It was a lovely sunny morning as we skirted Windsor Home Park, with Crown Estates signs warning against landing or mooring. There were glimpses of the castle through the trees.
Romney Lock, just before Windsor, provided an example of the contrasting boats on the Thames. We had to wait for boats to come down the lock, including one which appeared to be made of a few floats and some bits of caravan. Then after we'd gone up, an enormous hotel barge, the Magna Carta, was coming along the lock cut.
We moored in Windsor, as Brian and Mike were catching the train home from there. We took a brief walk into the town to have a quick look at the outside of the castle.
At Boveney Lock, we went to the other side of the lock island to the water point, and filled the tank. At the lock itself were some giant flower pot men.
At Bray Lock, the lock keeper must have been on his lunch break, as it was self service. This time, I went to press the buttons.
Between Bray and Maidenhead there are substantial houses of all styles.
Maidenhead has two great bridges, a railway bridge by Brunel which has the widest, flatest brick arch in the world, apparently, and an earlier road bridge.
Boulter's Lock in Maidenhead is very large, and is crossed by an attractive bridge.
We thought about stopping at Cliveden Reach, but the moorings are described as 'informal', which seems to mean getting into whatever gaps there are. And the gaps were filled with plastic boats. It's a dramatic part of the river, with steep wooded sides and Cliveden House high in the trees.
We went up through Cookham Lock, which is in a beautiful spot, and on through Cookham Bridge, a surprisingly flimsy-looking Victorian cast iron structre.
We stopped for the night the other side of Bourne End, just past the town's on-river marina.
16 miles, 6 locks. (184 miles, 127 locks)
1 comment:
Hi both - hope you are enjoying your trip on the Thames - we did it last year in company with Ian and Karen on nb Serenity and enjoyed it very much.
Pip & Roger
Post a Comment