The Thames Path: wrap-up

It's the day after I finished and I keep stubbing my little toe which ended up with a blister on it, largely thanks to yesterday's wet socks, I think. However largely the aches and pains of last night are fading and I kind of wish I'd spent today, which has been gorgeous, outside walking again.

I stitched together the whole length of the walk on Strava, which produced a map that is pretty mind-blowing. As one of my friends noted on Facebook, I basically walked across the whole of England. She's a long old river, the Thames.

Strava also told me that I spent a total of just under 64 hours walking at an average pace of 12:30 per km and burned 26,761 calories doing so. My fastest kilometre was the 23rd, at 9:39; the slowest kilometre 136, at 16:29, when I was strolling with friends in Henley.

I'm not sure what my favourite day was - there were so many lovely parts to the walk. Possibly Friday, day 11, which was short and quiet and sunny. Day 5, to Hurley, was stunning though long; and I enjoyed most of day 6 to Reading until I got tired in the last 5k.

Catching up with friends and family en route was also a joy: thanks to Maya, Jane (and Blondie), Karon & Peter, Jon & Laura, Gav, Carrie (and Bella), and Frank & Julia for the company and gifts of food and drink. And to all friends who joined me virtually, as the comments and likes were a great morale boost when I was feeling tired.

My least favourite part remains the short walk alongside the A404 in Shillingford, although the hardest part was the last 2k through fields to the source! 

Things I'm glad about
I'm glad that I did this walk! It was really beautiful and it is immensely calming to walk by a river. It was fascinating watching the Thames change and seeing the variety of houses and boats on it and its banks. For a short while I felt like I was part of a special community of river-dwellers. I definitely fantasised about buying a barge and spending my days cruising the waterways, or becoming a lock-keeper.

I'm glad I took the opportunity to do it in one go while I had the time. I could have paced it out in chunks as many people do, and that would be nice too, but I don't think you'd get the same impact of the river changing.

I'm also glad I left my big camera behind! It would have added way too much weight and my phone does pretty good photos.

Things I wish I'd done differently
I should have carried less stuff (see gear list below). It would have been easier if I'd shed a couple of kilos somewhere.

In an ideal world I would have taken more time, walked more slowly and had a rest day somewhere. However, I had enough issues finding accommodation for the days I did do. It would have been easier from a practical perspective to do this in 'normal times' but then I don't usually have this much free time in summer when things are normal. I would have loved to stay at the lock campsites and that would have made things easier too, but they're all still closed and who knows when/if they'll re-open?

As far as regrets go, that's about it!

What next?
I am now very keen to tackle more of the National Trails, although quite when I'm not sure. They all look fantastic. I also want to try a bit of bikepacking (restricted slightly by current bikes, which are really road-suitable) as I need to get more use out of my awesome tiny tent.

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Accommodation 

Laleham Camping Club - on the path! Friendly, small, volunteer-run site. Facilities were clean and the shower superb. A bit of traffic noise from the M3 nearby.

Hurley Riverside Park - on the path! A large site with excellent facilities including WiFi, friendly, but expensive at £32 for a non-electric tent pitch.

Reading Central Premier Inn - not on the path. Their other branch at Caversham Bridge, which is, was closed. Large comfy room with air conditioning and a bath! Not bad for £39 flexible booking.

The Swan at Streatley - lovely hotel right on the path with gardens by the river. Room was comfortable but a bit hot (there was a fan but it was a touch noisy). Good restaurant and very pleasant staff. However not cheap.

Bridge House Caravan Park - on the path! Small, simple site on the riverbank, lovely welcome, and a good pub (the Barley Mow) next door. A bit of traffic noise from the bridge. Not to be confused with Bridge House sites in various other places on the path.

Oxford Central Backpackers - welcomed me despite my booking being for the wrong day. Have been refurbishing. Decent sized dorm rooms, decent location, not too far from Osney Bridge on the path.

Hardwick Parks - a bit away from the path but the X15 bus runs infrequently from the path at New Bridge (the Rose Revived) to the site. Another big site, also a touch pricey at £28 for a non-electric pitch. Pitch not especially scenic but loads of room. Facilities clean and an excellent shower. Lake for swimming in!

Ye Olde Swan - on the path! Smallish camping field and a glamping field, basic but functional facilities (Portaloos). A little shop selling essentials like ice cream and a wonderful pub opposite where they also rent out paddle boards and kayaks. 

Second Chance Holiday Park - 15 minutes' walk from the path in Castle Eaton (in fact the path goes along the opposite bank). Very quiet, simple, right by the river. Facilities basic but functional and it was only £6 so I can't complain. 

Gear

Osprey 65L women's rucksack - apart from the waist straps rubbing until I worked them out, very comfortable even with a decent weight inside.

Alpkit Soloist tent - worth every penny I paid for it. Pitches really quickly, can be brought down in minutes, and big enough for me and all my stuff!

Alpkit down sleeping bag - maybe a touch too warm but I get a bit chilly when camping. Fairly light and compact. I can't remember which model it is.

Eurohike silk sleeping bag liner - I like that it's easy to wash!

Multimat Superlite Air mattress - I've had this for a while. It's pretty comfy and packs down to a tiny package, but does have a tendency to condensation inside.

Decathlon travel pillow - I need something for my head, and this works well on top of my bag.

Alpkit Kraku stove - a miracle of engineering. It's minuscule and weighs next to nothing. Works reasonably quickly, although not super-fast.

Gas canister - a 100g canister got me through four evening meals, four boils of water for porridge and coffee, and a couple of extra coffees. Having to buy a bigger one to replace it when it ran out was irritating.

Alpkit 650ml titanium mug - the stove and small gas canister fit inside this.

Enamel mug - I should have left it behind and just used the Alpkit mug, although I did use it for coffee.

Sea-to-Summit XKettle - I bought this in NZ. It's brilliant. Metal base and collapsible silicone sides, works as bowl or kettle!

All-in-one plastic knife/fork/spoon.

Osprey 1.5L water bladder - fits in a special pocket in my rucksack.
Travel towel

Clothes

Salomon walking boots - these did well and blisters were minimal except the last day; however they need re-waterproofing.

Bridgedale hiking socks x2 - one lightweight pair, one midweight.

Merino t-shirts x2 - one Rapha, one Icebreaker.

North Face walking shorts

DHB lightweight long-sleeved merino top

Rohan walking trousers - actually only worn in the evenings but glad I had them.

Old t-shirt and leggings as pyjamas 

2x crop-top style sports bras

4x knickers 

Patagonia Torrentshell jacket - thankfully barely needed 

Rohan travel shawl - useful extra warmth or something to sit on, although I could have left it behind without too much stress.
Bikini

Food

6 x Firepot dehydrated meals. All tasty. The dal was especially nice. However ... I might have been better off carrying less stuff and buying more en route.

9 x homemade granola bars, based on this Jamie Oliver recipe with a few modifications.

5 x Moma porridge sachets

Taylors' coffee bags
Jelly Babies for emergencies
All other food bought en route

Other stuff

Factor 50 suncream 

Antibacterial wipes

Hand sanitiser 

Toiletries

Boots Extra Tough Plasters - these really stayed put!

Assorted blister plasters 

Fabric strapping tape 

Anti-histamines, and assorted other hayfever/bite remedies

Ibuprofen and Deep Heat cream - the Deep Heat was buried at the bottom of my bag and I forgot I had it for a day or so. Then I used it once or twice and never got around to it again. It was a good idea, but I could have left it behind.

Matches (and a lighter, but I can't get the darned thing working).

Kindle

Head torch - could have managed without this, it was dark so late. I used it about twice.

Microsoft Surface tablet - for a few work things, a Zoom meeting, and watching a few downloads at night. Ideally would probably not have brought it, it added weight I could have done without.

RAV Power powerbank - chunky but holds a lot of charge.

Samsung Galaxy S9

The Thames Path: day 13

Day 13

Castle Eaton - the Source

27.85km / 17.31 miles (including a few small getting lost diversions, not including campsite to path or Source to Kemble)

6:08:54

1,609 calories 

Total distance: 300.36km / 186.65 miles

Ow. 

Everything hurts. I have finished and I think euphoria and pride will follow, but for now, mostly everything hurts.

It rained heavily overnight and the tree next to my tent sent loud drops on to it throughout the night, so I didn't sleep amazingly well. I was up promptly, knowing I had a long way to go and wanting an early start. It's a shame the campsite doesn't have a little footbridge over the river, because I walked 30 minutes and was basically back where I started only on the other bank! 

Because it had rained, and the path was fairly overgrown with grass, my boots were soon wet and it soaked through eventually to my socks, which may not have helped blisters later. However it was a lovely morning now the rain had stopped, and it was nice walking by the river - still just wide enough for a kayak to paddle, but only just.

I was in Cricklade before I knew it. Cricklade was pretty, although largely closed, so I grabbed some lunch from Tesco and carried on. In fact I felt so good that I kept going until I'd done 15k, over halfway for the day. 

At one point the signage got confusing and I went straight on instead of right; luckily I met a couple with an OS map (also lost) and that combined with GPS location on my phone helped work out that I had to go back. 

Later there was a missing sign and I spent five minutes trying to work out where to go, but after that all was great for a while as the path headed through the Cotswold Water Park, a massive area of lakes and reservoirs that are used for recreation as far as I can see.

The playing fields near Ashton Keynes had some convenient picnic benches, so I stopped, ate and assessed progress. I knew there was a train at 3.47pm which I could conceivably have caught if I'd kept up the morning's pace, but it would have been a struggle. Instead I decided not to rush, and slowed down a bit.

Just as well, because increasingly tired legs and a couple more route deviations meant I ultimately didn't reach the Source until 4! The path followed the river for some time, through a lovely shaded woody bit. Then there was a bit by a road, and more water park, before returning to fields. Just before Ewen the river ran out and became a gravelly, empty bed.

Seeing the sign that said it was only 1 1/4 miles to the Source was great, but those last couple of kilometres hurt most. It was tough going through fields, and badly signposted. Luckily Google maps came to the rescue and eventually there I was, at a fairly non-descript stone in a field. 

I did the selfie thing then hobbled back to Kemble, with time for a beer before the train currently whisking me home in under two hours. 

It's been epic.

Everything hurts.

The Thames Path: day 12

Day 12

Radcot - Castle Eaton

20.42km / 12.69 miles 

4:26:02

1,176 calories 

Cumulative total: 272.51km / 169.34 miles

I found new energy today and picked the pace back up slightly. It was a medium-length walk with a lovely break in the middle in Lechlade catching up with my uncle and aunt, who'd driven down from Cheltenham to say hi. They met me just along the path, bearing coffee and some delicious date slices, and we had a good chat. I also sourced a sandwich made with some amazing sourdough bread for lunch, so it was a very worthwhile stop! Lechlade seems like a pretty little town and the river was busy with people renting kayaks and swan-shaped pedalos. 

It is at Lechlade that the river officially becomes unnavigable to larger boats; beyond, it is windy, narrow and increasingly hemmed in by reeds and waterlilies. It runs down the edge of tonight's campsite and I'm surprised it's even kayak-able here - it's almost a stream. 

Just before Lechlade I passed the last (or first) lock of the river, St John's, where there's a statue of Father Thames looking on as those boats starting or finishing their cruise pass through. He looks rather serious and for some reason is carrying a spade.

Past Lechlade the path used to divert from the river, but they've managed to negotiate a route with the local landowners and now it meanders happily along the bank for an extra couple of kilometres. I'm glad as after that I basically didn't see the river again until Castle Eaton. The path heads away through fields and along bridleways, catching only the occasional glimpse of the Thames, until the village.

At Castle Eaton I stopped at the Red Lion pub for a pint overlooking the river, a short break before a short walk to the campsite on the other bank. I'm right by the river and I think tonight might be the quietest place I've stayed, with very little traffic noise and most of the other people here in caravans or motor homes. 

I can't believe it's the last day tomorrow! It's quite a long one to finish with but I'm excited to get to the source and complete what has been a superb walk.

The Thames Path: day 11

Day 11

New Bridge - Radcot 
15.64km / 9.72 miles
3:34:40
1,037 calories
Cumulative total: 252.09km / 156.65 miles

Today turned out to be the shortest day of the trip, mainly due to successfully catching the bus down from last night's campsite to the path again. It would have been a horrid walk on a busy road so I'm glad I discovered the existence of the bus!

It was a pretty idyllic day. The weather was glorious (even slightly too hot to be honest) and after a brief chat with a chap in a deckchair by the start at New Bridge I didn't see anyone for a full 90 minutes of walking. After that there were only a few people.

It's hard to believe that the river I'm walking along now is the same river that rushes through the capital city. Here, it's winding and slow and becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Barges are the main traffic, with a few small motorcruisers that can fit through the small bridges. The bridge at Radcot, where I'm staying tonight, is especially narrow; I'm not sure you could get a sculling boat through it without having to pull in your blades.

I took my time over the first couple of hours, enjoying the peace and quiet and scenery and the fact that my legs felt reasonably fresh again. I kept going past the time I'd originally thought about stopping for lunch, and then had to walk another kilometre or so as I found myself on a quiet but paved road down to Rushey Lock.

Luckily, Rushey Lock had a bench that wasn't fenced off for social distancing, so I plonked myself down and investigated whether the wrap and tub of mango I bought yesterday morning had survived. They were a touch squashed but edible! I watched as a barge, which I'd largely been keeping pace with all morning, came through the lock. Up here, the locks are the old-fashioned types with the big lever arms to open the gates, quite different from the automated ones downstream where you just press a button.

After the barge came through a kayaker paddled in - he was in the early stages of kayaking the length of the river, having walked from the Source to Cricklade and taken to the water there, where it becomes navigable for small craft like kayaks. It looked like quite good fun going through a lock in a kayak!

Before 10 miles were up I found myself at Radcot. Just before I arrived a wasp decided to try and get into my shoe, between my shoe and my sock, and then stung me. It hurt like anything and while I was getting my tent up I started coughing, which I think must be a reaction to the sting. I do tend to react to insect bites so it's not a total surprise, and an emergency anti-histamine seems to have taken the edge off. At any rate I've mostly stopped coughing!

It was only early and it is a lovely day, so I rented a kayak from the pub that owns the campsite I'm staying at and went paddling for an hour - thoroughly lovely even though it's pretty windy. Now I'm having a pint and using the pub WiFi and feeling like I'm on holiday, rather than an adventure! Maybe they're the same thing.

The Thames Path: day 10

Day 10

Oxford - New Bridge

21.59km / 13.42 miles

4:47:19

1,258 calories 

Cumulative total: 236.45km / 146.93 miles

Today was hard and I don't know why. I was caffeine-deprived when I set off as the kitchen at the hostel was closed, and I couldn't be bothered going to the station to source coffee. In retrospect a mistake. I plodded off down the path out of Oxford very slowly; my hip flexors were sore and generally it was stupidly tough going. 

The scenery was still good though. As you leave Oxford the river is exposed and the banks slope into it on either side, particularly on the city side where the vast flood plain of Port Meadow offers a green buffer to the urban development beyond. It was breezy too and the water was rippled.

Then everything becomes more sheltered again as you pass Godstow Lock and the ruined abbey, and here the river winds its way along, bordered by reeds and rushes. It looks tricky to navigate to be honest.

Past King's Lock I was walking through beautiful wildflower meadows filled with bright buttercups, which helped cheer me up a bit.

Even more cheering was a friendly face waiting at Eynsham Lock - Helen, who I'd met through Adventure Queens and a couple of New Year's Eve campouts. She had brought coffee and croissants and we sat and had a good chat for a bit. Eynsham Lock is a lovely spot, just downstream of Swinford Toll Bridge; Helen said they charge the princely sum of 5p per car to cross!

Caffeinated, I carried on. There's an annoying if pleasant detour towards Bablock Hythe, a few kilometres through fields before the path eventually meets the river again. If one were on a walk in the countryside one would probably quite enjoy these fields, but when one is on the Thames Path they're less pleasant and more a barrier between you and the river!

Safely back by the Thames I had lunch, then moved on. More fields and more wildflowers, a lovely lock (Northmoor) and some cows and calves to navigate around. But slightly sooner than I'd expected there was the end of the road and the welcome sight of the 'Rose Revived' which revived this wilted Yorkshire rose with a cold drink.

Then I waited for a bus. The only campsite I could find for tonight was a few kilometres up the road from the path. Originally I'd gaily planned to walk it but by now I am not keen on any extra walking! There's a bus from the path to the campsite every two hours - but it was late, and I'd just given up and started trying to find a taxi when the bus appeared and whisked me to the site. 

The campsite is by some lakes and I was able to go for a short, cold swim which was incredible. Now it's teatime and an early night - I want to make sure I catch the bus back to the path tomorrow morning!

The Thames Path: day 9

Day 9
Clifton Hampden - Oxford
24.47km / 15.2 miles
5:18:04
1,388 calories
Cumulative total: 214.86km / 133.51 miles 

Coming to Oxford always feels a bit like coming home. Walking up past Iffley Lock today I knew where I was, what to expect around the corner; I could see the bright blue doors and red brick of my college boathouse and the spires rising above the trees in the Meadow.

Oxford in July, mid-pandemic, is however an odd place. It's not the bustling university city I love so much, it's quiet and rather shut up. I had to leave my hostel to go in search of a fresh gas canister for my camping stove, and dinner, as the hostel kitchen is closed (Covid-19), and it was a bit strange.

However, today was lovely overall, if overcast and occasionally trying to drizzle. I met my friend Carrie and her gorgeous collie Bella about 3km down the path from my campsite, and so had company for the rest of the day. Bella seemed to never tire of her game of putting her ball down on the path and wait for one of us to kick it in her direction, whereupon she pounced on it and ran off to repeat. Carrie and I had a good catch-up about life as we made our way along the river, which seemed to be particularly languid and calm today as it drifted past endless green fields and borders of wild flowers.

At Abingdon we discovered a pretty old bridge and a café for me to acquire some lunch, and then we carried on. There was no detour from the river today, we hugged its banks the whole way. Past Radley College boathouse I reminisced about a particularly dramatic novice training camp from a couple of years ago (high stream, novices, damage).

We barrelled on past Sandford Lock although we both had sore feet, and I was sure Iffley Lock was only just around the corner. The section between these two locks, while becoming more urban and with pavement to walk on, was surprisingly nice, and I was surprised I'd never been down that far.

At Iffley we stopped again for a snack. Bella watched the geese, and a tiny dachshund chased the geese, and the geese generally hissed a bit. Then we were into the last 4k and home territory (or water), with Christ Church Meadows on the far bank, until a final goodbye at Oxford Station.

Here today's tale nearly turned into disaster, as I discovered I'd managed to book tonight's hostel for tomorrow not tonight. Luckily, they let me in, were open, and had a bed ready for me in a dorm room with nobody else in it. The rest of the trip is camping, and I'm heading into far more rural areas, so tomorrow I'll have to stock up a bit on lunches for two days. Only four to go!

The Thames Path: day 8

Day 8

Streatley - Clifton Hampden

23.66km / 14.71miles

5:06:22

1,453 calories

Cumulative total: 190.39km / 118.35 miles 

I'm writing this sitting with my feet in the Thames at my delightful campsite by the bridge in the village of Clifton Hampden, downstream of Abingdon. It's a bit chilly but soothing on tired tootsies!

Yesterday's shorter day and longer rest paid off and my legs felt pretty good today until the last couple of kilometres. The final 6 or 7km today were mostly on grass through fields, which I've decided is my least-favourite surface to walk on. It's a bit like walking on sand - not always level, and just a bit too soft. The path has every possible surface but the most common is compacted dirt, which is fine; gravel is nice too.

The walk from Streatley to Wallingford was fairly nice save for the detour at Moulsford, past the prep school grounds there, which wasn't very well signposted. But it was good to see Moulsford railway bridge as that was where we used to aim for when we rowed out of Wallingford at college, and the next stretch kept bringing back memories of training on what is a really lovely bit of river.

I faffed around in Wallingford for a while, buying lunch and some dressings which I hope will stop the rubbing around my waist getting worse - it's manageable, but I think some padding is sensible. Then I had lunch by the bridge ahead of attacking the second part of the day.

The first bit to Shillingford was nice, and I had a pleasant chat with a couple who wanted to know how far I was walking. They too had escaped from London for a few days and were enjoying some day walks.

At Shillingford the path diverts from the river again. First on a footpath, which was fine but I think I missed a sign somewhere and took a parallel route to the Thames Path proper; then, for about a kilometre, along the very busy A404. I was extremely grateful when that bit ended and it's officially my least-favourite section so far, trumping the detour in Datchet! 

Back on the path it was a tromp through a field until Days Lock, another place I'd considered camping had it been open. I was counting on there being a bench for a rest and snack but no bench was accessible - luckily there was a quiet patch by the river instead. Then it was less than an hour to the day's end and a friendly welcome at the campsite.

Tomorrow: on to Oxford!

[NB: Can't get today's track on Strava - I think due to poor data connection - will try tomorrow!]