Reading to Wallingford

Mon 28th Aug  Reading to Sonning

We found we had no gas this morning.  One cylinder was empty, and when we tried to connect the full one, no gas came through to the hob.

We were the only boat at the moorings by the Abbey Ruins, and we left after Hazel had been to a local shop for milk.

Moorings still empty

We went down on our own through Blakes Lock, out onto the Thames, and into Thames and Kennet Marina, where we bought a 6kg propane cylinder.  We took the opportunity to empty two cassettes while we were there.

Thames and Kennet Marina

From there we went downstream on the Thames towards Sonning, and we found a mooring opposite the EA moorings. We had trees for shade, and a good patch of grass where we could sit, and catch up with things. 

Above Sonning

On the plank

We noticed that the towpath opposite was really busy with walkers and cyclists, as it was a public holiday.

On our side, we only had two lots of people pass us all day.  One couple told us that George Clooney lived just a little downstream, on the Mill Island by the lock.

As our usual gas system had failed completely, we got out the barbecue and had a pleasant meal al fresco.  We had tried to contact Marcus Marine, for a gas engineer to look at our system.  We had left answerphone messages and sent texts, and were hoping he would contact us after the holiday weekend.

Our mooring place was on a narrow strip of land backing onto the rowing course, and James went across to take a few photos in the late evening. 

Late evening on the lake

Sunset

 Himalayan Balsam

It was a very warm and humid evening.  We had some owls calling in the trees around us.

1 lock, 3 miles

Tue 29th Aug  Sonning to Pangbourne

Sunrise at Sonning

Everything was completely dry this morning – no dew at all.  We packed away all the barbecue things, managing to stow them in the bow locker instead of the gas locker.  The bow locker hatch size is too small to allow the BBQ to go through packed in its bag, but by posting each item through separately it works.

We still had had no contact from Marcus the gas engineer. We departed late morning upstream passing the Tesco moorings, and calling at Better Boating. There we purchased a new gas hose in the hope that we could fix the problem with the leaking gas.

Better Boating

Reading Bridge

Then up through Caversham Lock, under Reading Bridge and under a new footbridge since our last visit – Christchurch Bridge.

Christchurch Bridge

Then we headed for the shore with the intention to visit Aldi.  There are some rings opposite Caversham Boat Services, where we have stopped in the past, and we were hoping to moor there. Before we had even stopped we had some verbal abuse from people on the island telling us to move as their ferry needed to come in there.  The ferry itself was a 30ft aluminium boat with an outboard, and it didn’t need all of the 200ft of mooring.  We had seen the ferry signs, and were reversing back to clear the section marked. This wasn’t sufficient for the people at CBS who insisted we did not even use the final downstream ring but moored ten feet below.  The ground was very hard but we managed to get some pins banged in, before we went off to Aldi, hoping that the pins would not be pulled out by passing boats.

Moored for Aldi

On our return we found that they used the rings not only for their ferry service, but also for some of their hire boats to offload or take on passengers.  We still would not have been in the way if we had used the final ring.   There were no signs to say that these rings were for the exclusive use of CBS.

Setting off once more, we passed the site of the Reading Festival, which had just finished. What great weather they had had!  There was a temporary bridge across the river to connect the main stage area with some fields used for camping.  The site seems to have grown in recent years.  There were piles of tents ready for redistribution to charities.

Reading Festival Bridge

Reading Festival from the air (with thanks to Daily Record)

Mapledurham House

Mapledurham Lock

We paused above Mapledurham Lock to dispose of some rubbish, before moving on up the long reach past the Alpaca Farm to moor on Pangbourne Meadow where we tied to a very overgrown wooden bollard.

Alpacas

Tucked in at Pangbourne Meadow

2 locks, 9 miles

Wed 30th Aug  Pangbourne to Goring

We were greeted by a dull morning with heavy clouds, and a forecast of rain later.

We left early so that we could be moored up again before the rain came. 

Whitchurch Bridge

Whitchurch Lock was self service, and then there was the four mile stretch from Pangbourne past Beale Park into Goring.

The Swan at Pangbourne

 Gatehampton Railway Bridge

 

Tamora spotted moored near Streatley

(Ian and Maureen Thomson from Aylesbury Canal Society)

We moored on the EA 24 hour mooring below the lock, and wandered into the village. We had a look round the church, and saw the tributes laid outside George Michael’s House. He died more than eight months ago.

George Michael’s House

Back at the boat, we put the hood up, and we had a light rain shower. It was nothing like the heavy rain that had been forecast.

A large Hotel Boat

1 lock, 4 miles, 1 mouse

Thu 31st Aug  Goring to Wallingford

A misty morning at Goring

There was a heavy dew on everything this morning. We disposed of rubbish before we departed, and then we were straight into Goring Lock, which was manned.

Goring Lock

It is less than a mile to Cleeve Lock, which was self service.  We don’t mind self service, but today the bottom gates opened, and three boats went in including Gabriel and fuel boat Merchant. As the gates were closing, the power failed. Someone made a phone call, and meanwhile we were on the old manual system of turning a heavy handle to close the gates and paddles, and then to the top gate to turn another handle to open the paddles. It is hard work.  Just as we had finished winding the handle to open the top gates, an engineer arrived and pressed the reset button. Problem solved.

We paused at the water hose above the lock, while Chris on Merchant pressed on further up stream, saying he was heading for Abingdon.

Merchant

We had discovered that the new gas hose we had bought in Reading was faulty, so we called in at Sheridan Marine to see if they had one. They didn’t stock propane ones – only butane.

Stormy weather ahead

As we left there, very dark clouds appeared, and we powered upstream for half a mile so that we could reach the shelter of Moulsford Railway Bridge for the heavy rain storm which inevitably followed. The bows and stern were under cover, but the centre part of the boat was under the gap between the two bridges. 

Moulsford Railway Bridge

Heavy Rain

Shelter from the storm

We waited twenty minutes until the rain had passed, and then carried on towards Wallingford. 

We were anxious to find a mooring in Wallingford, and were obviously pushing the engine too much, as the overheating alarm sounded.  We slackened off, and opened the engine hatch, and after about five minutes the alarm thankfully ceased.

As we arrived under Wallingford Bridge, we saw Merchant moored on the right. We didn’t attempt to moor alongside him as he would be wanting to leave that available to passing boats that might need fuel.

Instead, we aimed for the only other mooring still available, which was on the left, squeezing between two large white cruisers.  There wasn’t quite enough space, so we asked a young lad on the downstream one if they wouldn’t mind moving along one bollard.  “It’s not my boat” he said. We persuaded him to ask the skipper, who kindly did as requested.

So we were surrounded by big white boats, and during the day some more arrived, mooring alongside the others. Most of them seemed to know the others, and they were all there for the festival.

Moored on the last available mooring in Wallingford

We went round to the other side to find out when Merchant was due to leave, and we arranged to take his place at 8am the next morning. Then the white boats could arrange themselves better (they were now three abreast) and we would find it easier to get ashore, as the quayside was lower.

We went to explore the town and buy a programme for the festival.

In the evening, Hugo managed to get over the high wall by the towpath, and we could hear him having altercations with another cat the other side.  We were anxious that we didn’t discover he was missing in the morning when we wanted to move the boat across the river.

So James went round with a torch into this private garden, where security lights came on, and tried to find our cat.  No cat to be seen.  He phoned Hazel the other side of the wall “phone not available”.  He walked back round to the boat, where Hugo was sitting on the bank by the mooring ropes. James shone the torch onto the deck, and Hugo went inside. As James was following him down, he tried to go back up, but fortunately James stopped him, and we kept him in.

2 locks, 6 miles, 1 mouse

Next: Wallingford Bunkfest followed by the folk club in the Plough at Long Wittenham on Wednesday.