Voyages of Gabriel: Windsor to Reading

Wed 23rd Aug Windsor to Cliveden

It was cloudy this morning as we moved the boat across from the island to meet Mary by the Hurricane monument. We had to tie to a tree as there were no mooring rings handy. James and his wallet were thankfully reunited.

The Windsor Hurricane

Temporary mooring tied to a tree

We reversed out and as we did so a canoeist was coming downstream following us. He asked us about Canal Ministries and we delivered CM and BCF leaflets to his large barge called Tramp moored on the island.

Tramp at Windsor

We cruised up river to Boveney where we took on water, disposed of rubbish and emptied cassettes.

Water hose at Boveney

Boveney Lock was very full. Bray Lock was also full. We noticed Tramp was behind but did not get into the lock with us. A cruiser at the front had great difficulty tying up. Then they had trouble trying to steer themselves out of the lock.

Steering practice needed

There was a Kris cruisers day launch that was going flat out but it was underpowered and slightly too slow for us. We would have been happy to cruise along behind them, but they were oversteering and therefore zigzagging, and they had several birthday balloons billowing around at the stern, which were irritating and distracting, so we overtook them.

The bridge at Maidenhead

Boulters Lock was also full of boats

Boulters Lock

The islands in Cliveden reach were empty, a most unusual sight. This is probably because the National Trust is now charging for mooring.

We found a mooring on towpath side, and the advantage was that we could go for a walk.

Moored in Cliveden Reach

We decided to explore Cookham, and we found the Stanley Spencer Gallery, which we had never visited before.

Stanley Spencer Gallery

We went to investigate the church, which had interesting roof beams, and a copy of Stanley Spencer’s “Last Supper” on the wall

Cookham Church

The roof beams

We visited a pub called Bel and the Dragon for a drink before walking back to the boat.

Purple skies over Cookham

3 locks, 8 miles

Thu 24th Aug Cliveden to Marlow

We departed up river through Cliveden Reach to Cookham Lock, and then up the long reach past Cookham and Bourne End.

Looking back at our mooring

Cliveden Reach

Bourne End Sailing Club

When we reached Marlow Lock there was a short wait while other boats were coming down in the lock. We invited a couple and their granddaughter to join us as we went up through the lock and on to the public moorings beyond the bridge and weir. They were delighted to accept.

Passengers at Marlow

When we arrived, all the moorings had been taken, so we moored alongside a narrowboat called River Song.

Farewell to our visitors

Later a space became free so we moved back onto the bank. These were the free moorings, immediately upstream of the council moorings, for which they charge £12 per night.

2 locks, 4 miles

Fri 25th Aug Marlow to Henley

We had the first proper decent mist this morning, heralding the arrival of autumn. It soon cleared, giving us a warm sunny day.

Early morning mist at Marlow

The mist begins to clear

Geese over Marlow

Purple Loosestrife

Moored behind River Song

We left River Song and continued up stream. We noticed some old wooden bollards in long grass just below the lock landing stage at Temple Lock. These had been mentioned to us by someone, and we had never noticed them before. It is somewhere to moor if Marlow is full.

Temple Lock

We spotted a Bar Headed Goose just before Hurley Lock. They are usually found in Asia, and are the highest flying birds on record, migrating through the Himalayan Mountains. This one we guess was an escapee from somewhere.

We used the facilities at Hurley, before pressing on towards Henley.

Pontoon reflections

Hambleden Mill

We spotted an interesting boat called Llanthony moored up, and when we looked it up online we found that it was a Dunkirk Little Ship with a very interesting history.

http://www.adls.org.uk/t1/content/llanthony-0

Llanthony

Then we entered the long reach where the regattas take place. The regatta course had been dismantled this time.

Temple Island

Fawley Court

Henley

We found a mooring in Henley a little easier than last time, although there were a lot of boats going past.

3 locks, 9 miles

Sat 26h Aug Henley to Sonning

It was a sunny day today

Morning in Henley

We met Alan and Geraldine in the Rowing Museum car park at 9.30am and they took us in their car to Grey’s Court, a National Trust property that we had never visited before.

Before looking round the house, we decided to walk the long way round, through the woods. It was beautiful, with some amazing fungi.

Fungi

Cows in the bracken

After a while we came to a choice of paths. We could have gone down the hill to the right or up the hill to the left. We decided to go left, and climbed up part of the way, until the path veered off to the left, and we thought the house was over to the right. We checked the maps on our phones, but could not work out where north was, so we didn’t know which way we were facing. We stayed where we were, while Alan and Geraldine went off straight up the hill on a minor path, to see if they could work out which was the correct way to go. Their voices tailed off until we could hear them no longer. We waited a while, expecting them to return or phone us. Later we discovered that Alan had left his phone in the car, and Geraldine didn’t have our number. Likewise, we had Alan’s number and rang it (no reply of course) but we didn’t have Geraldine’s number.

Then another couple came in view, coming down the path from the left. They were going to the house, and we decided that Hazel would go with them, and James would attempt to see where Alan and Geraldine had gone. So Hazel went off down the hill, on the path we all should have taken earlier, and James went straight up on the minor path, which soon petered out. There was a field up the hill to the right, but it was surrounded by barbed wire and it looked impassable. Then he heard Alan and Geraldine calling from below. They followed the main path up the hill, and James traversed across through undergrowth until he met them. We then went further up the hill until we joined the path we had been on earlier, and we retraced our steps to the car.

Meanwhile Hazel was sitting comfortably on a bench outside the main house, waiting for us to appear. Her rescuers were Chris and Poppy Solomon, and it turned out that they worshipped at the church in Marlow where we had attended a few weeks ago, and they used to have a boat on the Thames.

We had a guided tour of the downstairs rooms and were told some if the history. We had lunch in the cafe, and then felt there was not enough time to do justice to the upstairs rooms, so we would leave those for another time.

Greys Court

Geraldine, Alan, Hazel, James

We drove back to Henley, hoping for a little time on the boat with A &G, but the car park was so congested that they couldn’t park or turn round. We had to leave them to it as our mooring time was coming to an end.

We set off straight away, spotting Petroc as we went, so we spoke briefly to Gill. Geoff was elsewhere.

Marsh Lock was very busy with boats, and it was jigsaw puzzle time for the lock keepers to get as many boats in as possible.

We passed some of the huge houses at Wargrave, and spotted Debbie McGee doing her gardening in a bikini.

Shiplake Lock was on self service and very slow. When there is no lock keeper, boaters go in in the wrong order and on the wrong side, wasting space so not everyone gets who should do. Then the lock is automatic and overly slow for health and safety reasons. We had 1 hour and 15 minutes wait. It’s a sunny holiday weekend!

We stopped above the lock to use the facilities, and then went to find a mooring. All the moorings on the two islands were taken, but we found a place on a steep bank, just past the entrance to St Patricks Stream. We tied the front rope round a tree, and got the stern in close enough for a steep plank.

Moored opposite St Patricks Stream

Sunset

2 locks, 4 miles

Sun 27th Aug Sonning to Reading

Reflected sky

We set off early so that we could find a mooring and get to church on time. We had two locks to negotiate and about 4 miles of cruising.

Sonning Bridge

Sonning Lock

Gasometer at Reading

We turned off the Thames into the mouth of the River Kennet, passing through Blakes Lock, and then turned into the Forbury Loop to moor near the abbey ruins and the prison. There were no other boats in sight! This the first time we have seen these moorings empty. The reason is that Reading Council has introduced mooring fees of £9.50 for any part of 24 hours, with a 24 hour maximum stay. Surely one of the duties of a council is to encourage business, not frighten customers away. The wording of the notice was very intimidating, threatening to impound boats when the owners don’t pay.

Empty moorings

Reading mooring charges

The only boat

We decided we would pay, as we wanted to visit a church this morning, and a folk club this evening. We went along to Abbey Baptist Church, where everyone knew John and Barbara Froggatt. They were a friendly crowd, but a little dated in the choice of hymns, and this was reflected in the age group. We were some of the younger people there!

Back at the mooring, several boats came in, but left again when they read the notice. There was a very pleasant couple on Just William who did just that. This meant that we were the only boat moored there in Reading on a holiday weekend, and we felt a little vulnerable.

We went along to Readifolk in the evening, which was well supported. The theme was “Evil ways” so we sang “So Long”, a protest song from the 70’s, and “Stand Your Ground”, a song about the Devil. We met a guy called Colin who remembered us from last time, and who remembered that we were friends with Sue Graves.