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Thames Barrier to Tower Bridge with Liz and Stuart
Tower Bridge to Putney, Sue, Thomas, Tanya and Natalie
Putney to Ham House via Kew Gardens
Ham House to Shepperton with Lucy
Shepperton to Laleham with Liz, Chris, Dominic, Maddie and Claire
Laleham to Windsor with Tanya and bump
Windsor to Cookham with Sue
Cookham to Marlow with Marie & Andrew
Marlow to Henley early in the morning
Henley to Pangbourne with Sue
Pangbourne to Wallingford with Sue
Wallingford toClifton Hampden with Ann
Clifton Hampden to Abingdon with David
Abingdon to Oxford in the rain
Oxford to Wolvercote with David, Alison, Francis, Sarah and TIggy
Wolvercote to Farmoor helped by David
Farmoor to Bablock Hythe on Boxing Day
Bablock Hythe to Radcote with Lucy
Radcote to Castle Eaton, sometimes by the river
Castle Eaton to Ashford Keynes with Malcolm and overnight stay
Ashford Keynes to the Source with Malcolm
Thames Path: stage 8 - Cookham to Marlow

15 July, 2006. A real family affair. My parents (Marie and Andrew) came up to stay for the weekend from Ipswich, and Malcolm, James and Matthew all joined in. The walk was therefore a bit shorter, but still nearly four miles which everyone managed well. We started at Cookham, parking the car near the Stanley Spencer gallery as before.

Click on the photo for a closer look at us all.
Just before Cookham the path had left the river, but once through the church yard of Holy Trinity church in Cookham the path rejoins the river. There were several boats around, and Malcolm and Andrew had to be torn away from a fascinating conversation with a man who had retired to his custom built boat.
There was a good selection of bird life to keep James occupied - this crested grebe (click on her to see how her family get about) and a bunch of coot chicks, of which this was the cutest. I have several poor quality pictures of crested grebe, but I'm determined to keep on trying to get something a little better. The coot chicks are interesting, with a pinker beak compared to their parents white beak.
There is a fascinating variation in architectural styles along this part of the river - from the unashamedly modern to the quaintly thatched traditional, all in a short stretch of river.
In between these two styles, this building tries to look much older than it is. However, it provided a much needed diversion towards the end of the walk to suggest the boys might see some dragons flying out of the castle if they looked closely enough. With all the interesting diversions along the way we had made slow progress and the day was warming up. At one stage I thought we might have to carry Matthew. However, Grandad Andrew came up with a game for him, making arrows to tell us which way to go, and this gave him extra energy to bound into Marlow.

James however was complaining he'd seen enough grass, trees and water for the rest of his life. Malcolm promised him some concrete, and this came in the shape of the A404 bridge. We were soon in Marlow, and I had one of the best meals of the walk so far at the Two Brewers. No childrens meals, but the boys were happy to share our meals with some extra vegetables and potatoes. From there, Malcolm and I took the train back to Cookham to fetch the car, whilst the others played in the park.