.  When we thought about it we realised it was actually us moving as the river meanders quite a lot here and I don't think power stations can walk!  Angela is so excited by it though that she wants to text a friend, once she gets the phone switched on!  We weren't sure about the look of the power station in the rural scene but we decided that by and large we didn't really want to do without electricity.  We do take it for granted that we can just plug in our appliances, press a button and off we go.  It isn't the same in the school in Grandcess where they have to use a generator to provide electricity.  The generator is in constant use and so often breaks down which makes life very difficult.

This is very topical with the World Cup going on at the moment. The people of Grandcess love football and this generator is used to power a TV in the school when football is on. This is a good fundraising scheme as there is an entrance fee to watch the football and the money raised is used to fund fuel.

The End?

Bet you think this was the end of the walk because Angela is standing on a bridge but you are wrong.  We had to cross the river by this bridge in Clifton Hampden.  The Thames Path signs here were very helpful because they told us that we had come 3 miles from Day's Lock and it was 3 miles to Culham.  It is the first walk we have been on where the signs have given distances and we have often said that it would be good if they did.

Tall Grass - Swishy, Swashy - We Must be on a Bear Hunt!

This walk consisted of a lot of meadows with very tall grass which was a bit challenging and did cut down on how much we could see.

Scary Sign

We are not too happy when we see signs like this one but we managed to get passed the cows without incident.

No Way Through

A fallen tree is blocking our way - now what do we do?

Luckily Catherine has found a way through.

By the Thames?

We were very glad to see the Thames as we were in a bit of a muddle between the River Thame and the River Thames.  The village of Dorchester isn't on the Thames so we set off down the road we had come up when we arrived in Dorchester back in April.  We came to a field and walked through it and reached a river after passing by some other water that we thought was the River Thame.  All set to walk along the Thames we checked with a passing runner if we were right only to be told that this was the River Thame and that we had to follow this river until we reached the Thames.  The way next to the Thame didn't look the same to us as it had when we walked next to it in April so we weren't convinced that we would find the Thames but we did and here we are at Day's Lock.  Brendan left us here to go back to Dorchester by another path - I hope he didn't have as much trouble on the way back and isn't still walking around somewhere between the Thame and Thames!

River Thame to the left, River Thames to the right.

After the Eleventh Leg

More than halfway!

No Entry

The Thames Path along by the Thames in Marlow was closed because of preparations for the Marlow Regatta at the weekend.  However, to the sceptics among you, we did walk 7 miles from Maidenhead to Marlow - possibly more!

It was good to do this walk in this direction as when we did it for the Breathe Easy walk last year we went from Marlow to Maidenhead and consequently missed seeing Cliveden.  There were lots of lovely properties along the river and Cookham is delightful.

The Bridge at Marlow

We've made it!  But then Brendan reminded us that we hadn't started from the bridge on Saturday so just a little bit further to go.

Marlow Church

Here we are at Marlow lock with the church in the background.  Talking of churches we called into Cookham church while we were passing by which was lovely.  We also passed near a dress shop in Cookham but thought we were not really dressed for trying on expensive clothes but now we know where it is ..........

Babies!

Well it makes a change from ducks!

This post wins a prize for being my 100th post!

Cliveden

Yes really, Cliveden is in the background on the hill.  I think maybe I should have shown Catherine where the zoom button is on my camera!

Thick and Fast

After walking on Saturday we are off again on Thursday.  The walks are coming "thick and fast" now (well maybe not fast).  Here we are ready to set off from Maidenhead and Lesley is joining us today (we do like company).  We didn't show ourselves in our best light to Lesley though as we followed a sign and walked down to the river here only to find we could go no further, unless we went into the river.  After consulting our book we realised we were on the wrong side of the river!  We managed to make good progress after this false start and the weather was kind - not as hot as the other day but not raining.

After the Tenth Leg

Nearly halfway.

At Henley on Thames

We all made it to Henley after a good walk on a hot day.  Angela looked like a beetroot for some of the time.  The temperatures were high but nowhere near as high as they can reach in Grandcess.  When our young roving reporter Chris was there in the winter the temperatures reached as high as 40 degrees and there was nothing for it but to go into the shade.

We had lunch in a tearoom in Henley and then had a lovely boat journey back to Marlow on a disco boat.  Thanks to one of the lovely Breatheasy Walkers who also gave us some money for Helpachild.

This leg of the walk is like an old friend.  The weather was glorious and it was lovely to see people out enjoying themselves by the river, on the river or even in the river!  Preparations for the Henley Regatta are well underway.  The only problem with this leg is that the final stretch into Henley always seems to take a long time.  It didn't seem quite so long this time - maybe we are getting fitter!

Another One for Preschool

This time it's Mummy and Daddy Duck saying "quack, quack, quack!"

Resisting Temptation

With dresses to fit into for weddings Angela and Catherine had to be strong and resist the temptation of an ice cream unfortunately they weren't as strong at lunch and managed a large sandwich with crisps each.  Ah well there's still a bit of time before the weddings.

Just 1 Cornetto

A very welcome sight on a hot day!

Breathe Easy and Helpachild

A very familiar spot - not only because we live near Marlow but because we walk from Marlow every year to either Henley or Maidenhead and take a boat trip back as a fund-raiser for Breathe Easy Buckinghamshire.  (For more information on lung disease or Breathe Easy Groups in your area visit http://www.lunguk.org/).  We have got Paul, Dot and Amy to join us today and also Brendan and Andy - Tutts 3, Beecrofts 2 now.  It was nearly Beecrofts 4, Tutts 3 as Tim and Simon were going to come along too and run from Marlow to Henley as a training session for the Wycombe Half Marathon which they are going to run in aid of Helpachild too.  (To take part in the Wycombe Half Marathon go to   http://www.grantandstone.co.uk/about/race/index.htm and download an application form).  The very hot weather and  having to get out of bed put them off however so they just joined us at Henley for lunch!

Even More Children in School

After the ninth leg we have enough money pledged to keep 25 children in school next year.