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THE THAMES

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Walk

THE THAMES

logo walk the thames

Walk

THE THAMES

logo walk the thames

Thames Path News Round-Up
December 15, 2023
Tower Bridge from The Tower Hotel

It’s at times like these that we’re thankful we don’t operate the whole year round. Continuous rain has left vast stretches of the Path under water. Flood alerts and warnings are in place in a large number of places. The days are about as short as they could possibly be.  And it’s really quite cold. Conditions are not exactly ideal!

As mentioned here previously, for those wanting to complete section-by-section, now is the time to walk the London stretches. If the weather is bad, there are plenty of places to shelter and lots of opportunities to do something completely different. The above photo was taken on Tuesday morning of this week!

The weather is, of course, quite normal for this time of year. There is no reason to be concerned that the Path will be flooded come the spring. This is, after all, a land of four seasons. There will be bright sunny days ahead.

And, on that note, don’t wait for the weather to improve before booking. Hotels have a finite capacity (The Thames Head Inn only has four rooms!) and the later you leave it, the more problematic it becomes.

Mapledurham Lock with resident Cormorant in flight

Route News

Last week we took a trip up to the source and checked the route as far as Lechlade. The water levels were very bad between Water Hay and Castle Eaton. The A419 underpass was the worst we’ve ever seen it.

A continuous set of flood alerts is in place from Cricklade near the source all the way to Maidenhead.It means that large stretches of the Path are likely to be under water.

A stretch of the Path between Walton and Molesey is closed from December 11 for 5 days due to utility repairs. The closure starts just past Sunbury Lock with walkers diverted onto the parallel A3050, rejoiing the Path about a mile further on. Distance added is about 0.6 miles.

Halfpenny Bridge at Lechlade is now open and so the short diversion there has been removed.

Other existing diversions:

The diversion at Benson is set to be in place for a long time, at least for the duration of this year and probably well into 2024. This diversion is in place because the bridge over the weir is deemed to be unsafe. A boat service ferries walkers across the river to Benson Lock thus avoiding the diversion. The ferry is currently unable to operate due to being red boarded (aka strong currents – see photo). It’s quite possible that it will not be able to operate until the New Year. There are updates posted on their Facebook page.

Diversions remain in place around the closed boardwalk upstream from Marsh Lock, Henley.

A diversion was put in place in June at Temple Lock, just past Hurley. Once again, the bridge has been deemed to be unsafe. So, instead of crossing the river onto the left bank and walking into Marlow, you must follow paths, lanes and then a road on the right bank through Bisham and into Marlow.  It’s possible to cross the river at Hambleden Lock and follow paths on the left bank through Medmenham and all the way to Marlow. It’s a little convoluted but avoids walking on the road through Bisham.

Further details of all these diversions can be seen on our website. We try to keep this page current so, in the absence of a newsletter, please refer to this.

Red board at Mapledurham

Hospitality

The White Hart at Eynsham is under new management. The new landlords will be offering rooms so there’s an alternative to the Talbot which is closer to the river at Swinford Bridge.

 

White Hart, Eynsham – under new management

What’s On and Events

We’ve updated the Events page on our website with 2024 dates. Do use these to help plan your walk next year,  whether positive (co-inciding with an event) or negative (avoiding the crowds!). Most events are repeats of last year but we’ve added two new ones:

The Dorchester Festival, May 3-12, takes place every two years and includes music, arts, and science.

The Eynsham Carnival, one of the oldest in the country, takes place on July 6

If visiting Windsor Castle, you will be greeted with a 25-foot high Christmas tree in St George’s Hall. The tree came from the Great Park.  The dining table in the Waterloo Chamber is laid with porcelain tableware used in the Garter Service. The Order of the Garter is celebrating it’s 675th year.

Wide Eyed London is offering three new walks in 2024:

Historic Pubs and Taverns
Scoop! The Fleet Street Story
The City In Spires (get it?)

Rosalind is a great resource for guided walks so please think about enhancing your Thames Path walk when passing through London

Repeated from last newsletter:

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is hosting a new exhibition entitled Colour Revolution: Victorian Art, Fashion and Design. The exhibition includes fashion pieces – from Queen Victoria’s monotone mourning dress to the most daringly vivid clothing and accessories – and works by artists including Millais, Ruskin, Rossetti, Turner and Whistler. The exhibition is on until mid-February.

Dorchester Abbey will be hosting Handel’s Messiah on December 16 featuring the Orchestra of St John’s.

The Mill at Sonning is showing Cole Porter’s High Society. Based on The Philadelphia Story the production starts on November 29 and lasts until January 20. Cole Porter, of course, wrote one of our anthems “Don’t Fence Me In” although that doesn’t appear in this show. “Who wants to be a millionaire” does!

It’s Christmas at Kew Gardens where twinkling lights and seasonal sounds fill the air. Opening times are specially extended to enable you to enjoy this festive spectacular. It runs until January 7.

From December 21 to 30, a Christmas Carol will be staged at Middle Temple Hall in London. This is one of the four Inns of Court in London, home to barristers and judges alike. Charles Dickens was a member and so it’s appropriate that it be staged here. The hall is just off the left bank of the Thames mid-way between Westminster and the Tower, between Waterloo and Blackfriar’s bridges. Don’t forget to pay a visit to the nearby Temple Church.
 

Windsor Castle from the Great Park

Stuck for Christmas presents?

We’ve had a few late orders this year for our Thames Path passport – presumably as Christmas presents? For just £7.50 you get a booklet and a certificate of completion. The price includes a donation of £1.50 for the upkeep of the National Trail.  2024 has been the second year of the passport and we’ve issued nearly 300 this year. The Passport is available at our online shop. The prices include UK postage so, if buying from overseas, just drop us an email and we’ll let you know the additional cost.

 
Other Walks from Walking.Holiday

Here’s a quick rundown on our other walks which can be found on our sister site walking.holiday.

The Ridgeway: we have made a few changes to our 7, 8, and 9 day itineraries for this 87 mile walk. We will be adding a 10 day itinerary also.

Camino Ingles  Running from Reading to Southampton we will be the first walking holiday company to support this route which has been marked out by the Confraternity of St James with whom we are in regular touch. There will be 4,5,6 and 7 day packages available for the 69 mile route which are just being finalised. There was a short feature of the Camino Ingles which is available on BBC I-player (not available overseas).

Deep Woods and Rolling Hills: A Chiltern Ramble This is the title that we’ve finally settled on for a 31 mile three day bespoke walk through some of the loveliest countryside in the south of England. We completed our dry run of this walk last week and it’s something special.
Deep inside the Chilterns
Thames Path Solo

We’ve made a few changes to our solo walking package, extending it from a 12 day itinerary to a 14 day as we felt that 12 days was too short. This is competitively priced at £2,200 as we’ve made use of hotels that offer attractive rates for single people.
 
And finally…

We’ve had a few instances where emails have gone into spam. For context, we receive about 20 emails per day from addresses ending in “.ru”, none of which we can understand. So we have to have some form of filtering system.

Occasionally, legitimate enquiries get filtered out. But we’ve become accustomed to reviewing our spam from time to time and will hopefully pick up on those.

Of course, it can work the other way too! It has been known that our emails go into your spam folders. So do check these from time to time.

We NEVER intentionally fail to respond to an email. So, if you haven’t heard from us, do please call us on 0118 4664007.

And, on that note, we will be closed between Christmas and New Year although we will pick up emails.

 
A swollen Thames at Cricklade. No prospect of walking beneath the underpass!

That’s all folks. Wishing you a peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year

December 2023
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