So, as promised, we were back on the Thames Path this morning for the Marlow to Henley-on-Thames (henceforth known as Henley) leg. However, it very nearly didn’t happen as when I checked my emails first thing I discovered that there was broken rail between Reading and London and this was causing cancellations and delays. We decided, therefore, to give ourselves extra time and left home an hour early. As it turned out we had no problems whatsoever and it was a smooth journey at both ends.
Giving back
At the very end of the last leg coming into Marlow I found a Little Free Library and had taken a book from that. I’d wanted to give something back in return so straight off the train I walked back to the library and deposited my book. This was a short diversion unlike the one we had waiting for us on the path itself.
Temple Bridge Diversion
Temple Bridge is not far from Marlow, and the Thames Path uses it to get you from one bank to the other. However, it has been closed since May 2023 due to “safety concerns over the decking”. In the intervening two years, the Environment Agency has been assessing what work is required to make the bridge safe. Still, don’t want to rush it, obviously!
This meant a diversion through the village of Bisham a name I was familiar with as where the national sides for a number of sports train before major international events. It ran alongside a busy road through the village before heading off into the countryside. This did allow us to see a line painting robot:
Deers, Peacocks and Elephants
I think that this leg of the journey has been my favourite for a while. The last couple have been very samey with not much of interest – lots of big houses with long gardens leading to the water but there was lots of variety today. This included some white deer on the beautiful Culden Faw Estate, interesting buildings, calling peacocks and a couple of painted elephants.
Despite knocking off another ten miles today, we still aren’t halfway through the path, which is a little depressing. The next stage will bring us back to Reading, and we hope to do that in a couple of weeks’ time.
Finally, an adjustment… For the “To go” figure below, I had been taking the distance off the total path length. The issue with that is that we walk more than the leg distance as there is always a walk from the station to the start and again at the end. Therefore, I have switched to just counting up the total leg lengths left.
To Date
Day: 10
Start: Marlow
End: Henley-on-Thames
Distance: 10.23 miles
Cumulative: 93.5 miles
To go: 104.25 miles