Further Resources
Here we list additional resources that can help you plan and enjoy your Thames walk:
Ordnance Survey produce the best maps in the world. The most cost effective way of getting the many maps you will need is to register for online access. The cost is £35 per year and you can also download an app.
Cicerone produce some of the best guidebooks. Unfortunately they made a bit of a blunder when they wrote the Thames Path as it’s written from sea to source which is the opposite way to how most people walk. It does, however, come with a map booklet in the back at a scale of 1:25,000. You therefore get all the maps for free. But you won’t be able to see beyond the page you are on.
A popular alternative is the Trailblazer Guide. Unlike the Cicerone Guide, this does not come with a map, although it has hand-drawn maps of the route. So we recommend purchasing Cicerone’s map booklet to accompany it.
All of these are available from our online shop.
Online materials
Rambling Man produces a brilliant series on long distance walks throughout the UK including the Thames Path. His accounts of his walks are quite amusing.
There are a number of apps that may be of help whilst walking. These include:
Birds of Britain have an app. It includes some sounds which can be fun to scare your partner with when they’re sleeping!
British Tree identification from the Woodland Trust. This is a free service but can be difficult to get the answer as it depends on a series of yes/no questions to the tree. If you get the first question wrong, you’re up a gum tree (no pun intended!)
Picture This works much better but requires a small subscription.
Ordnance Survey provides online access for a subscription
All of these are available on the App Store or on Google Play
Fiction
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
A highly entertaining short novel published in 1889 about his exploits on the river between Kingston and Oxford. Although the novel is fictional, it is believed it draws on his experiences on honeymoon!
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
A classic children’s book but can be also read by adults. Although the Thames is not directly mentioned, Grahame lived in Cookham and died in Pangbourne. So clearly it’s written about the Thames. Illustrations by E H Shepherd are believed to be inspired by Mapledurham House and Hardwick House.
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