After the Ninth Leg

40 miles in 4 days.

At the Source

The stone marking the source of the Thames which only has water in it occasionally.  I realise it's a bit tricky to read so this is what it says:

"THE CONSERVATORS OF THE RIVER THAMES 1857-1974.  THIS STONE WAS PLACED HERE TO MARK THE SOURCE OF THE RIVER THAMES"

Everyone says we are making this walk look too easy but as you can see it really was hard work.

Although actually we did feel pretty elated and look the Thames Path is actually 184 miles long - 4 miles more than we thought.

The gang's all here.  Carmelo and Michael (who is taking the photo) walked from the Thames Head pub to wait for us at the source and Andy and Brendan met us at the last road crossing and walked up to the source with us.  We then went to the pub for a cup of tea or coffee before going home to tend to our sore legs and blisters.

Thoughts on this leg:

It was amazing to see the Thames getting smaller and smaller and to think of this small trickle turning into the Thames in London.  We knew there would be no water at the source but when we approached a couple were coming away who were disappointed because they had expected to find water bubbling up.

Last View of the Water

Saying bye-bye to the last trickle of water.

Open Fields

It's a bit tricky map reading in a field.  It's also getting colder as it is pretty exposed and we are walking uphill!

Diminishing Thames

There's not much water in the Thames behind us now.

Following a Different Leader

Catherine is back in the lead again.  Not so many photos now as Brendan is not walking with us so he can only take them when there is a road nearby.

Off Again

After applying blister plasters and having a light lunch we set off to walk the remaining 4-5 miles but as you can see the walk is beginning to take it's toll and we are definitely slowing down.