As you may know, for the last four weeks we have been running webinars about the Thames Path on Thursday evenings at 7pm. We now have a loyal band of followers but we would love to see more.
Once the hotels re-open on May 17 we will be very busy and unable to host these. So there are only a few weeks left. So why not take the opportunity to join. They’re completely free. Click here to view the schedule.
Henley Festival has been postponed to 15 – 19 September. Ordinarily the festival is held in the first week of July, immediately following the Regatta.
The event, think of Glastonbury with bow-ties, will see James Blunt, Madness, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sister Sledge, Sara Cox, Al Murray, Rory Bremner and Shappi Khorsandi.
The Regatta has also been postponed. A date has yet to be confirmed but they are tentatively working towards 10-15 August.
Expect Henley and surrounding areas to be very busy during those two weeks.
Bucks, Berks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) will be hosting an online talk on Chiltern Butterflies at 7.45pm on Monday 16 March. The talk will be by local expert Nick Bowles who will describe their habitat and what is being done to conserve them. Registration details can be found here.
A reminder that a series of talks on Turner will be held in April entitled Turner’s Sandycombe Years. For more details, see here.
Our next online event will be the usual time of 7pm on Thursday March 18. We will be continuing our exploration of the Thames Path by virtually walking from Oxford to Dorchester. The following week will be a re-run of an Introduction to the Thames Path.
The Henley Toad Patrol is appealing for motorists to take care when approaching the Henley Business school on the Henley to Marlow road (A4155). It is at this time of the year that thousands of toads make their way from the Culden Faw estate to a pond within the Henley Business School, also known as Greenlands, the former home of Mr W H Smith. In the past the patrol has carried many of the toads across the road in buckets. This year has been more difficult because of Covid.
It is also the mating season for hares, when the male and female (Jack and Jill) start boxing. Look out for these if you are able to walk locally. BBOWT have published a fact book about these lovely animals. Remember: a hare is about twice the size of a rabbit.
There have been no flood warnings in place for the last few days and the Path is slowly starting to dry out. However, the coming week is bringing inclement weather – high winds followed by rain – which may have an impact on the Path.
We reported last week how Banksy had left his mark on Reading Gaol with his painting of an escaping Oscar Wilde. There can be no doubt that this was intended to highlight the campaign to have Reading Gaol transformed into an arts venue.
The site, which is owned by the Ministry of Justice, is currently for sale and, if sold to the highest bidder, will likely be redeveloped into flats. It is understood that the Council, who support the campaign, will be submitting their own bid this coming week. Kate Winslett, who grew up in Reading, has given her support to the campaign.
Staying in Reading, Hugh Faringdon has been chosen as the head to grace Reading Abbey’s Gateway. The new stone is to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the founding of Reading Abbey. Faringdon was the last abbot of Reading and was executed on Henry VIII’s orders when the abbey was dissolved.
You can read more about Reading Abbey in “A Closer Look” section of our newsletter of 26 February 2021.
Anyone who has walked between Goring and Pangbourne will be familiar with The Grotto, a magnificent but decaying building which once formed part of Basildon Park estate. Its name derives from a grotto that was built by Viscount Fane for his wife. The building has been empty since 2007.
Sadly the building was further damaged this week, this time by a fire. Eight teams of firefighters were called out. Most of the roof has been destroyed, The police are treating the property as a crime scene.
Last week we explored the Thames Path from Wallingford to Goring. This week we are starting further upstream, following the Path from Dorchester to Wallingford.
To be clear, Dorchester-on-Thames is not on the Thames! It is actually on the Thame. The source of the River Thame is close to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire to the north-west. It flows through the village of Thame until, just past Dorchester, it flows into the Thames.
Nonetheless, the Thames is just a mile from the centre of Dorchester which really should not be missed. Many walkers will have set off from Abingdon in the morning with Wallingford as their next overnight stop, a walk of 13.2 miles. It requires some self-discipline to leave the Path at Little Wittenham footbridge and walk the 0.9 miles into the village.The good news is that the walk back to the Path (at the confluence of the two rivers) is only 0.6 miles and that you have cut out 0.8 miles of the Path. So, actually only 0.7 extra miles of walking. Well worth it!
We took a look at Dorchester in an earlier newsletter (13 October 2020) so we will not repeat that here except to remind the reader that Dorchester was once a prominent Roman town, and that the abbey, which largely remains intact, still retains a Bishop. However, there are one or two places that we missed in that article.
The first is the Church of St Birinus. This Catholic church, found close to the car park, is dedicated to the first Bishop of Dorchester who died in AD649, which immediately gives you an idea of the age of this village. The church, founded in 1849 and one of the first to be built following relaxation of anti-catholic laws, is not particularly remarkable from the outside. However, if you are lucky enough to go inside, what a treat is in store for you. So go on. Try the door. It might just be your lucky day!
A pleasant footpath takes you down to the confluence of the Thame and the Thames. On your right are the Dyke Hills, two banks and a ditch, being the remains of an Iron Age settlement. Presumably these were built for defensive purposes.
The walk down towards Shillingford is pleasant but uninspiring. If you look carefully in the distance, you may be able to see some of the aeroplanes at RAF Benson. The Path leaves the river shortly before Shillingford to join the busy A4074 (Oxford to Reading). Although there is a pavement, the speed limit is 50mph here so care should be taken. There are wild apple trees along the roadside so feel free to help yourself.
In just over a quarter of a mile you arrive in Shillingford village where the path turns down Wharf Road towards the river. There’s really nothing in Shillingford. The pub/hotel on the corner, The Kingfisher, sadly did not re-open after the last lockdown. The end of Wharf Road is a magical place to stop with a well-positioned bench.
The Path now turns to the left down a series of narrow alleyways as it works its way behind Shillingford Court – a magnificent building that we cannot see other than its entrance gate. More of that later. A lane, Court Drive, takes us from the house to Wallingford Road which then takes us to Shillingford Bridge.
The Shillingford Bridge Hotel sits on the other side of the bridge. We do not have to cross the bridge, as the path continues down our side (left bank) towards Benson, just a mile away. The walk is pleasant and shaded with good views of this elegant stone bridge, built in 1827. On your left are some woods where birdwatchers told us they were looking at goldfinches. Further on we saw deer running through open fields.
Benson is a busy place and the walker may feel a little out of place. Your first greeting is a line of wooden cabins looking out over the river; this is followed by a boatyard, which services a fleet of “Le Boats” which you will inevitably see cruising the river if walking in season; after the boatyard comes the Waterfront Cafe, which requires no further explanation; and finally we enter Rivermead Gardens with its paddling pool and changing rooms. All in a space of 1,000 feet.
A short walk down a pleasant country lane takes us to the weir at Benson. Here the weir provides a rather dramatic route across the river to the lock, and then over the lock gates to the right bank on the other side. The crossing provides an opportunity for some good photographs, perched high above a very busy and turbulent water. In this day of social distancing a traffic light system would not go amiss as there is not enough space on the weir to pass safely. You may find yourself waiting a while!
It’s just over a mile now to Wallingford and the Path follows the river closely, with arable fields to the right. The river bank is shaded and there are plenty of places you could stop to eat a picnic. A flash of blue was all we saw of a Kingfisher darting from one bank to the other. There are houses on the other side of the river with rather nice summer houses, one which looked remarkably like a pillbox.
Just before we reach Wallingford, we enter Castle Meadows. Years of over-cutting, fertilising and over-sowing with fast-growing plants had, in the past, deprived the meadows of many of its species: plants, birds and animals. The site, now under the management of Earth Trust, has reverted to traditional hay meadow management (a single cut in summer followed by grazing).
We covered Wallingford in our newsletter of September 23 so we will not repeat ourselves.
The walk is a fine one except for the stretch between Dorchester and Shillingford which lacks interest. An alternative route (which we took on our return to Dorchester) is to cross the river at the footbridge to Little Wittenham, walk through Little Wittenham Wood, and then a farm lane which leads to the Shillingford Bridge Hotel. You can see part of the route (running past Lowerhill Farm) on the map further up. Aside from being more varied, it is slightly elevated and you get a good view of Shillingford Court. The woods are again managed by Earth Trust (their headquarters are nearby) and we had a close encounter with a Muntjac whilst walking. We intend to post this route on the detours page of the website.
Don’t forget it’s Mothering Sunday this weekend. If you’re stuck for a gift, take a look in our online shop.
Bye for now.
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