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Thursday 24^th August 2017

Abingdon to Shillingford

10.5 miles, 3 locks

There were just too many choices of title for this post, hence I gave up!  It could have been:

Splish, splash, splosh - going, going, gone!

Narrowboat to the rescue

What is appropriate footwear for a festival?

Queuing to join the queue

A pleasant and uneventful trip today.  These craft seem to be quite popular round here.

Just three locks today, but we did a fair bit of waiting our turn!  It was dry, bright and warm, so all was well with our world.  We were expecting to be able to get water at Culham lock, however, it is no longer available there.

This rather graceful bridge is Sutton Bridge

Closely followed by the not so graceful cooling towers at Didcot, which do dominate for quite a while as the river twists and turns.

Pearson's mentions pretty boathouses in Shillingford.  This one is for sale - it has just two bedrooms (one is en-suite) and will set you back around £1,250,000!! I reckon you could just about get a narrow boat into the boat house and the views are stunning.  If you want to see more - look here - http://search.savills.com/list/property-for-sale/england/oxfordshire/shillingford/ox10#/r/detail/gbhershes170154

Just round the corner from the boat house we spotted a fabulous mooring just for us which even included a picnic table.  It would have been a perfect spot to have a barbecue, but the weather was not quite warm enough.  There is no foot fall along here, so very quiet and private

with just behind the bushes the main thoroughfare which includes space for ball games and access to a decent walk

and the view looking along to the bridge is pretty good

as are the views from the side hatch.

The sunset, we hoped, boded well for Friday.

Friday 25^th August 2017

Shillingford to Wallingford to Below Goring Lock

8.75 miles, 3 locks

Just a short hop and one lock to Wallingford where we wanted to stop to have a look round and pop into Waitrose.  I had walked Monty first thing and took photos of our mooring from further along the river looking towards the bridge.  I had promised a friend whose son lived in Shillingford for a while photos of the hotel which I duly took as we travelled on our way today.  So where are they?  

At the bottom of the Thames above Benson Lock!  Yes my lovely new camera bought on 26th June this year has gone to a watery grave.  We were waiting our turn and I decided to use the time to wipe off a bird offering on the roof and some petals and leaves from the side of the boat and the catch on my camera case must not have been shut properly and down it went - Splish, splash, splosh, going, going, gone!  We did try fishing with the magnet and found various lumps of metal, but no camera.

I am now using Chris' camera which takes good pictures, but the screen is very poor, so sometimes getting a good photo is pot luck. A replacement is necessary and by the magic of modern instant gratification I have ordered one on-line from John Lewis for us to pick up in Henley Waitrose on Sunday!  Easier and cheaper to replace than the two pairs of glasses Chris lost in the canal last year!

And so to Wallingford and what a delightful and charming town it is.

 At the next lock we shared with two very small craft 

and a cruiser - they wisely let us go in first

and we all made it safely down and out the other side.

We were lucky enough to find a good mooring below the lock at Goring - they were soon full!

The view is pretty good.

We went for a wander round town - a place we both liked.  On our way back to the boat we noticed flags and other items down a small side street, so being inquisitive we went to have a look and found it had been George Michael's house, now definitely a shrine.

At the end of that street is the church.  Inevitably it was shut.

Saturday 26^th August 2017

Goring to Below Sonning Lock

13.5 miles, 4 locks

The day dawned sunny and bright again - a most unusual August Bank Holiday.  Three years ago it was so wet on the Bank Holiday Monday we stayed put in Fradley and lit the stove! 

Shortly after leaving Goring we passed this property which gives a whole new meaning to the word bungalow!

The grounds are extensive

and come complete with this great dining area

 Although neither of us remember much about this part of the river that we travelled with Sue and Ken on nb Cleddau in April 2008 we both remember these rather imposing properties in Pangbourne.

Large they maybe but they have very little frontage that is not separated from the house by the road and even less, if any, back garden

  Has anyone any idea why this post box is here?

Shortly before Reading Marine the narrowboat just ahead of us stopped to assist this small cruiser whose engine had failed - Narrowboat to the rescue - they towed them to Reading Marine, so fortunately the journey was not too long.

Just after Reading Marine was the first indication that Reading Festival was on

It goes on and on - we saw signs designating camping areas that went at least up to W7.  You would certainly need to remember where your tent was or you would be walking round for days!

This bridge is constructed just for the festival. It is quite elegant and does not look temporary.

There was a steady stream of people coming and going

The security fencing stretches for around 2 miles.  We were both completely amazed by the size of the festival and accommodation sites.

but were glad we were not having to fight our way through the crowds

The people just kept coming and coming.  They came in all shapes and sizes, but there was one thing they had in common - not one of them had grey hair!

There are some imposing and interesting properties at Caversham

At Caversham lock - we ended up behind nb Mariner, but failed to make it in the lock with them.  We sat there for quite a long time just watching a steady stream of people walking along towards the festival - there is a boat not far from the lock that they can catch to take them to the site.  As I sat there watching them it made me wonder what is Appropriate footwear for a Festival?  They ranged from welly boots (from glittery pink with the side split at the top to accommodate the calves that were a bit bigger than the welly to more mundane black ones) to flip flops.  The majority were in trainers or plimsolls with just one young lady tottering along in very stylish 4 inch wedge sandals!  I am sure she thought she looked 'just the thing', but I wonder how her legs and feet will feel after a long walk there and back and hours standing around all day/night.   Clothing varied to quite a bit to not a lot.  Some carried nothing more than a phone and others were towing trolleys packed with slabs of beer.  It was an amazing people watching experience.  This is the closest I will ever get to a festival of this size and that I am happy with that - crowds passing by are one thing, but I would hate to be stuck in the middle of them all.

Just below the lock is the car park they were all walking from - like the camping area it is huge and you really need to remember where you parked the car!

 The next lock is Sonning - where we were Queuing to join the Queue on the lock landing

As soon as we made it to the landing there were boats behind us Queuing to join the Queue.  A sure sign that this is a sunny Bank Holiday.

 We made it down eventually and went on under Sonning Bridge and a decision had to be made - to stop or carry on

We stopped!  These are private moorings with a fee of £10 for the night, but with so many boats on the move we felt a certain mooring was worth paying for.  We stopped around 2pm and as I type this at 7pm it was a wise choice as there are no spaces to be had for love nor money not that long after we stopped.

The side hatch views are pretty good as well

The journey took a good hour longer than anticipated, so we went to the Great House Hotel for a drink which turned into a late lunch!  It was packed, but we managed to find a seat on the lawn - most chairs are deck chairs - not easy to get in and out when you are of a certain age particularly if you have an arthritic knee (Chris) and a damaged knee (me from my fall two weeks ago), but we were lucky enough to get a standard chair made for two.  On looking at the menu and discovering that they serve brunch from 9am to 4pm we decided to have Eggs Benedict and very good it was too.  It is a huge establishment with half of it fenced off hosting a wedding, so we benefited from their jazz band as we lunched.  The day finished with a barbecue, but eaten inside as it is rather chilly in the evening.