Luthien home page  
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 5 - Shepperton to Laleham

On bank holiday Monday we headed back to the Shepperton ferry, this time to meet up with Liz, a friend from my time at Keele University. We had renewed our friendship when we both lived in Putney in 1993. We met our husbands at about the same time and married within a month of each other in 1995. Liz and Chris fitted in two girls before we had James, and then I had Matthew a few months before their son Dominic was born. At around the same time we were both overtaken by busy lives, so this was the first time we had met up for about 5 years.
The children got to know each other (under the supervision of Liz's husband Chris and me) whilst Liz and Malcolm re-organised cars to ensure we only needed to walk one-way. James and Matthew did their best to get their feet wet feeding the ducks. Claire was a little camera shy, but here are Dominic, James, Matthew and Maddie waiting for the ferry.
Once we were all assembled the children rang the bell and the Nauticalia ferry boat collected us. The children asked where we were going - I think they were expected a trip along the river. Instead we were speedily deposited on the opposite bank for our journey to Chertsey Bridge. Allowing for the speed at which children walk (and the frequency with which Matthew stops to look at sticks) we had planned a short walk of about 3 miles, taking us just beyond Chertsey Bridge, to Laleham.

Fortunately there was a good supply of wildlife to entertain the children. Even the adults were entranced by some particularly cute goslings, and the cows at Dumsey Meadow led us all on a detour.

This was the first walk my boys had joined me on, but I saw little of them as Malcolm was left marshalling James and Matthew at the back of the group, whilst Liz and I caught up on 5 years of news.

We were fascinated by the size of some of the large houses and gardens along the path, and intrigued as to what life in the many houseboats would be like in the winter. One houseboat had kindly left a glittering display of mobiles in the tree, with an invitation to play which the boys readily accepted.

James and Dominic got on particularly well (helped by James' fascination with Dom's Tamagotchi). For lunch at the Kingfisher, Chertsey Bridge, we put the children together on one table, so we could enjoy some uninterrupted adult converstation.
Liz had chosen an excellent place to end the walk. Despite a few complaints of boredom and tiredness from one or two of the children, their exhaustion disappeared at the sight of the play area, and for over an hour they climbed, slid, swung and pushed on the amusements whilst cars were re-arranged for their convenience (this time by Malcolm and Chris). The children were rewarded with treats from the ice-cream van before a final photograph, a promise not to leave it another five years, and the journey home.