|
|
|
| |
Thames
Path: stage 17 - Bablock Hythe to Radcote |
|
|
 |
|
What
a beautiful day for a walk! When I was out the day
before I couldn't help wishing I'd planned the walk
for that day - tomorrow surely couldn't be that good
again. Yet Sunday morning dawned bright and crisp.
Lucy drove us to the Ferryman, where we posed for
a photograph in the elusively unavailable ferry.
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
As
Lucy's husband Andrew took boys and dogs off for a stroll
whilst we set out along the river. The frost on the
ground made walking easy, through what otherwise would
have been muddy ground. Once past Northmoor Lock, the
sun warmed the ground and the path did become muddy,
so that by the time we reached the Rose
Revived at Newbridge we had to take our boots off
to go in for a reviving coffee. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
It
was 11.45 and Lucy quite fancied the roasts the chef
was lining up for lunch, and was eyeing up the pudding
menu, but as we'd only covered 4 miles I thought we
ought to plough on. Over the Bridge, and past the old
tollhouse, now the Maybush pub. Then over a rickety
footbridge - I'd noticed the missing timbers, but the
broken one took me by surprise - and then a view back
to elegant medieval arches of the "New Bridge". |
|
 |
|
|
"New
Bridge" built around 1250
(newer
at the time than Radcot Bridge)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
We
had a clear view of St Mary's Church in Shifford across
the water. This looks little changed since it was
built in 1863.
We
stopped for lunch at Shifford Lock. I had assumed
there'd be a bench as there are at most locks, but
we had to make do with a tree trunk instead to munch
a few sandwiches before continuing.
|
|
| The
weather continued as bright as before, and we stuffed
our coats in our back packs for the afternoon. We made
it to our first possible rendezvous point at Tadpole
Bridge with plenty of time to spare, and with news that
Lucy's boys were playing happily with kittens at Andrew's
sister's house in Oxford, so weren't in a rush to collect
us. This was good news, so we decided to carry on to
Radcote - it meant I would have only one more (slightly
longer) stage to complete before the last planned weekend
walk with Malcolm, rather than two shorter ones. With
the overhead of getting there and back increasing as
I neared the last stages of the walk, a longer walk
in such great weather seemed an excellent idea. |
|
|
|
 |
|
On
to Rushey Lock, where looking down at the rushing weir
was quite a heady experience, and where we saw this
lovely topiary frog (photo for Matthew, who loves frogs)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From
here to Radcot the river meanders back and forth.
Despite the walk book's advice to avoid the "tempting
but confusing unofficial short cuts" we found
we did have to follow the slightly drier paths a little
away from the river bank to avoid wading up to our
knees in mud.
As
the sun lowered a little in the sky, we noticed an
amazing sight: what appeared to be several acres of
a fairy marquee, a gossamer layer hovering over the
grass, the sunlight glinting off the top. On closer
inspection it proved to be the largest spider web
I'd ever seen, completely covering the grass in a
matrix, rather than a traditional web shape. Impossible
to photograph (at least with the camera I was using),
but stunning to see and admire. Beautiful too were
the reflections of the trees in the river.
|
|
|
 |
|
The
end came quickly, and suddenly we could see Lucy's
boys waving at us across the river from the garden
of the Swan pub.
|
|
 |
|
We
walked over Radcot Bridge to join them, and I had
a delicious half pint of Speckled Hen whilst we swapped
stories of the day.
Lucy,
Matt, Jamie and Bridget at Radcot
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
